Episode 155: Experimenting with Meditation and Mindfulness - Part 1

I don’t have a meditation practice of my own.  In fact, I’m pretty resistant to it. I have a lot of rules around meditation and I’m pretty rigid in how I think about it.  But, with all the stress in the world recently and my own anxiety, I thought it might be helpful to revisit meditation.  Meditation, after all, puts our anxiety front and center. It encourages us to make space for it so that we can soften our feelings of anxiousness and stress. Maybe it could help?  That’s why I decided that doing an experiment would be a lighthearted and fun way to reintroduce meditation back into my life. Plus, it would be a space for play and exploration rather than rules.  In this episode, I sit down with my friend Sean McMullin of Yellow House Media, who is the producer of this podcast, to talk about experimenting with meditation and mindfulness.  Sean’s been practicing meditation for nine months at the time of recording and is light years ahead of me—and he also understands my blocks and resistance to meditation. Listen to the full episode to hear: The moment when Nancy realized that she needed to start adding meditation into her morning routine Sean’s experience with daily meditation plus how long his meditations were when he first started and how long they are today Nancy and Sean explore the reasons behind why people meditate, why they don’t, and common expectations (like meditation is going to make everything easier in life) How people with high functioning anxiety might struggle with establishing a daily meditation habit and what to do about it Learn more about Sean McMullin: Yellow House Media Learn more about Nancy: Coach in Your Pocket The Happier Approach Book Live Happier Website Resources mentioned in this episode Headspace Meditation App The Real Point of Meditating by Mike Sturm on Medium The Science of Mindfulness | Dr. Ron Siegel | Talks at Google The Art of Noticing by Rob WalkerVisit: https://NancyJaneSmith.comLearn More About Self Loyalty School: https://selfloyaltyschool.com