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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
Benefits of Mindfulness: Mindful Living Can Change Your Life
Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide
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Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about the backwards law. So the backwards law is a term that was coined by philosopher, Alan Watts that pertains to the fact that when it comes to many of the most important things in life, happiness, inner peace feelings of satisfaction with your life, the best way to actually move closer to them is often to let go of striving so hard to have them all the time. Allan states that the more fervently you pursue, for instance, the feeling of being happy all the time or this idea that we should be happy all the time, often the less satisfied you become, the more you feel like things are not going okay in the moment. And, I mean, let's face it, many of us do live with this idea that we should always be happy and at peace.
Right? It's this kind of like this idea in the back of our head, but this is not really the nature of human life. And if we can accept that simple truth, we discover a greater sense of inner peace and ironically with our lives just as they are. In many ways, the backwards law really gets to the heart of what creates much of our restlessness, stress, and mental struggles and our discontent in life are all about. Because we often have this really strong desire to control things in a way where all of our problems and pains go away and we cling to the idea that we should always be happy. And we never really pause to think, is that even possible? Is that even what we really want? I mean, reflexively, you might think yes, of course that's what I want.
But when we lose someone really close to us, would we want to be happy in that moment? If we had no sadness, would we even be able to appreciate what it means to be happy? If we didn't have times of suffering and challenge, would we be able to grow as people? The truth is that to live a full human life, we need to experience the full spectrum of human emotion throughout the journey of our life. When we let go of striving so hard to control things, pushing away pain and clinging to happiness, all of a sudden what also emerges is a deep sense of inner peace and fulfillment that exists beyond or beneath that sort of everyday happiness. It's that peace and fulfillment that's not dependent on external events, that's there when we're happy and it's also there when we're sad. In this way, we carry with us a peace of mind that's at ease with all of the different feelings, at ease with all of the different circumstances that arise in our lives. So rather than striving so hard towards feeling happy or thinking something's wrong if happiness is not there, instead of aiming to be present with and accepting how things are right now.
And finding that sense of okayness with life, no matter how it appears in any given moment. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.
The Backwards Law
Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Duration
Your default time is based on your progress and is changed automatically as you practice.
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to talk about the backwards law. So the backwards law is a term that was coined by philosopher, Alan Watts that pertains to the fact that when it comes to many of the most important things in life, happiness, inner peace feelings of satisfaction with your life, the best way to actually move closer to them is often to let go of striving so hard to have them all the time. Allan states that the more fervently you pursue, for instance, the feeling of being happy all the time or this idea that we should be happy all the time, often the less satisfied you become, the more you feel like things are not going okay in the moment. And, I mean, let's face it, many of us do live with this idea that we should always be happy and at peace.
Right? It's this kind of like this idea in the back of our head, but this is not really the nature of human life. And if we can accept that simple truth, we discover a greater sense of inner peace and ironically with our lives just as they are. In many ways, the backwards law really gets to the heart of what creates much of our restlessness, stress, and mental struggles and our discontent in life are all about. Because we often have this really strong desire to control things in a way where all of our problems and pains go away and we cling to the idea that we should always be happy. And we never really pause to think, is that even possible? Is that even what we really want? I mean, reflexively, you might think yes, of course that's what I want.
But when we lose someone really close to us, would we want to be happy in that moment? If we had no sadness, would we even be able to appreciate what it means to be happy? If we didn't have times of suffering and challenge, would we be able to grow as people? The truth is that to live a full human life, we need to experience the full spectrum of human emotion throughout the journey of our life. When we let go of striving so hard to control things, pushing away pain and clinging to happiness, all of a sudden what also emerges is a deep sense of inner peace and fulfillment that exists beyond or beneath that sort of everyday happiness. It's that peace and fulfillment that's not dependent on external events, that's there when we're happy and it's also there when we're sad. In this way, we carry with us a peace of mind that's at ease with all of the different feelings, at ease with all of the different circumstances that arise in our lives. So rather than striving so hard towards feeling happy or thinking something's wrong if happiness is not there, instead of aiming to be present with and accepting how things are right now.
And finding that sense of okayness with life, no matter how it appears in any given moment. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.
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Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
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Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
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Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
Vidyamala’s tips on catching anger as it’s happening or about to happen are great - clear, practical, and doable.
- Vicoir
The little talks before the meditations are priceless. It's like I've found my peeps. The topics, the quotes, the goals—it all makes so much sense to me, things I want to be thinking and learning about. Most importantly, the meditations are kindness-centered, which I love. It feels like a new way to approach meditation.
- Lauren
Incredible, easy to navigate app. I would highly recommend this app to anyone who wishes to reduce stress and anxiety or simply as an aid to improve overall mental health.
- Kirtus
I love how the app gives me pointers to new things to explore.
- Lydia
So calm and soothing. I love the new bundle with Kelly Boys, she’s brilliant!
- EJ
Better than Headspace. I've had the paid version of both apps, and I must say I enjoy this one better.
- Gina, Plus+ Member
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
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I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
I am very new to meditation, and am so happy that my first introduction to it has been through this app
The first session was fantastic. I feel safe. And supported. Almost like having someone helping me through my difficult time. I’m very grateful for this app.
- Babi
You get a lot of useful tips for handling stress and anxiety in 'real life'.
- Joy
Highly recommend.
- Humanfrst
Kelly Boys is hands down the best. Everytime I click on one of her guided meditations I get excited for the calmness that lies ahead.
-
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