Meditation School Podcast #1: 4 Doorways To Meditation

Are you ready to break free of anxiety, ground into a consistent meditation practice, and find inner-peace?

The Meditation School Podcast, hosted by David Gandelman, is full of short, direct strategies, tools, stories, and meditations, to guide you to a deep state of calmness and connection purpose. Get ready to laugh, let go, and enjoy the process of awakening to your authentic nature, without wasting any time.

Transcript

Hey friends,

Welcome to the first episode of the Meditation School Podcast.

I'm David,

I'm your guide.

You may have heard a few of my other podcasts or listened to some of my meditations before and if you have,

Welcome.

And if this is your first rodeo,

Well get on because we're going to have some fun.

I want to start this podcast out before I even explain what it's about with a little personal story.

A family friend slash relative of mine once,

I'll say it vaguely that way,

Came up to me and said in a Russian accent,

David,

What do you do for a living?

And I told him,

You know,

I teach meditation and I podcast and I teach retreats and courses,

All that kind of jazz.

And he said,

So you're essentially saying your job is to make other people happy.

And I was like,

Yeah,

You could say that.

And his response was,

What kind of bullshit is this?

Have you ever had that experience where you're going for something,

You know,

It's right for you and other people are like,

What the heck is this?

I think we all experienced that when we started a new project.

So here we are with this new project,

The meditation school podcast,

Which is really coming out of meditation school,

The program.

That's where I teach live every month and where my students are.

And I wanted to create the podcast because I wanted a place for me to be able to not just guide meditation,

But do a little bit more explaining storytelling,

Maybe some insight into the way I see meditation,

How it can fit into our lives,

How it doesn't have to be overly boring or too difficult or too rigid or too dogmatic or too intellectual or too perfect.

And for the first episode,

I want to go into the four reasons that we meditate.

Through all my experience meditating and teaching,

I've basically noticed that there are four doorways people come into meditation through,

Four kind of experiences that they're looking to have essentially.

And I want to break those down today.

And maybe while you listen,

You can find out which reason you're coming to meditation for or if it's a combination or if you've been in one for a while and you're ready to switch to another or kind of expand the umbrella.

So let's start with number one.

The first reason we meditate and I think most people come to meditation is because they want to heal.

And by heal,

I mean,

Heal anxiety,

Heal stress,

Heal all the noise in their head,

Heal some emotional pain,

Some past trauma,

Heal something that just is on this like looping ruminating replay going on in their heads over and over that they can't seem to move past or understand.

Maybe you've got loud critics in the back of your head.

They're just like,

You're not good enough.

You'll never make it.

That was a bad decision.

Maybe yours has a different voice or accent.

You know,

They come in all different shapes and sizes.

But essentially we all have that kind of inner critic experience,

Especially when we meditate,

But also at work with our families,

When we're going to build a business,

When we're going to be creative.

And so when we meditate,

We can learn how to turn that voice down and get rid of all the noise.

So the first reason we meditate and I would say,

And I'm just making this up,

But probably 80 plus percent of people who come to meditation come through the doorway of wanting to be healed in some way.

So healing ourselves is the first reason we meditate.

The second reason a lot of people come to meditation is to create.

So you might sit down and do an abundance meditation or a visualization,

Right?

A meditation to help you see the next step in your life,

To help you uncover what your real desires or dreams are.

So we meditate to create.

Maybe it's a creative project.

Maybe it's something in your personal life,

Like you're looking to create a relationship.

Maybe you're looking to create a business or to do travel.

And you sit down,

You close your eyes to meditate,

To see,

To visualize,

And to find clarity of what it really is for you.

So we sit down to meditate,

To heal,

To create.

And the third reason is to discover.

So who the hell am I?

And who are you listening to this?

Who are you beyond your name,

Beyond your body,

Beyond your biography,

Right?

Your history,

Beyond what people think you are,

Say you are,

Gossip about you.

Maybe they don't gossip about you.

I think they gossip about me just a little.

Is he really that calm?

The answer is no.

So what are you beyond all of these forms?

Who are you really?

And meditation helps us awaken to who we really are.

That awareness behind the thoughts,

That awareness behind the emotions,

That awareness inside of the body,

That ephemeral,

Invisible,

Untouchable part of us that doesn't ever seem to get old,

That maybe is glowing through our eyes when we're born and again when we die,

And hopefully sometime in the middle.

So the third reason we meditate is to discover who we are.

Or maybe we're just discovering something about ourselves.

You know,

I didn't realize I had this desire.

I didn't realize this was what I was about or who I am or what my values are.

Sometimes we discover our values as we meditate.

And then the fourth reason we meditate is for experience.

And this is very broad.

So you might meditate for the experience of inner peace.

Or perhaps you meditate for the experience of connection,

Of oneness.

Maybe sit underneath a tree and you could feel the tree or the forest,

The sky or the earth.

Or you meditate with your partner and you experience a connection with them.

Or you want to experience bliss or emptiness or altered states of consciousness.

Maybe you want to experience the universe.

Maybe you want to experience beyond the horizon in some way.

I don't know if there are any boundaries to this one.

Maybe you just want to experience being more like yourself because you haven't felt like yourself lately.

If you've been depressed or stuck or sad or confused,

Perhaps you're here to experience just being yourself.

And there's this quote that I love from Mark Twain where he says,

The two most important days of your life are the day you're born and the day you find out why.

And I think in meditation,

We're always finding out why.

And let's start with asking why are we meditating?

Why are you meditating?

Why are you really here?

And it's okay if you're here to let go of stress or anxiety.

That might lead to something much deeper.

And it often does if you stick with your practice.

And in future episodes,

We'll talk about how to stick with our practice,

How to find a practice,

How to really ground into something that works for us and develop into this space.

Because the way the world is now with all of the noise,

All of the mental pollution in the ethers of humanity,

We really need to learn how to unplug,

How to go inwards,

How to find our answers,

And how to come out the other side more like ourselves.

If you're always putting your energy out and never drawing it in,

You're going to be depleted.

And you're not going to be able to heal.

You're not going to be able to create.

You're not going to be able to discover or experience.

And I think a healthy meditation practice is one where you do all four of those.

So thanks for being on this ride with me.

I'm really looking forward to doing a lot of episodes of this podcast and sharing maybe some of my experiences with meditation that can hopefully help you on your path.

And if you like the podcast,

Rate it.

If you don't like it,

Just don't rate it.

Go have a bagel or something.

And for all of those who meditate with me on Insight Timer or Meditation School or wherever else,

I look forward to seeing you in class and look forward to seeing you in the next episode of Meditation School,

Of the Meditation School podcast.

Enjoy yourself and make sure you sit and close your eyes once in a while.

Take care.

Reviews

Love this idea and the "podcast" look forward to the next one 🙂

I am enjoying your warmth & welcoming perspective. You have made me want to actually explore the reasons behind my desire to meditate. Prior to listening to you, I never thought much about my reasons but rather I just decided this is something I want to do. Perhaps this is why I find it so difficult to meditate by not knowing my motivation.

Great starting point (or in my case returning point).
Thank you David 🙏

Lovely and interesting thanks.. and you're funny 😄
Off for my bagel 🥯 now

I’m looking forward to listening more. Thank You 🙏🏻

Thank you so much! Listening to this made me go into some reflection on my spiritual practices. I think it helped me better understand why I meditate and now that it's clearer, I can be more consistent with my practice. And of course, now that I have left a rating, I am going to go get a bagel or something 😁

👍thanks for sharing David. Great help, each time🙏

Loved this. And yes, all of the above reasons. Thank you

Made me wonder why do I meditate? 🤔 I came away thinking, I better meditate on that 🧘🏼‍♀️

I like David’s style!

I accidentally clicked on this podcast...how fortunate!!!! Next time it won’t be accidental. Thanks so much.

Love your sense of humour and your down to earth chatting. Informative and reflective; Thank you very much!

Very helpful and practical with room for me to reflect !! Thank you

Very good 😌. Looking forward to more. 🌟

I’m new to meditating and David speaks in a way I can understand. I also enjoy his sense of humor. Looking forward to growing my meditation practice🙏🙏

Beautiful just what I’m looking for. Thank you 🙏

Love the great sense of humour. Look forward to following David’s future meditation sessions. Thank you 🙏🏼♥️

Clear and interesting.

You have such a special gift keep doing what you do 🙏🏻😊

Completely resonate with all reasons for meditating. Thank you for sharing your insights 🙏