• apps: aura, calm, headspace, insight timer
• sounds: peaceful meditation, yoga & meditation, soundrown

guide for begginners ☉

• sit for just two minutes. start with just two minutes a day for a week. if that goes well, increase by another two minutes and do that for a week. if all goes well, by increasing just a little at a time, you’ll be meditating for 10 minutes a day in the 2nd month.
• do it first thing each morning. set a reminder for every morning when you get up, put a note that says “meditate” somewhere where you’ll see it.
• don’t get caught up in the how — just do. it’s just for two minutes at first anyway, so just sit. later you can worry about optimizing it so you’ll be comfortable for longer, but in the beginning it doesn’t matter much, just sit somewhere quiet and comfortable.
• check in with how you’re feeling. how does your body feel? what is the quality of your mind? busy? tired? anxious? see whatever you’re bringing to this meditation session as completely OK.
• count your breaths. turn your attention to your breath. just place the attention on your breath as it comes in, and follow it through your nose all the way down to your lungs.
• come back when you wander. your mind will wander. when you notice your mind wandering, smile, and simply gently return to your breath. count “one” again, and start over.
• develop a loving attitude. when you notice thoughts and feelings arising during meditation, as they will, look at them with a friendly attitude. see them as friends, not intruders or enemies. they are a part of you, though not all of you. be friendly and not harsh.
• don’t worry too much that you’re doing it wrong. there’s no perfect way to do it, just be happy you’re doing it.
• become friends with yourself. as you get to know yourself, do it with a friendly attitude instead of one of criticism. you’re getting to know a friend.
• smile when you’re done. when you’re finished with your two minutes, smile. be grateful that you had this time to yourself, that you stuck with your commitment, that you showed yourself that you’re trustworthy, where you took the time to get to know yourself and make friends with yourself. that’s an amazing two minutes of your life.

motivation quotes ☉

Meditation takes gumption. It is certainly a great deal easier just to sit back and watch television. So why bother? Why waste all that time and energy when you could be out enjoying yourself? Why? Simple. Because you are human. And just because of the simple fact that you are human, you find yourself heir to an inherent unsatisfactoriness in life, which simply will not go away. You can suppress it from your awareness for a time. You can distract yourself for hours on end, but it always comes back— usually when you least expect it. All of a sudden, seemingly out of the blue, you sit up, take stock, and realize your actual situation in life.

We are so addicted to looking outside ourselves that we have lost access to our inner being almost completely. We are terrified to look inward, because our culture has given us no idea of what we will find. We may even think that if we do, we will be in danger of madness. This is one of the last and most resourceful ploys of ego to prevent us from discovering our real nature. So we make our lives so hectic that we eliminate the slightest risk of looking into ourselves. Even the idea of meditation can scare people. When they hear the words egoless or emptiness, they think that experiencing those states will be like being thrown out the door of a spaceship to float forever in a dark, chilling void. Nothing could be further from the truth. But in a world dedicated to distraction, silence and stillness terrify us; we protect ourselves from them with noise and frantic busyness. Looking into the nature of our mind is the last thing we would dare to do.