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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, we're exploring one of the essential attitudinal foundations of mindfulness, non-striving. So non-striving is often a tricky concept for Westerners to grasp because from childhood, most of us have been trained to achieve, set goals, be competitive, aim for success and keep moving forward. Now what happens is in today's world, we tend to have these long to-do lists and huge calendars and, and quite a big kind of daily pressure to succeed. So it's really easy to find ourselves rushing through our days, our weeks, our years, without being present enough to truly live them.
So meditation is this one time in our lives where we can completely let go of any striving towards getting anywhere else, but where we are in just that moment. We're not trying to make anything happen, we're not trying to fix anything, solve anything, become anything, or change anything at all. And contrary to many misconceptions about mindfulness, we're not trying to get into any special state of mind. In fact, from the perspective of mindfulness, every state is a special state and every moment is a special moment, no matter what's arising. So part of non-striving means we can finally let go of trying to become something better and allow ourselves to just rest in being just as we are.
So we're learning to allow the flow of life to unfold, letting it be as it is without having any agenda to change it or wishing it was different. So it turns out that this kind of letting go into non-striving is incredibly and deeply healing and rejuvenating, because many of us live our lives with minds that are just spinning all the time with so many agendas and desires. So we're often living our moments as a means to an end toward some better future. You know, we're craving something more, to be more, achieve more, get more, have more, or we're trying to escape or push something away. And when the mind is spinning with all of that, it's really easy actually to become stressed, distracted, and tense.
So when we let go of striving and relax into mindfulness, we can finally just be fully alive and fully open to the kind of richness and beauty of what's already here. And it's such a relief to let go and just be. Now, of course, this way of being, this non-striving can flow into our daily life too. It doesn't mean you can't get things done in life. On the contrary, in this state of being when you're fully present, you can do what needs to be done in your life from a place of clear-headed mindful awareness.
And you're doing will have so much of a new quality of it when it comes from a state of non-striving. So if you care to, now let's practice meditation together and give ourselves the rare and precious gift of some time to simply be.
The Wisdom of Non-Striving
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, we're exploring one of the essential attitudinal foundations of mindfulness, non-striving. So non-striving is often a tricky concept for Westerners to grasp because from childhood, most of us have been trained to achieve, set goals, be competitive, aim for success and keep moving forward. Now what happens is in today's world, we tend to have these long to-do lists and huge calendars and, and quite a big kind of daily pressure to succeed. So it's really easy to find ourselves rushing through our days, our weeks, our years, without being present enough to truly live them.
So meditation is this one time in our lives where we can completely let go of any striving towards getting anywhere else, but where we are in just that moment. We're not trying to make anything happen, we're not trying to fix anything, solve anything, become anything, or change anything at all. And contrary to many misconceptions about mindfulness, we're not trying to get into any special state of mind. In fact, from the perspective of mindfulness, every state is a special state and every moment is a special moment, no matter what's arising. So part of non-striving means we can finally let go of trying to become something better and allow ourselves to just rest in being just as we are.
So we're learning to allow the flow of life to unfold, letting it be as it is without having any agenda to change it or wishing it was different. So it turns out that this kind of letting go into non-striving is incredibly and deeply healing and rejuvenating, because many of us live our lives with minds that are just spinning all the time with so many agendas and desires. So we're often living our moments as a means to an end toward some better future. You know, we're craving something more, to be more, achieve more, get more, have more, or we're trying to escape or push something away. And when the mind is spinning with all of that, it's really easy actually to become stressed, distracted, and tense.
So when we let go of striving and relax into mindfulness, we can finally just be fully alive and fully open to the kind of richness and beauty of what's already here. And it's such a relief to let go and just be. Now, of course, this way of being, this non-striving can flow into our daily life too. It doesn't mean you can't get things done in life. On the contrary, in this state of being when you're fully present, you can do what needs to be done in your life from a place of clear-headed mindful awareness.
And you're doing will have so much of a new quality of it when it comes from a state of non-striving. So if you care to, now let's practice meditation together and give ourselves the rare and precious gift of some time to simply be.
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Kelly Boys offers a fresh and illuminating take on how to step out of lifelong patterns that keep snagging us.
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Relaxing and assuring beyond description... thank you, Cory.
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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.
- Babs312
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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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