Podcast Summary
Mindfulness meditation with sounds: Practicing mindfulness meditation with sounds can help us distinguish between our thoughts and reality, allowing us to recognize distortions and better understand the present moment.
Our thoughts are not always reflective of reality, and practicing mindfulness meditation with sounds can help us distinguish between the two. Wondery subscribers can listen to the 10% Happier podcast, featuring this meditation with Booker, a university lecturer, public speaker, and Buddhist philosophy and meditation teacher. During the meditation, Booker guides listeners to find their anchor, focus on sounds, and observe how their minds attach labels and emotions to those sounds. By doing so, we can learn to recognize the distortions in our thoughts and better understand what is truly happening in the present moment.
Environmental sounds and meditation: During meditation, observing and questioning the stories created in response to sounds can help us stay present and grounded in reality, reducing stress and increasing mindfulness.
Our minds have a natural tendency to create stories based on the sounds we hear in our environment. During meditation, we can observe these stories and question their truth. The practice of observing and questioning can help us stay present and grounded in reality. The story we create in response to sounds can change over time, and it's important to remember that what is true now may be different from what we initially thought. After practicing meditation, we can deepen our breath, slowly open our eyes, and orient ourselves back to our space. This practice can be beneficial for reducing stress and increasing mindfulness. You can find more meditations like this one on the 10% Happier app, which is available for download on various platforms. If you enjoy the app, you can listen early and ad-free by subscribing to Wondery Plus or through Amazon Music for Prime members. Don't forget to fill out a short survey at Wondery.com/survey to tell us about yourself.