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How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners
10 Science-Backed Benefits of 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 positive and negative thinking. So for a lot of us, we can hold this idea that we need to always be thinking positive and that negative thinking is something that we really need to get rid of in order to be okay. But the reality is that trying to control all of our thoughts is not only not possible, but doing so can never really free us from the mind. It's awareness that liberates us because it transcends all thoughts, the so-called positive and the so-called negative.
So when I think of this idea, for me, it's a little bit like the weather. Some days it's sunny and calm with a few puffy white clouds and the birds are singing. Now on those days, we might react to that weather with excitement and elation. You know, we like it, so we feel great. We go outdoors, we play and we run.
And then on other days there may be storms that roll through. And for some reason,on those days, it really affects us. You know, we don't like, it brings about a low mood. So we get caught up in, other words, in that kind of resistance to how things are that day. But no matter what the weather is, it really is just simply weather.
There's nothing actually inherently good or bad, positive, or negative about the weather. It's just different kinds of weather. And I think awareness offers us the opportunity to be like the sky. The sky just allows all the different kinds of weather to pass through it, but it remains unchanged, steady, spacious, and unaffected, no matter what happens. The sky doesn't judge the weather as positive or negative and it doesn't react to the weather.
It just allows it all to be and abides as it is. Awareness is like that. It allows us to step back from the thoughts so that we're no longer caught up in them. And there's no longer a sense of clinging of like, I need to have these kinds of thoughts because they make me feel good. And there's no resistance.
There's no sense of, I don't want to have any of these thoughts because they make me feel unpleasant. We can actually just relax all of that, because when we abide in that sky-like mindful awareness, we experience thoughts as simply mental events that pass through the sky of the mind in the same way the weather passes through the sky. So they're simply seen as bits of language that just passthrough. We don't have to buy into them or believe in them. We don't have to obey them.
So in this way, we learn to rest in a sense of wholeness, ease and peace that's beyond or beneath positive and negative thoughts and emotions. And that sense of peace can stay with us no matter what's passing through the moment. So the more we can learn to rest in mindful awareness, the less pulled around we are by all of our thoughts and emotions. And the more we find true freedom and peace of mind. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.
And just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.
Positive and Negative Thinking
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 positive and negative thinking. So for a lot of us, we can hold this idea that we need to always be thinking positive and that negative thinking is something that we really need to get rid of in order to be okay. But the reality is that trying to control all of our thoughts is not only not possible, but doing so can never really free us from the mind. It's awareness that liberates us because it transcends all thoughts, the so-called positive and the so-called negative.
So when I think of this idea, for me, it's a little bit like the weather. Some days it's sunny and calm with a few puffy white clouds and the birds are singing. Now on those days, we might react to that weather with excitement and elation. You know, we like it, so we feel great. We go outdoors, we play and we run.
And then on other days there may be storms that roll through. And for some reason,on those days, it really affects us. You know, we don't like, it brings about a low mood. So we get caught up in, other words, in that kind of resistance to how things are that day. But no matter what the weather is, it really is just simply weather.
There's nothing actually inherently good or bad, positive, or negative about the weather. It's just different kinds of weather. And I think awareness offers us the opportunity to be like the sky. The sky just allows all the different kinds of weather to pass through it, but it remains unchanged, steady, spacious, and unaffected, no matter what happens. The sky doesn't judge the weather as positive or negative and it doesn't react to the weather.
It just allows it all to be and abides as it is. Awareness is like that. It allows us to step back from the thoughts so that we're no longer caught up in them. And there's no longer a sense of clinging of like, I need to have these kinds of thoughts because they make me feel good. And there's no resistance.
There's no sense of, I don't want to have any of these thoughts because they make me feel unpleasant. We can actually just relax all of that, because when we abide in that sky-like mindful awareness, we experience thoughts as simply mental events that pass through the sky of the mind in the same way the weather passes through the sky. So they're simply seen as bits of language that just passthrough. We don't have to buy into them or believe in them. We don't have to obey them.
So in this way, we learn to rest in a sense of wholeness, ease and peace that's beyond or beneath positive and negative thoughts and emotions. And that sense of peace can stay with us no matter what's passing through the moment. So the more we can learn to rest in mindful awareness, the less pulled around we are by all of our thoughts and emotions. And the more we find true freedom and peace of mind. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us.
And just inviting you now to settle in for today's meditation.
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Melli has a beautiful way of guiding and reminding us of the stillness within.
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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.
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Truly life changing. This isn't solely meditation and mindfulness...this is about striving to be the best the versions of ourselves.
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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.
- 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.
- Babs312
Shamash's guidance is a gift of wisdom to help us in our busy and stressful lives.
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Excellent! Cory gently guides you into internal peace.
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A necessary tool for those who feel lost.
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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
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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