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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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Hey, welcome back to Day Five of
our seven day meditation challenge.
Yesterday, you got to
explore the negativity bias.
This built in programming we have into
our brain to focus more on what could
go wrong rather than what can go right.
This tendency also seems to show up in
how we talk to ourselves, and many of
us refer to this as our inner critic.
Chances are, you're quite
familiar with your inner critic.
It's the voice in your head that
tends to tell you when you're not
good enough, you can't do something,
why something is going to go wrong
or why you're going to mess it up.
We all have different degrees
of, of an inner critic and some
of us have many different inner
critics that arise in our mind.
So I'm going to share a two part strategy
that you can use to start to work with
with this inner critic when it arises.
The first is to give
your inner critic a name.
Give your inner critic a name.
So since I have a number of different
inner critics, I have a lot of
different names for my inner critics,
but one of them is Cranky Cory.
Cranky Cory tends to show up in the
mornings when there's a lot of work
to do and Cranky Cory's tired and he
might say something like, "Ugh, dude,
this is going to be such a long day.
Just keep hitting the snooze button.
You don't have enough
energy to do this right now.
It's not going to go well.
Just don't do what you're doing."
Sometimes Cranky Cory has a
point and we're not in a good
position to be doing what we're
doing and we actually need rest.
But a lot of times, Cranky Cory is just
being a little cranky and kind of lazy.
And so when I hear Cranky Cory, if I
don't bring him into awareness, if I
don't, if I'm not present to him, then
he sort of operates in the background
and subconsciously controls me.
But if I can hear a Cranky Cory and I
could say," Oh, I see you Cranky Cory.
I see you.
Good morning."
Well, now it becomes a
little bit more playful.
And now Cranky Cory can't be pulling all
these levers in the background of my mind,
subconsciously informing me what to do.
Instead I can hear the voice, maybe
that voice saying like, "There's no way
you're going to be able to do this well
today or do whatever you're doing."
And I could go, "Oh, hi Cranky, Cory.
Good morning.
Yeah, I know, I know.
This is, this is tough.
This is going to be hard."
I can, I can now have an
interaction with Cranky Cory.
And so by, by giving that voice
in this case, Cranky Cory a name,
it allows me to interact with it.
And you can do this in your
own particular context.
Might not be in the morning or there
might be one central voice that
arises for you throughout the day.
Debbie downer pants, whatever it might be.
And you get to be playful
in giving it a name.
Now the second part to this comes after
we've given it a name and we've given
it some sort of identity, and this is
to collaborate with this part of you.
And so when Cranky Cory arises
and he goes, "Dude, just give up.
Stop doing what you're doing.
You're not going to be good at it anyway."
I can go, "Yeah, Cranky Cory.
I know.
This does seem tough.
And I see that you have some strong
thoughts about this, but this is
important and you know, it is important.
And you know that we have this
vision for our life that we're
trying to get to, trying to improve.
You know, if we were to think
differently about this, if we were
to feel a little bit more empowered,
how might we think about it?
What might we be saying to ourselves."
And Cranky Cory might go, "Nothing.
It's going to be awful.
It's going to be terrible."
And we go, "Yeah, I know Cranky Cory.
But if we could think a little bit
more positively or be a little bit
more optimistic, how would that sound?"
And eventually you could get
Cranky Cory to come on board and
start to shift to that narrative.
So the first stage is just giving
it an identity, giving it a name.
And then the second stage is starting
to collaborate with it, meet it
and ask it how it can help you in
service of where you're trying to get.
So have some fun trying this out.
Thank you for your practice.
And let's settle in for our 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.
- 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
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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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