Mindfulness Is The Missing Piece

Anyone who knows me well is aware that I am very interested in philosophy, meditation, and all forms of esoterica. Long story short, if you ever want to dive into discussions around consciousness, free will, morality, meditation, etc. I am ready!

I know that many people don't share my love for these kinds of "out there" discussions, and when I start talking about meditation and mindfulness, it can turn some people off.

However, I don't want the practicality and incredible benefits of a basic meditation and mindfulness practice to be overshadowed by stereotypes and caricatures.

I would go as far as to say: Meditation and mindfulness are the missing pieces for physical and mental health for many people.

If you are someone who cares about your health, has dialed in training, nutrition, and sleep, but always waves off discussions of meditation, I think you owe it to yourself to have a more open mind and experiment.

At its core, a good meditation practice is about being aware of what is happening in your mind and body and directing your attention. Most people are not aware of their thoughts from moment to moment. They are jerked around by feelings that seem to arise out of nowhere. A basic meditation practice can help you realize that you don't have to believe every thought that comes to mind. You can control your attention (a vanishingly rare skill in the modern age), and you can drastically shorten the half-life of negative emotions like fear and anger.

If you can genuinely say that you are in control of your attention most of the time and you are at (or close to) your calmest and most present when you are with your friends and family, good for you. If not, I challenge you to have an open mind and explore meditation and mindfulness.

One of my mentors has said that we have two simple goals in life: “Be a Good person and Pay Attention.”

Meditation helps you do both.

To get you started, I recorded a 10-minute body scan meditation and released it on my podcast feed. This kind of practice is a great place to start because it is simple, guided and feels great. It emphasizes the obvious practical benefits of meditation such as decreased pain, stress and better sleep.

If you want to dive deeper (which I highly recommend), use this link for a free 30 day trial of Waking Up.

This is the app I most often recommend for people interested in meditation. I have no relationship and do not make any money off of this, I just love the app.