00:00

00:00

Melli O'Brien

4.8

Duration

Melli O'Brien

Scan the following QR code with your camera app to open it on your phone

The War of the Beetles

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, we're going to talk

about nurturing inner strength.

So on the slope of Bragg's Peak

in Northern Canada lies the

ruin of a gigantic ancient tree.

Scientists say that it's lived

there for over 400 years.

During the course of its long life,

it endured huge storms, gale force

winds, seven huge avalanches, and was

actually struck by lightning 12 times.

But through all of that, it

remained resilient and survived.

However, one day an army of tiny

beetles began to invade the tree

and attack it from the inside.

These tiny, weensy, little insects

slowly gnawed away inside the tree,

destroying its inner strength with

their tiny, but ceaseless attacks.

This titan of the forest, which storms

and winds had not bent, which time had not

diminished and lightening in avalanches

could not destroy, was at last leveled

to the ground by tiny little beetles, so

small and fragile that you could just pick

one up and crush it between your fingers.

This story serves as a great metaphor for

what can happen with our mental strength.

In my work with people over the last

decade, I've found that most of us

can actually summon up the resolve and

strength needed to get through times of

great crisis when they really have to.

It's actually the small, everyday,

unhelpful thoughts that eat

away at us from the inside out.

It's the gnawing negative thoughts,

the worries, the ruminations, the

self doubt, the resentment, the

dissatisfaction, the craving, the fear.

This is what pulls us away from our

rootedness in the present moment and

our wisdom, clarity, and peace of

mind and destroys our inner strength.

However, what I've also seen is that

through mindfulness, we can learn to

identify when we're getting stuck in

those kinds of unhelpful thoughts.

We can let them go and return

our attention to the peace of

the present moment, our place of

steadiness and mental strength.

Every single time we do this, this

pattern of noticing unhelpful thoughts,

letting them go, returning to the

present moment to our strength, every

time we do that, we grow resilience,

calm, happiness, and strength inside.

And that core of strength we

can carry with us through all

the ups and downs of life.

This is why we keep doing this practice.

So as always, thank you for being here.

Thank you for your practice

and your presence here.

Let's settle in now

for today's meditation.

Get Unlimited Access

Start your mindfulness journey today.

A Mindfulness Plus+ subscription gives you unlimited access to a world of premium mindfulness content.

Over 1,800 meditations, sleep, calm music, naturescapes and more
Daily mindfulness video meditations 365 days a year
100s of courses and tools to help manage anxiety, sleep and stress

Available on

Email Missing

We couldn’t detect your email with the SSO provider you have selected.

Mindfulness Guarantee

We are here to make a positive impact on the world. We never want to sell you something that hasn’t helped you live a better life. That’s why if you’re unhappy with any purchase from us, you have 30 days to get a full refund and your money back.

If you subscribed to Mindfulness Plus+ and are unhappy with your purchase, please get in contact with us within the 30-day period and we’ll refund your purchase.

Learn more about our Mindfulness Guarantee.

Mindfulness

Bring balance into your everyday life.

We believe in a world where everybody has access to the life-changing skills of mindfulness.

2,000+ Guided Meditations
Daily Coaching
Sleep Content
Mindful Exercises
Mindful Radio
10+ Courses from world-class teachers

Private Browsing

Added to your cart!

Claim your free access

Create a mindfulness account and we’ll unlock this premium session in your account forever.

Start a free trial to play this session

7-Days free trial, cancel anytime.

Finish personalizing your account

Complete a few quick questions to make your own personalized mindfulness plan.