Melli O’Brien is a speaker, writer, mindfulness teacher, and the co-founder and co-host of Mindfulness.com. She is also the co-founder and host of The Mindfulness Summit, the world’s largest mindfulness conference.

Known for her down-to-earth, engaging, and authentic teaching style, Melli has guided thousands of people through retreats and courses over the last decade, and the readership of her blog on mindful living, MrsMindfulness.com, is over 200,000 people.

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The mentally stronger podcast gives you practical, evidence based and cutting edge ways to help you let go of the stress and mental struggles that are holding you back, perform at your peak under pressure and grow an unshakable core of inner strength that stays with you no matter what life throws your way. In each episode Melli will teach you how to train your mind so that you can reduce mental struggles, grow mental strengths, unlock your potential and create the life you want

The Mentally Stronger Podcast 

Courses

Build your skills

In this course, you’ll learn to listen to your body, ride your cravings, and become more self-compassionate - all leading to a transformation in your relationship with your body and food. 		

Mindful Eating

Strength from Stillness will help you shed the stuff that's holding you back, build mental strength, and unlock your potential so you can be the best version of yourself.

Strength From Stillness

The Foundations of Mindfulness course is your step-by-step guide to learning meditation and mindfulness in your daily life. You'll also learn how to be less reactive, anxious and stressed, and develop calm confidence and inner strength wherever you go.

Foundations of Mindfulness

Newly released

The Expectation Effect – How Your Mindset Shapes Your Reality What if the way you think about life… actually changes how life feels?In this episode, we explore the science of The Expectation Effect—the powerful way your beliefs and assumptions shape your mind, your body, and your outcomes. Drawing from David Robson’s groundbreaking research and real-life stories, I’ll show you how your brain filters the world based on what it expects to find—and how this can either create self-fulfilling defeat… or open the door to resilience, clarity and strength. You’ll learn how everyday expectations—about relationships, work, your own capabilities—can literally impact your biology and perception. And I’ll walk you through the practical ways you can begin working with this effect, instead of being unconsciously shaped by it.If you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt, negative spirals, or feeling stuck in stressful patterns, this episode will help you understand why—and what to do about it.🎧 Tune in to discover how to shift your expectations to shift your life—from the inside out.Key Links:🚀 The Calm in Crisis 5-Day Course STARTS IN 48 HOURS – Tools to stay steady, strong and mentally clear in uncertain times:https://melliobrien.com/calm-in-crisis-course/ [https://melliobrien.com/calm-in-crisis-course/]📖 The Expectation Effect by David Robson – The science behind how our beliefs shape our reality:https://www.davidrobson.me/the-expectation-effect [https://www.davidrobson.me/the-expectation-effect]

The Expectation Effect – How Your Mindset Shapes Your Reality

When Life Hits Hard, Start with Curiosity What if the single most powerful skill in difficult times… isn’t having all the answers, but learning to ask better questions?In this episode, we explore how curiosity can transform the way we meet uncertainty, anxiety, and life’s inevitable challenges.You’ll discover why the brain defaults to overthinking or avoidance when life feels unstable—and how curiosity interrupts that cycle, helping us reconnect with clarity, calm, and possibility.Drawing from fascinating research at Harvard and Penn State, you’ll learn how curious minds experience lower anxiety, more flexibility, and greater resilience. I’ll also share a personal story from an unpredictable river kayaking trip that changed the way I meet life’s rapids—both literal and emotional.If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, stuck in spirals of fear or doubt, or craving a healthier way to navigate uncertainty, this episode will give you simple tools to pause, inquire, and move forward with strength and wisdom.🎧 Tune in to discover how curiosity can become a steadying force in uncertain times—and how to start practicing it today.Key Links:📩 Newsletter – Get invites to free live meditations, tools + updates:https://melliobrien.com [https://melliobrien.com]🎁 Free Deep Resilience Care Package – My gift to support your inner strength:https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package [https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package]📚 The Book – Deep Resilience – A four-step journey to unshakable inner strength:https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/ [https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/]📖 Curious Minds by Perry Zurn & Dani Bassett – The science of curiosity and connectionhttps://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243960/curious-minds [https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691243960/curious-minds]

When Life Hits Hard, Start with Curiosity

The Philosophy of No Destination In today’s world, the pressure to constantly improve, perfect, and get somewhere can feel endless. We’re told that happiness lives just beyond the next achievement, the next version of ourselves. But what if that destination... doesn’t exist? In this episode, we explore the philosophy of no destination—a mindset shift that brings immediate peace and long-term resilience. Through powerful storytelling, practical mindfulness wisdom, and insights from modern psychology, you’ll learn how the endless striving to be “better” can actually create suffering—and how self-acceptance can offer true freedom.You’ll discover:Why the belief that “I’ll be okay when…” fuels stress, anxiety, and self-criticismThe psychological research linking self-discrepancy to depression and burnoutA Zen teaching that beautifully reveals the trap of over-effortingA simple practice from Thich Nhat Hanh to anchor you in the present momentA powerful reminder that peace isn’t out there—it’s available right here, right nowIf you’ve been feeling behind, worn out, or like you’re not enough yet, this episode will meet you with deep compassion—and remind you that there’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t need to arrive. You’re already home.🎧 Tune in now to reconnect with your inner peace and remember what truly matters.Key Links📩 Newsletter – Get invites to free live meditations, tools + updates:https://melliobrien.com [https://melliobrien.com]🎁 Free Deep Resilience Care Package – My gift to support your inner strength:https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package [https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package]📚 The Book – Deep Resilience – A four-step journey to unshakable inner strength:https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/ [https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/]📖 Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff – The science behind self-acceptance:https://self-compassion.org [https://self-compassion.org]📖 The Culture of Counter-Culture by Alan Watts – A radical reflection on the meaning of life:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/556038.The_Culture_of_Counter_Culture [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/556038.The_Culture_of_Counter_Culture]

The Wisdom Traditions Path to Inner Peace

The Philosophy of No Destination

In today’s world, the pressure to constantly improve, perfect, and get somewhere can feel endless. We’re told that happiness lives just beyond the next achievement, the next version of ourselves. But what if that destination... doesn’t exist?

In this episode, we explore the philosophy of no destination—a mindset shift that brings immediate peace and long-term resilience. Through powerful storytelling, practical mindfulness wisdom, and insights from modern psychology, you’ll learn how the endless striving to be “better” can actually create suffering—and how self-acceptance can offer true freedom.

You’ll discover:

Why the belief that “I’ll be okay when…” fuels stress, anxiety, and self-criticism

The psychological research linking self-discrepancy to depression and burnout

A Zen teaching that beautifully reveals the trap of over-efforting

A simple practice from Thich Nhat Hanh to anchor you in the present moment

A powerful reminder that peace isn’t out there—it’s available right here, right now

If you’ve been feeling behind, worn out, or like you’re not enough yet, this episode will meet you with deep compassion—and remind you that there’s nothing wrong with you. You don’t need to arrive. You’re already home.

🎧 Tune in now to reconnect with your inner peace and remember what truly matters.

Key Links

📩 Newsletter – Get invites to free live meditations, tools + updates:

https://melliobrien.com [https://melliobrien.com]

🎁 Free Deep Resilience Care Package – My gift to support your inner strength:

https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package [https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package]

📚 The Book – Deep Resilience – A four-step journey to unshakable inner strength:

https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/ [https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/]

📖 Self-Compassion by Dr. Kristin Neff – The science behind self-acceptance:

https://self-compassion.org [https://self-compassion.org]

📖 The Culture of Counter-Culture by Alan Watts – A radical reflection on the meaning of life:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/556038.The_Culture_of_Counter_Culture [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/556038.The_Culture_of_Counter_Culture]

The Philosophy of No Destination: The Wisdom Traditions Path to Inner Peace

Be Your Own Algorithm: Detox Your Mind, Reclaim Your Inner Peace

In an age of infinite noise, what if the most radical act is reclaiming your own mind?

In this episode, we explore how to take back your attention from the forces that seek to hijack it—and why doing so isn’t just a wellness practice, but a deeply empowering and even spiritual one.

You’ll discover how modern algorithms are designed to exploit your ancient brain wiring—fueling distraction, anxiety, and disconnection—and how being unaware of this can quietly pull you away from your values, your joy, and your peace.

Drawing from psychological research, mindfulness wisdom, and a personal story from a pivotal moment in Melli’s own journey, you’ll learn why reclaiming your “inner algorithm” is like coming home to yourself—and how simple daily practices can help you realign with clarity, strength, and presence.

If you’ve been feeling scattered, overstimulated, or distant from what really matters, this episode offers a grounded, heartful path forward.

🎧 Tune in to learn how to reset your mental environment, honour your values, and live from a place of intention in a distracted world.

Key Links:

📩 Newsletter – Get invites to free live meditations, tools + updates:

https://melliobrien.com [https://melliobrien.com]

🎁 Free Deep Resilience Care Package – My gift to support your inner strength:

https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package [https://melliobrien.com/#deep-resilience-care-package]

📚 The Book – Deep Resilience – A four-step journey to unshakable inner strength:

https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/ [https://melliobrien.com/deep-resilience-book/]

📖 The Distracted Mind by Adam Gazzaley & Larry D. Rosen – Science behind why attention gets hijacked:

https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262034944/the-distracted-mind/ [https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262034944/the-distracted-mind/]

🎙️ The Social Dilemma – A powerful documentary on the attention economy:

https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224 [https://www.netflix.com/title/81254224]

Be Your Own Algorithm: Detox Your Mind & Reclaim Your Inner Peace

Meditations

Loved by the community

In this meditation we’ll focus on developing our ability to wake up out of autopilot and return to a greater awareness of the present moment. 

Awakening Out of Autopilot Mode

A practice to help you untangle from unhelpful thoughts and the suffering they can create.

How to 'Anchor' to Inner Calm

Gratitude involves a wholehearted embrace of the present moment. In this practice we embrace what’s already here and now, instead of looking for more.

Cultivating Gratitude

In this meditation learn how to unwind a racing mind and rest your attention in the present moment.

Resting the Mind in the Moment

A practice to help you befriend your experience and rewire your mind for greater happiness and inner strength.

Anxiety Is Not Your Enemy

A simple breathing meditation to help bring more balance, calm and concentration to the mind. 

The Basics of Mindfulness

For bedtime

This pre-sleep routine is designed to help shift your mind from doing mode to being mode - the ultimate state of mind for transitioning into deep sleep.

Doing Mode to Being Mode

A deep progressive relaxation of mind and body to send you into a nourishing sleep.

Letting Go Into Sleep

In this meditation, we'll use breathing strategies and body relaxation to rest deeply and settle back into sleep.

Up in the Night

In this meditation, we'll practice relaxing and releasing the tension we accumulated in our body throughout the day.

Ultimate Relaxation

Drift off to sleep in a state of gratitude and deep calm.

Drifting Off with Gratitude

When experiencing a sleepless night, our mind’s often caught in ‘doing mode’, but we can choose to shift gears for optimal rest, relaxation and sleep. 

Switching to ‘Being Mode’ for Better Sleep

In this meditation, we'll scan through our body, inviting each body part to relax and power down for the night.

Turning Off for the Day

Beginner friendly

Feeling anxious, overwhelmed or stressed out? Use this SOS meditation to soothe your nervous system, and to calm and steady your mind.

Anxiety SOS

Learn how our thoughts can create stress and anxiety and how to unhook from those thoughts and return to a calm center.

Unhooking from Thoughts

In this practice, learn to step back from thoughts and emotions, and observe what’s going on in the mind. 

Becoming Non-Reactive

Train in cultivating a calmer, kinder mind and learn to hold whatever is happening in a loving awareness that is larger than it all. 

Taming the Mind

Learn how the technique of mental noting unwinds anxiety, reduces our reactivity and anchors us in our calm center.

Name It to Tame It

A meditation to remind us that awareness is our true home. Sometimes we get lost in seeking, striving or rushing—but awareness is always here for us. 

The Power of Being Present

Talks

Common community questions

Mental strength involves your ability to think, act and perform at your best in any given circumstance. 

What Does It Actually Mean to Be Mentally Strong?

The way our minds evolved means that we naturally experience psychological suffering, but there is a way to train and transform it.

Why Do We Struggle With Our Minds So Much?

Mental strength and mental health are sometimes used interchangeably but they're not the same thing. 

What’s the Difference Between Mental Strength and Mental Health?

We often feel so alone in our mental struggles; the reality is that we all have crazy minds.

Mental Strength Sounds Great but You Don’t Know My Mind - It’s Crazy in Here!

Over 30 minutes

A practice to help you cultivate a kind, compassionate and happy mind.

Loving Kindness Meditation

In this meditation we explore cultivating self-trust in our own deepest nature.

Trust

This meditation cultivates a more loving and less judgemental mind.

Developing a More Loving Mind

Short talks

We can so easily be tossed around by the currents of life. But whatever happens, there is one thing that remains ever-present: a stillness within. 

Taking Refuge in the Stillness Within

Melli shows you how to grow your mental strength.

Welcome Message From Melli O'Brien

Untangle from the unhelpful or anxiety-provoking thought process and find a new sense of inner freedom. 

Thanking the Mind: A Practice to Ease Anxiety

More to discover

In this meditation, we'll practice a breathing exercise that will help lower the heart rate and settle the mind in preparation for sleep.

Settle With Your Breath

In this meditation, we'll explore practices that help settle the mind and relax the body in preparation for sleep.

Calm Body, Calm Mind

Explore how to declutter your mind and cultivate deeper focus not only in your meditation but in your daily life too. 

Decluttering Your Mind

In this meditation, we'll practice a deep breathing exercise that will help release tension in the body and prepare us for sleep.

Breathe Into Tension

In this meditation we’ll explore how self-compassion eases anxiety and stress, soothes our nervous system and calms our minds.

The Power of Self-Compassion

In this meditation we focus on how to deal with difficult thoughts and feelings, both in meditation and in life.

Putting Out the Welcome Mat

This meditation is the perfect aid to unwind, relax and prepare for sleep. 

Relax and Drift Off (for Sleep)

This four-step self-compassion break meditation will help soothe you in your hardest moments.

Self-Compassion for Difficult Times

Become fully alive to the present moment using the sensations of body and breathing as a method of cultivating mindful awareness.

Body Scan 

Unwind inadequacy and ground in a gentle, steady and compassionate awareness.

Healing Inadequacy

Deep dive talks

Join Shamash and Melli as they explore Transforming Your Relationship With Anxiety.

Melli & Shamash Explore Transforming Your Relationship With Anxiety

Joseph offers practical guidance on walking the path to mindful living with more wisdom, ease and lightness. Includes a 15min mindfulness practice.

Mindful Living & Overcoming Common Obstacles 

Learn three simple ways to cultivate self-compassion to unhook from unhelpful thoughts that can distress and disempower us.

Why Self-Compassion is Your Superpower

Learning to be less judgemental means we are more present, compassionate and happy. It reconnects us to each other, ourselves and life. 

How a Non-Judgmental Mind Transforms Us

What is unconditional love? How do we practice it and invite it into our lives? Learn three ways to bring unconditional love into your life today.

Understanding Unconditional Love

In this interview Katherine discusses why mindfulness in school is important and shows how mindfulness makes learning more effective.

Guidance on Mindfulness for Children and Teens

In this interview, Melli talks to Jack about how to integrate spiritual life with everyday life and what it means to be ‘on the path’ of mindfulness.

Integrating ‘Spiritual’ Life with Daily Life 

Here’s a simple practice to rewire your brain to be less negative and shift into having more confidence and a more positive view of life.  

How to Hardwire Your Mind For Happiness

In this interview Jon invites us to know for ourselves the sacredness that is inherent in this present moment (if we’ll only wake up to it).

The Deeper Dimensions of Mindfulness 

Mindfulness and meditation teacher, speaker, and co-founder of Mindfulness.com.

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Melli O'Brien

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Mindfulness 101: A Beginner's Guide

How to Use Meditation for Better Sleep

What is Meditation?

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Melli O'Brien

Library

Mindfulness and meditation teacher, speaker, and co-founder of Mindfulness.com.

Curated Podcasts

The Mentally Stronger Podcast

Build your skills

Newly released

The Expectation Effect – How Your Mindset Shapes Your Reality

When Life Hits Hard, Start with Curiosity

The Wisdom Traditions Path to Inner Peace

The Philosophy of No Destination: The Wisdom Traditions Path to Inner Peace

Be Your Own Algorithm: Detox Your Mind & Reclaim Your Inner Peace

Loved by the community

Awakening Out of Autopilot Mode

How to 'Anchor' to Inner Calm

Cultivating Gratitude

Resting the Mind in the Moment

Anxiety Is Not Your Enemy

The Basics of Mindfulness

For bedtime

Beginner friendly

Common community questions

Over 30 minutes

For the more advanced meditator.

Short talks

More to discover

Deep dive talks

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