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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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Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:
Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today I'm going to talk about the myth of normal. So in your own life, do you feel a pressure to fit in and be normal? If so, think about how that shows up in your life. Maybe you don't want to have kids for instance, but you feel the weight of expectation that you should have a family. Or maybe you really want to have children, but you fear judgment from others if you leave your career to be a mom or a stay at home dad, maybe you don't really want to work so hard.
You'd rather live in a, in a country town living a simple, slow life, but you grew up in a family of high achievers who expect you to do big things and work long hours in the city. Whatever your own version of trying to be normal is, you know, what lays behind that for all of us is this basic pressure to fit in so that we can get the approval and acceptance of others, no matter who those others are. At its root, this urge towards conformity is closely tied to a fear of rejection. We all experienced this pool to fit in. And the reason we feel that pull to be normal is just because of the way our minds evolved.
So in the space of human evolution, 200,000 years or so, when our ancestors were living in small bands, their survival depended on staying in the pack. If you didn't have the other members of the packs approval and you got rejected, it really meant certain death. Humans just did not survive well alone in the wild. This is why rejection feels so painful and scary to us. It's wired into the human mind that rejection equals death.
So a part of being accepted and staying safe was our ability to fit in and be liked by the other members of the tribe. So our ancestors would be vigilant to what was normal in the tribe or the community, and try to fit in with that to get approval. Being different was dangerous. So the problem with this old conditioning in the human mind is that this pressure to conform all the time means that we can sometimes deny our own true feelings and needs, our own desires instead of listening to them. It means we might do something, even if it doesn't feel right to us.
Sometimes we might make decisions or take actions with little other reason than the fact that everybody else is doing it. So this can lead to all kinds of unwise and unhappy scenarios. But perhaps the most unhappy of all is simply us not living the life that's true to us. So part of the invitation of mindful living is to simply cultivate more authenticity. Mindfulness helps us to act from our own integrity and authenticity, even when it's really challenging to do so, even when we're feeling that pressure to conform.
So this is my invitation for you today, is just to let go a little bit of that need to fit in and be liked and focus on showing up as your true self. Instead of trying to be normal, just being natural. And perhaps it can simply begin by asking yourself a simple question. What's really right for me? And just let this question keep guiding you towards sharing the real you with the world. So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.
And let's settle in now for today's meditation.
The Myth of Normal
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 myth of normal. So in your own life, do you feel a pressure to fit in and be normal? If so, think about how that shows up in your life. Maybe you don't want to have kids for instance, but you feel the weight of expectation that you should have a family. Or maybe you really want to have children, but you fear judgment from others if you leave your career to be a mom or a stay at home dad, maybe you don't really want to work so hard.
You'd rather live in a, in a country town living a simple, slow life, but you grew up in a family of high achievers who expect you to do big things and work long hours in the city. Whatever your own version of trying to be normal is, you know, what lays behind that for all of us is this basic pressure to fit in so that we can get the approval and acceptance of others, no matter who those others are. At its root, this urge towards conformity is closely tied to a fear of rejection. We all experienced this pool to fit in. And the reason we feel that pull to be normal is just because of the way our minds evolved.
So in the space of human evolution, 200,000 years or so, when our ancestors were living in small bands, their survival depended on staying in the pack. If you didn't have the other members of the packs approval and you got rejected, it really meant certain death. Humans just did not survive well alone in the wild. This is why rejection feels so painful and scary to us. It's wired into the human mind that rejection equals death.
So a part of being accepted and staying safe was our ability to fit in and be liked by the other members of the tribe. So our ancestors would be vigilant to what was normal in the tribe or the community, and try to fit in with that to get approval. Being different was dangerous. So the problem with this old conditioning in the human mind is that this pressure to conform all the time means that we can sometimes deny our own true feelings and needs, our own desires instead of listening to them. It means we might do something, even if it doesn't feel right to us.
Sometimes we might make decisions or take actions with little other reason than the fact that everybody else is doing it. So this can lead to all kinds of unwise and unhappy scenarios. But perhaps the most unhappy of all is simply us not living the life that's true to us. So part of the invitation of mindful living is to simply cultivate more authenticity. Mindfulness helps us to act from our own integrity and authenticity, even when it's really challenging to do so, even when we're feeling that pressure to conform.
So this is my invitation for you today, is just to let go a little bit of that need to fit in and be liked and focus on showing up as your true self. Instead of trying to be normal, just being natural. And perhaps it can simply begin by asking yourself a simple question. What's really right for me? And just let this question keep guiding you towards sharing the real you with the world. So as always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.
And let's settle in now 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.
- 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.
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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
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.
-
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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