Try free for 7 days.

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
Community

Already have an account?

Sign in

00:00

00:00

Clear the Weeds or Grow Flowers

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to talk about two strategies for cultivating happiness. So if your happiness was a garden, which of the following best represents how you tend to that garden? Clearing away the weeds in the garden? Or growing flowers in the garden? Now you may have an immediate response to this. Or you may also be thinking, what the heck are you talking about, Cory? Get to the point. Okay.

I'll get to the point. The point is, I think a lot of times we take one of two approaches as it relates to cultivating wellbeing in our lives. The first is we try to get rid of the things we don't want. Clear away the people we don't like, clear away the job we don't want, clear away the debt we don't want. The other is, we try to grow more of what we do want.

Get that relationship, buy that home, go on that vacation. Both approaches are necessary for your wellbeing, which is a basic premise in the science of positive psychology. However, we typically favor one over the other. And usually it's the former. Let me get rid of all the things I don't want and then I'll be happy.

And that's often a half-baked recipe for deep well-being because if we think about a flourishing garden, we definitely need to do some weeding. But if all we do is weeding, then all we're left with is a pile of dirt. So we also need to plant new flowers. But if we just grew flowers and never did any weeding, the flowers will be overcome by the weeds. So we need a healthy balance of both.

As you go throughout your day, notice what your default tendency is. Is your tendency to clear away the weeds or is it to grow more flowers? And if it's one or the other, see if you can work on both so that there's a balance and you can also cultivate and nourish your garden of happiness. Thank you for your time. And thank you for your practice. I'll talk to you soon, and take care.

Cory Muscara

4.7

Clear the Weeds or Grow Flowers

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.

Hey, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, we're going to talk about two strategies for cultivating happiness. So if your happiness was a garden, which of the following best represents how you tend to that garden? Clearing away the weeds in the garden? Or growing flowers in the garden? Now you may have an immediate response to this. Or you may also be thinking, what the heck are you talking about, Cory? Get to the point. Okay.

I'll get to the point. The point is, I think a lot of times we take one of two approaches as it relates to cultivating wellbeing in our lives. The first is we try to get rid of the things we don't want. Clear away the people we don't like, clear away the job we don't want, clear away the debt we don't want. The other is, we try to grow more of what we do want.

Get that relationship, buy that home, go on that vacation. Both approaches are necessary for your wellbeing, which is a basic premise in the science of positive psychology. However, we typically favor one over the other. And usually it's the former. Let me get rid of all the things I don't want and then I'll be happy.

And that's often a half-baked recipe for deep well-being because if we think about a flourishing garden, we definitely need to do some weeding. But if all we do is weeding, then all we're left with is a pile of dirt. So we also need to plant new flowers. But if we just grew flowers and never did any weeding, the flowers will be overcome by the weeds. So we need a healthy balance of both.

As you go throughout your day, notice what your default tendency is. Is your tendency to clear away the weeds or is it to grow more flowers? And if it's one or the other, see if you can work on both so that there's a balance and you can also cultivate and nourish your garden of happiness. Thank you for your time. And thank you for your practice. I'll talk to you soon, and take care.

Cory Muscara

4.7

Duration

Play in-app

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

Recommended for you

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

Join our free newsletter

Discover exclusive events, first access to new features, community stories, and a monthly curation of our best mindfulness insights.

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

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