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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation
What is Meditation?
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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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Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today I'm going to talk about the importance of being willing to honor and hear other people's perspectives. So there's actually a really well known story about this. A group of five blind men heard that a strange animal called an elephant had been brought to their town. So they were really curious about this and went to seek it out.
And when they found the creature, each of the blind men started to touch it to find out what it was. The first man whose hand landed on the elephant's trunk said this creature is like a thick snake. The second man who was touching the animal's ear said, no, it's not. It's like a fan. The third man had his hands on the animal's side and said an elephant is clearly like a wall.
The fourth man who had his hand on the legs said, no, no, no, the elephant's like a tree trunk. And the fifth man who was feeling its tail described the creature as a rope. And as each man insisted that his perspective was the right one they began to argue and things got more heated. They came to blows. And each man eventually ended up walking away, feeling angry, insulted, and with only a limited perspective of the whole story.
So a lot of the time, like the blind men, we have an experience and then we make up our interpretations and judgments about it. And we can very quickly believe that our perspective is the right one and the whole truth. One example of this is, we often do this with people don't we, we make up our minds about them from a limited amount of experience. So it's important to remember that our own perspective does have limitations and other people's might differ from ours. And both sides might be both correct and incorrect, just like the blind men feeling different parts of the elephant.
In order to get closer to the whole truth or the full picture in any given situation, it really requires us to let go of needing to be right and being open to take in all the other perspectives and views too. So as you go through life, try to stay curious and open to perspectives that are different from yours. And if you do that, you might open to whole new worlds of understanding and connection. So as always thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.
Perspective Taking
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 importance of being willing to honor and hear other people's perspectives. So there's actually a really well known story about this. A group of five blind men heard that a strange animal called an elephant had been brought to their town. So they were really curious about this and went to seek it out.
And when they found the creature, each of the blind men started to touch it to find out what it was. The first man whose hand landed on the elephant's trunk said this creature is like a thick snake. The second man who was touching the animal's ear said, no, it's not. It's like a fan. The third man had his hands on the animal's side and said an elephant is clearly like a wall.
The fourth man who had his hand on the legs said, no, no, no, the elephant's like a tree trunk. And the fifth man who was feeling its tail described the creature as a rope. And as each man insisted that his perspective was the right one they began to argue and things got more heated. They came to blows. And each man eventually ended up walking away, feeling angry, insulted, and with only a limited perspective of the whole story.
So a lot of the time, like the blind men, we have an experience and then we make up our interpretations and judgments about it. And we can very quickly believe that our perspective is the right one and the whole truth. One example of this is, we often do this with people don't we, we make up our minds about them from a limited amount of experience. So it's important to remember that our own perspective does have limitations and other people's might differ from ours. And both sides might be both correct and incorrect, just like the blind men feeling different parts of the elephant.
In order to get closer to the whole truth or the full picture in any given situation, it really requires us to let go of needing to be right and being open to take in all the other perspectives and views too. So as you go through life, try to stay curious and open to perspectives that are different from yours. And if you do that, you might open to whole new worlds of understanding and connection. So as always thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.
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This is the app I turn to when I want to feel calm and loved.
- Abby
Melli has a beautiful way of guiding and reminding us of the stillness within.
- Adrienne James
I have been on a journey of healing and learning self-love. Amidst the work, I have been using the mindfulness app for the gentle reminders, guides to the moment (especially the difficult ones).
Kelly Boys offers a fresh and illuminating take on how to step out of lifelong patterns that keep snagging us.
- Tara Brach, PhD
Truly life changing. This isn't solely meditation and mindfulness...this is about striving to be the best the versions of ourselves.
- Marisa, Plus+ Member
Relaxing and assuring beyond description... thank you, Cory.
- Babs312
This is the app I turn to when I want to feel calm and loved.
- Abby
Melli has a beautiful way of guiding and reminding us of the stillness within.
- Adrienne James
I have been on a journey of healing and learning self-love. Amidst the work, I have been using the mindfulness app for the gentle reminders, guides to the moment (especially the difficult ones).
Kelly Boys offers a fresh and illuminating take on how to step out of lifelong patterns that keep snagging us.
- Tara Brach, PhD
Truly life changing. This isn't solely meditation and mindfulness...this is about striving to be the best the versions of ourselves.
- Marisa, Plus+ Member
Relaxing and assuring beyond description... thank you, Cory.
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Shamash's guidance is a gift of wisdom to help us in our busy and stressful lives.
- Paul Gilbert, PhD, FBPsS, OBE, Centre for Compassion Research and Training, University of Derby, United Kingdom
Excellent! Cory gently guides you into internal peace.
- Steve Ericson
A necessary tool for those who feel lost.
- Piper
Just want to say a big thankyou to all involved as this has had a positive impact in my daily life 🙏 Valuable teachings that have allowed me to have a better relationship not only with those around me, but with myself. Heal ourselves and we heal the world 💫✨🌍
- Marty
I start every day with Cory or Melli for my daily practice. Including this app into my practice helps me continue to build more mental focus and understanding of my thought processes. What a welcome and powerful gift.
- Oku
Shamash's guidance is a gift of wisdom to help us in our busy and stressful lives.
- Paul Gilbert, PhD, FBPsS, OBE, Centre for Compassion Research and Training, University of Derby, United Kingdom
Excellent! Cory gently guides you into internal peace.
- Steve Ericson
A necessary tool for those who feel lost.
- Piper
Just want to say a big thankyou to all involved as this has had a positive impact in my daily life 🙏 Valuable teachings that have allowed me to have a better relationship not only with those around me, but with myself. Heal ourselves and we heal the world 💫✨🌍
- Marty
I start every day with Cory or Melli for my daily practice. Including this app into my practice helps me continue to build more mental focus and understanding of my thought processes. What a welcome and powerful gift.
- Oku
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