Today we talk about the myths and benefits of meditation. You don’t have to sit cross legged, atop a peaceful, grassy knoll, detaching in transcendental bliss for hours at a time. Just a few minutes a day can bring you a connection to your true self, decrease anxiety and stress, and improve overall health. If Deepak Chopra says it’s true, we believe him.
We talk about how anyone can benefit from meditation…anyone. While meditation is commonly associated with spiritualism, Buddhism, Yoga, don’t let the stereotypes keep you from trying this truly beneficial practice. People of all faiths (or no faith at all) practice meditation. Busy, hard-working people meditate. You don’t have to wear flowy robes and loose pants (though we aren’t saying no to that, tbh) sitting in a garden with your eyes closed for hours every day to be good at meditating.
Repeat after us: Anyone. Can. Meditate.
And we believe everyone should.
The trick is making it a priority and practicing regularly. Ok…so we know it sounded too good to be true. But honestly, how difficult is 3, 5, 10 minutes a day to focus on breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out? Not really. So, yeah, it takes discipline, but not a whole bunch. And the possibilities of all the goodness that comes with meditation are pretty numerous. Like we said, if more political groups across the world had meditation, 10-minute massages, puppies and a couple warm chocolate chip cookies before meeting, we would all be existing on a better globe. Congress, call us.
Probably the best thing we can tell you, is that at chopra.com, you still have time to register for the Deepak Chopra/Oprah Winfrey 21-day meditation challenge! It starts on February 3rd, and best news of all: IT’S FREE. Kris and Kym like benefits for free. It doesn’t get better than that.
And here we are at the place where we give you more information about all the good things we talk about…drumroll…the resource list:
- The Myths. Go ahead and Google “myths about meditation. You’ll get a LOT of articles offering TONS of writeups. But really, all we needed was Deepak Chopra’s article 7 Myths of Meditation at chopra.com.
- The Apps. For meditation apps, check out verywellmind.com‘s article 8 Best Meditation Apps of 2020 for a starting point.
- Our Personal Favorite App – NOT on the list above – is called Relax Melodies which can be found in Apple’s App Store (and maybe Google’s app store as well, we don’t know as we’re iPhone gals). You can also check out their website here. The basic version is free, but Kris found the premium version worth the upgrade cost.
- Dan Harris. Dan wrote his book Ten Percent Happier outlining his path of recovery and serenity via meditation practices after suffering a full blown, on-air panic attack in June 2004. This is a good one for all the skeptics out there. Dan was HIGHLY raised-eyebrow/side-eye about the whole thing, but because he pushed through his personal misconceptions and doubts, his life is a bit more than 10% happier. Kris first learned about him after listening to the Audible audiobook version of Ten Percent Happier. Recommend: 10/10!
- Sleep Meditations. Kym’s go-to guy on YouTube for guided sleep meditations is Jason Stephenson. Check out this playlist of his guided meditations.
- Corpse Pose. Welp. Since Kris doesn’t practice yoga, we can’t fault her too harshly for not knowing the correct way to do the corpse pose is not face down, but lying on your back, face up. She’s a true crime fiend…not surprising she envisioned corpse pose face down.
In a pool. With a knife in the back.Here’s what it really is and how to do it. Tsk Kris. Making everything about murder. All the time. - Haven Gastropub in Orange. Excuse us. It’s Haven Craft Kitchen+Bar. Pffft, only plebs call it a gastropub. Anyway. Expensive coffee, but they’ll let you use their bathroom if you look desperate enough.
- Schweddy Balls. Because we HAVE to link to Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon’s NPR Saturday Night Live sketch with Alec Baldwin. WE HAVE TO. It’s the law.
Thank you for joining us dear readers! Want to know what all the write up is about? Become dear listeners! Check out The Mugly Truth Podcast’s episode “Breath In, Breathe Out” on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.
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Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox” by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured Photo of meditating woman by Pixabay on Pexels.com
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