Mindfulness.com
Meditation
See all Meditation

Browse

Top articles

How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation

What is Meditation?

Mindful LivingSleep
CommunityFor Work

Already have an account?

Sign in

00:00

00:00

You Can’t Know the Mind That Way

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 a mind trap that we sometimes get caught up in when we're practicing mindfulness and trying to understand the mind. So although our mind and what we think has a profound influence on our lives, most of us generally know very little about how the mind operates and why it does what it does. So, of course mindfulness, practice is this wonderful tool that we have that gives us a way of observing the mind and understanding it better. Therefore being able to work with it better so we can live more meaningful and happy lives.

But one of the reasons that many of us do not gain deeper insights and self-awareness in our mindfulness practice is because we keep trying to understand the thinking mind with the same thinking mind that's causing us a lot of our problems and suffering. It's a little bit like a dog chasing its tail. And it's a little bit like what Albert Einstein once famously said, we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that we used that created them. So the only way that we can truly begin to gain deeper insights and awaken greater levels of self-awareness is to shift out of the thinking mind and into awareness itself. We need to step out of the mind to observe and understand the mind.

So sometimes we get caught up in this kind of cycle of trying to problem solve our meditation, or we're judging our meditation. We're trying to figure out our meditation. We're struggling with the mind using the mind. So we want to avoid that. And keep trusting that we can let go of the mind and rest in awareness.

Just keeping the practice really simple and easy like that. It takes a bit of trust. So if we can letting go of being caught in the thinking mind and learn to rest more and more in awareness, then understanding and insight naturally emerge. Not only that, but actually the mind tends to become more calm and steady when we rest in awareness. All we need to do is just give the mind a little bit of space for all of that to happen.

So today as you practice, just remembering that you don't need to use the thinking mind toi understand the thinking mind. Instead, just trust that you can let it go and rest in awareness. So as always, thank you for your practice and you presence here in this community. And just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.7

You Can’t Know the Mind That Way

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 a mind trap that we sometimes get caught up in when we're practicing mindfulness and trying to understand the mind. So although our mind and what we think has a profound influence on our lives, most of us generally know very little about how the mind operates and why it does what it does. So, of course mindfulness, practice is this wonderful tool that we have that gives us a way of observing the mind and understanding it better. Therefore being able to work with it better so we can live more meaningful and happy lives.

But one of the reasons that many of us do not gain deeper insights and self-awareness in our mindfulness practice is because we keep trying to understand the thinking mind with the same thinking mind that's causing us a lot of our problems and suffering. It's a little bit like a dog chasing its tail. And it's a little bit like what Albert Einstein once famously said, we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that we used that created them. So the only way that we can truly begin to gain deeper insights and awaken greater levels of self-awareness is to shift out of the thinking mind and into awareness itself. We need to step out of the mind to observe and understand the mind.

So sometimes we get caught up in this kind of cycle of trying to problem solve our meditation, or we're judging our meditation. We're trying to figure out our meditation. We're struggling with the mind using the mind. So we want to avoid that. And keep trusting that we can let go of the mind and rest in awareness.

Just keeping the practice really simple and easy like that. It takes a bit of trust. So if we can letting go of being caught in the thinking mind and learn to rest more and more in awareness, then understanding and insight naturally emerge. Not only that, but actually the mind tends to become more calm and steady when we rest in awareness. All we need to do is just give the mind a little bit of space for all of that to happen.

So today as you practice, just remembering that you don't need to use the thinking mind toi understand the thinking mind. Instead, just trust that you can let it go and rest in awareness. So as always, thank you for your practice and you presence here in this community. And just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.

Melli O'Brien

4.7

Duration

Play in-app

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

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

Email Missing

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

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!

Checkout

Thank you for joining us

Dive into the full library and enjoy all it has to offer!

Claim your free access

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

or continue with
By continuing, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Do you already have an account?

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.

Sign up or login to your mindfulness account to proceed.

or continue with
By continuing, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Do you already have an account?

Mindfulness

One membership to gain access to a world of premium mindfulness content created to help you live happier and stress less.

  • 2000+ Guided Meditations
  • Courses from world-class teachers
  • Resources for Stress + Anxiety
  • Breathing exercises, gratitude practices, relaxation techniques
  • Sleep meditations, playlists, stories
  • Mindful talks, podcasts, music, nature sounds