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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 taming the craving mind. So the way our minds evolved means that we have a really strong impulse towards always wanting more. For our ancestors who lived as hunter-gatherers, life was really difficult and dangerous. There were huge challenges to survival, like dangerous predators, rival clans and adverse weather conditions and resources were really scarce.
Any advantage you could get to survive was really imperative. So the mind would always be thinking you need more. You need more water. You need more food. You need better shelter.
You need better weapons. You need to get better clothing to keep off the elements. So the mind is thinking in that way really was a matter of survival. It was a matter of survival to always be wanting more and better. Now, these days, the human mind still does the same thing, right? The mind keeps telling us we don't have enough.
We need more, more, more. So if we don't learn to recognize this craving mind and learn to tame it, we can get caught up in very unhelpful habits like overeating, overspending, overworking to get more stuff. We can get caught up in addictions of all kinds as well. So, how do we learn to tame the craving mind so that we can live a more genuinely fulfilling and meaningful life? One way is through a mindfulness practice called urge surfing, which is really just a new way of relating to the cravings and urges that we have when they arrive. The basics of this practice is really simple.
It's actually just to bring conscious awareness to those moments when we have an urge or a craving, or that sense of dissatisfaction, like something's missing. So urge surfing teaches us to connect with what's actually happening in our body and mind at the moment that we feel an urge. Like are we truly hungry in that moment? Are there feelings we're trying to escape from through eating? Are we feeling dissatisfied? What does an urge actually feel like in that moment in our body? That brief moment of awareness allows you to slow down, become attuned to what's going on, and it creates some space in between you and the urge so that you can respond to what's arising instead of just reacting out of habit. So in today's meditation, I'm going to guide you through a practice of urge surfing so that you can experience it for yourself and then take this practice with you into daily life. But I also extend this invitation for today in daily life.
Just see if you can meet any urges that arise with mindful awareness. So when you feel an urge, try slowing down, taking a breath, and then gently staying with the feeling for a minute or so, just observing it with curiosity and acceptance. After that, you can just deliberately choose whether to have that cookie or whatever the thing is. But whatever you choose, you choose it with full awareness. By staying with the sensations like this, you're training the craving mind to settle and soften and cultivating greater wisdom and contentment from within.
So as always thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.
Taming the Craving Mind
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 taming the craving mind. So the way our minds evolved means that we have a really strong impulse towards always wanting more. For our ancestors who lived as hunter-gatherers, life was really difficult and dangerous. There were huge challenges to survival, like dangerous predators, rival clans and adverse weather conditions and resources were really scarce.
Any advantage you could get to survive was really imperative. So the mind would always be thinking you need more. You need more water. You need more food. You need better shelter.
You need better weapons. You need to get better clothing to keep off the elements. So the mind is thinking in that way really was a matter of survival. It was a matter of survival to always be wanting more and better. Now, these days, the human mind still does the same thing, right? The mind keeps telling us we don't have enough.
We need more, more, more. So if we don't learn to recognize this craving mind and learn to tame it, we can get caught up in very unhelpful habits like overeating, overspending, overworking to get more stuff. We can get caught up in addictions of all kinds as well. So, how do we learn to tame the craving mind so that we can live a more genuinely fulfilling and meaningful life? One way is through a mindfulness practice called urge surfing, which is really just a new way of relating to the cravings and urges that we have when they arrive. The basics of this practice is really simple.
It's actually just to bring conscious awareness to those moments when we have an urge or a craving, or that sense of dissatisfaction, like something's missing. So urge surfing teaches us to connect with what's actually happening in our body and mind at the moment that we feel an urge. Like are we truly hungry in that moment? Are there feelings we're trying to escape from through eating? Are we feeling dissatisfied? What does an urge actually feel like in that moment in our body? That brief moment of awareness allows you to slow down, become attuned to what's going on, and it creates some space in between you and the urge so that you can respond to what's arising instead of just reacting out of habit. So in today's meditation, I'm going to guide you through a practice of urge surfing so that you can experience it for yourself and then take this practice with you into daily life. But I also extend this invitation for today in daily life.
Just see if you can meet any urges that arise with mindful awareness. So when you feel an urge, try slowing down, taking a breath, and then gently staying with the feeling for a minute or so, just observing it with curiosity and acceptance. After that, you can just deliberately choose whether to have that cookie or whatever the thing is. But whatever you choose, you choose it with full awareness. By staying with the sensations like this, you're training the craving mind to settle and soften and cultivating greater wisdom and contentment from within.
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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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
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- Paul Gilbert, PhD, FBPsS, OBE, Centre for Compassion Research and Training, University of Derby, United Kingdom
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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