Day 1: Is Mindfulness Only About Feeling Calm?

Welcome to the Mindfulness Meditation Challenge, designed to help you build a meditation habit and seamlessly integrate mindfulness into your daily life. The whole challenge is available in the form of playlist at the bottom of my profile.

In this session, we’re going to debunk one of the biggest misconceptions about mindfulness. Many beginners assume that mindfulness meditation is all about reaching a special state of calm, or that it’s just a fancy way to relax or take a mental nap. But is that really what mindfulness is? Let's explore together and discover the true essence of this powerful practice!

This meditation was recorded during one of the live events on Insight Timer. So, if you find this meditation helpful, you can support my work through a small donation.

Image Credit: By Leolo212 via Pixabay

Transcript

Hello everyone,

Welcome to this mindfulness meditation challenge.

With the same practice,

You guys are going to have different different experiences.

So some days it's going to be like calm,

Some days you're going to have,

You know,

I don't know,

Odd sensations in your body,

Like you're growing bigger or you're going,

You know,

Smaller or different different kinds of sensations,

You're going to feel like so much at peace.

And at times you're going to be agitated,

You're going to feel more irritated,

You're going to become hyper aware of that distractedness or overthinking and all of that.

So with every practice,

You're going to have a different kind of experience.

Mindfulness is not just about feeling calm and you know,

Having all those pleasurable feelings.

It's about meeting the reality,

Whether it is pleasant,

Whether it is,

You know,

Unpleasant.

I think all of us can relate that,

You know,

When we are not feeling good,

We try to distract ourselves by,

You know,

Anything,

Anything possible,

You know,

Watching TV,

This scrolling thing and even work,

Work can also be a distraction.

So yeah,

Many other things and those just temporarily suppress our feelings,

But our feelings are still there.

They will come out eventually,

Either,

You know,

Right now,

Or in the form of maybe physical illness because we are just storing the energy,

Just bounding it into our body,

Right?

So it's very nice practice to,

You know,

Just notice what is happening inside us and just be there because those feelings are not bad.

No emotion,

No feeling is bad,

Actually.

Yes,

It feels unpleasant,

But it has a purpose.

It's there for a reason and it's usually to serve us,

Okay?

Even though calm mind or,

You know,

Lesser number of thoughts or feeling alone,

It is not the aim,

But it is a positive side effect.

The aim is to just meet reality as it is,

That is what is mindfulness,

Okay?

So this session has come to an end.

So thank you so much everyone for tuning in,

Sending my love and healing to all of you.