The Headspace Guide to: Mindfulness & Meditation

by Andy Puddicombe

‘Happiness is just happiness,’ he went on, ‘no big deal. It comes and it goes. Sadness is just sadness, no big deal. It comes and it goes. If you can give up your desire to always experience pleasant things, at the same time as giving up your fear of experiencing unpleasant things, then you’ll have a quiet mind.’

The kind of happiness that I’m talking about is the ability to feel comfortable no matter what emotion arises.’

emotion itself is often not the problem. It’s the way we react to it that causes the problem.

In a randomized control study, researchers found that a mindfulness-based approach was more effective than medication in preventing the relapse of depression.

We tend to identify very strongly with being a certain type of person, but when you do this exercise honestly, it makes you realise that actually we are much more than that one type of person. We’re always changing, one moment to the next, one day to the next. And when you see this clearly, it becomes more difficult to hold on to any fixed views of how you see yourself. The result is a feeling of more freedom, of no longer needing to follow the same habitual patterns or cling to a certain identity.

Have you ever noticed how much emphasis some people place on even the smallest amount of difficulty in their lives, and how little time they spend reflecting on moments of happiness?