The Headspace Guide to: Mindfulness & Meditation

by Andy Puddicombe

Seeing the chaos of my mind when I sat to meditate had simply triggered the habitual tendency to jump in and take charge, to sort everything out.

But it turns out no amount of force will result in a feeling of calm.

So when you sit down with this wild horse, this wild mind, you need to give it lots of room. Rather than trying to immediately focus on the object of meditation, give your mind time to settle, to relax a little. What’s the hurry?’

‘We’re attracted to the things we like and we become attached to these things. We don’t want to give them up for anything. The only problem is, the more we chase after them the further away they appear. And the more we try to hold on to these pleasant feelings, the more fearful we become of losing them.’

Headspace does not mean being free from emotions, but rather existing in a place where you are at ease with whatever emotion is present.

The thing is that no matter what happens, your only job is to watch the play unfold.

We actually have the ability not to take thoughts too seriously. It’s just that we’ve created boundaries for when we should start to take them seriously.