Mark Hyman, MD’s Post

How I Got Hooked on Meditation (and How You Can Too) I used to think that meditation was a waste of time. I was too busy and stressed to sit still and do nothing. I had deadlines to meet, emails to answer, and projects to manage. I didn’t have time for some hippie nonsense. But then, something changed. I stumbled upon an app that claimed to teach me how to meditate in just 10 minutes a day. I was curious, so I downloaded it and gave it a try. The app was simple and easy to use. It had a friendly voice that guided me through the basics of meditation. It also had a colorful interface that showed me my progress and achievements. It made me feel good about myself and my practice. But what really hooked me was the variable reward. Every time I completed a session, I felt a sense of calm and clarity. I also noticed that I was more focused and productive at work. I was less reactive and more creative. I was happier and healthier. I wanted more of that feeling, so I kept using the app. I started to look forward to my daily meditation. It became a habit, a part of my routine. I was hooked. And you know what? You can get hooked too. Meditation is not a waste of time. It’s a powerful tool that can help you improve your mental and physical well-being. It can also help you build better habits and products. This a lesson I learned from the book "Hooked" by Nir Eyal that has  fascinating and practical guide that will teach you the psychology and science behind user behavior and habits. So, what are you waiting for? Get hooked on meditation today and see the difference it can make in your life. Trust me, you won’t regret it. 😊

🦋 The best kind of meditation is undoubtedly the one you consistently practice. It's not about finding the perfect technique but rather discovering what resonates with you and making it a regular part of your life. ❣️Here are three tips to enhance your meditation practice and link it to self-love: 1️⃣ Find Your Fit: Experiment with different meditation styles to see what feels right for you. Whether it's mindfulness, loving-kindness, or guided visualizations, the key is consistency. Choosing a method that you enjoy is more likely to inspire daily practice, fostering a deeper connection with yourself. 2️⃣ Set a Regular Time: Commit to meditating at the same time each day. This consistency builds a habit, making meditation a non-negotiable part of your routine. Early morning or before bed are often times when the mind is more receptive, but the best time is one that fits seamlessly into your life. 3️⃣ Embrace Imperfection: Approach your practice with kindness and patience. Some days will be easier than others. 🙏 Meditation is not about achieving a perfect state of calm but about observing and accepting your thoughts and feelings without judgment. This gentle approach nurtures self-love, reminding you that you are enough, exactly as you are. ♥️ Linking meditation to self love is about recognizing that taking the time to meditate is an act of self-care. It's a commitment to looking inward, understanding yourself better, and offering yourself the same compassion and kindness you would offer a dear friend. ♥️ This practice not only benefits your mental and emotional well-being but also enhances your capacity to extend love and empathy towards others. Please join us!! LOVE THYSELF LOUNGE! THURSDAY JULY 11,2024 11:00 am pst

Isn't it somehow ironic that meditation has become a tool to be more productive? How many people meditate for the sake of enjoying the meditation and present moment vs expecting a benefit in other areas of their (professional) life? I stumbled upon a change in perspective on this recently. Meditation was a tool to help me be a better CEO - I attached a clear expected outcome to my practice. At the end of each session I did, the guided meditation (Sam Harris IYKYK), would ask you to try to find brief moments throughout the day where you tap into the meditative state. I never could or I would always forget to find these moments. Then, I stopped meditating. I was fed up with trying to optimise my whole life. I changed my routine. And I felt meditation was just another piece of my stupid obsession to be constantly productive. How boring and limiting, when everything you do is viewed through the lens of expecting an outcome. You realise quickly that productivity is also just an escape from confronting other emotions. And confronting emotions forces you to mature your response to them. Weirdly, I haven't meditated in a structured manner in a while now, but oddly find more meditative moments throughout the day than I ever did before. Moments like feeling anger, sadness, or frustration, but instead of resisting the emotions, just observing them and letting them be, without always becoming them. Or moments when you do an activity at home without expecting a payoff or outcome at the end - simply for the pleasure of the activity itself. I feel like I'm meditating more, without actually sitting down to meditate. And I find joy in activities that before I found frustrating and meaningless - because they didn't advance a mission or a goal. Anyway, it's fun learning how to be a human being. Thought I'd share in case anybody else is on a similar journey.

More than 20 years ago, I started getting curious about meditation. I had no idea what it was, let alone how it worked. What I knew were two things: I wanted to learn how to meditate. I wanted it to make me feel peaceful - and free. I was looking for freedom from my relentless negative racing mind. I wanted freedom from my own negative emotions and from the crushing darkness in the world. Along the journey, I realized I also was looking for freedom from teachers, schools, spiritual dogma and guru-ism. I wanted to find a way to feel the power that I have within me. But I had no idea how to get there. My decades long quest led me to try different forms of yoga and meditation, living through a lot of struggle, frustration and trial & error. I found comfort in spiritual discipline for a while, only to realize: If I wanted the freedom I was looking for, I had to find it within myself. If I wanted to feel empowered to own my spiritual practice, I needed to start breaking some rules and make my own. Flash forward to today, I am creating a meditation self exploration offer to share with you. This is not going to be your average meditation course. It is about YOU having a conversation with yourself. This is becoming a toolbox, a source of inspiration, a practical and pragmatic resource to support you in finding your own way of meditating and your own unique entry points to meditative states. It will be all about finding your inner authority, your teacher within, and learning from that wisdom which is already there. You will be able to explore how YOU really want to meditate, what serves you best and how to adapt and evolve your practice, so it stays true to you - and most importantly, how it WORKS for you. Curious to hear more? You’re invited to join my early access email list. The first invite to enter this experience will go out next week! I am excited to welcome you there. Love, Sonja https://lnkd.in/ein9s3Md

Meditation insight #1: When is the best time to meditate? In general, any time is good to meditate. However, there especially conducive times during the 24 hours of a day, which are the following: 1) Early in the morning at dawn, 2) Over lunchtime at midday, 3) Early evening at dusk, 4) In the middle of the night at midnight. At those changing points of the day there is a moment of stillness which supports the practice of meditation. The most important point though is regularity. Optimally, this means daily practice and be it only 5 minutes. Leaving tradition and optimal times on the side, choose any time of the day which fits your own schedule and try to stick to it. If, for any reason you are not able to keep your schedule don’t miss it for the day but make up for at a later point during the same day. If you find you can’t find even 5 minutes don’t wait till the weekend to make it up fivefold. In such a case simply continue the next day with your schedule and try to stick with it over the following weeks, months, …years even. The mind will get used to the habit within a short time and for the period of the mediation at least it will become calm and focussed. How the mind behaves during the rest of the day (i.e. the plus 23 hours) is another story. Once this regularity has been established, the next step in the process is due. But that is the topic for another time. What is you experience with meditation? – If any? Are you thinking about picking up the tradition of #meditation? Yours, Martine

Many people practice meditation as a sort of drug to take their mind and body to an integrated happy place. I believe in meditation of many sorts, but I suspect that meditation is NOT the solution to many people's dissatisfaction and discomfort with their lives. Instead, I think the more common issue is that people do not trust their own minds to navigate their lives, and therefore force themselves to live a very unhappy existence. While a constitution may be good for an institution, it fails when relied upon for personal living. Your mind is much more competent at making decisions than a document you have created or even can create. Your body, at least all of it that you can sense, is a part of your mind from a functional perspective. When you hear something from someone, and it causes a stress in your neck or a discomfort in your stomach, this is not indigestion or muscle soreness. Your functional mind is using the tools at its disposal to communicate a message of error to you. It's only through careful listening to these errors that we can be guided by the general intelligence that operates in each of us.* How is this different from meditation? I think the common use of the word "meditation" is a time set aside to practice a sort of mindfulness. This can be a part of the listening I mention above, but even more important, I would say is to walk in a state of meditation that says, "what would be the most fun thing to do in this moment", and listen for a deep sensory answer. My prediction: If you do this, you will NOT end up spending your life in a way that you believe is frivolous, but you WILL find much more joy in work that really matters to you. You MAY end up doing things that OTHERS find frivolous, but here is where happiness may be found by channeling a bit of Elon Musk or Taylor Swift: "haters gonna gate" to all the haters, "go fu** yourself" *P.S. I am an atheist who does not believe that the universe is made up of conscious stuff, but even if I am wrong, I think my observations above still hold.

How do you like your 𝚎̶𝚐̶𝚐̶𝚜̶ meditation? There are at least as many 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 different styles of meditation as there are ways to prepare eggs. I didn't know this when I first started exploring meditation for myself, so for many years I thought "meditation is too hard, and it doesn't work for me". It's true that certain kinds of meditation don't work for me. And one type really, REALLY does... 👉 A 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 practice with a "feeling of the breath anchor" was an absolute game-changer for me. I have a very busy mind. My thoughts at times seem intrusive and overwhelming. One of several tactics I'm now using (medication and other practices as well), to great success, is this focused awareness practice where I: 🐵 Give my monkey mind something to do - something that will be more compelling than ruminating or catastrophizing. Once I do that, I can be with my thoughts differently. If you're interested in learning more, set up time with me 🗓️ for a no-obligation 30-min chat, link in comments. In it I'm happy to lead you in a short meditation in this style and/or answer any questions you have about meditation. If you want to know about my meditation coaching services or the small-group course launching in 5 weeks, I can share that too. Oh and eggs for me MUST be prepared scrambled or an omelette and then I love them. Hard-boiled, sunny side up - Yuck.

Does meditation help artists get inspired?     In my 20 Facts about the Artists that I shared recently (https://lnkd.in/er3JrWih), that I’ve implemented a small #mediation routine in my daily life. Every morning after waking up and every evening before going to bed, I try to sit down and meditate for around 15 minutes.   I simply sit down on the floor—by now I even manage to sit in the half-lotus position, before I just used to sit cross-legged—and I either listen to some sounds of nature or just sit quietly.   And then? What does it actually mean “to meditate”?   Well, the main purpose of meditation is to be still and not think of anything. It’s about #mindfulness or mindlessness, as the Buddhists would tell you.   But you will quickly notice that it’s actually not that easy to not think of anything. When you start watching your thoughts, you’ll notice that they are constantly babbling.   That’s ok. Just let them be. It’s really hard to shut off your thoughts and at the beginning you most likely won’t manage. But with time it will be getting easier.   And then you will notice some short moments, some milliseconds, where you actually didn’t have any thoughts. Amazing.   So, does meditation help #artists?   Yes! Regardless of whether you are having thoughts or not, you will quickly notice that inspiration often strikes when you are just being still.   In fact, some of the best ideas for artworks that I had recently came to me during meditation. When I get stuck with an artwork and don’t know how to go on, I often find the solution during a meditation session.    In my opinion, it’s definitely worth trying out. In the post below, I share more of my experiences and tell you how you can get started with meditation.   Do you meditate? Let me know in the comments!     #artisticinspiration #creativejourney #artistsonlinkedin #artistcommunity #artmatters https://lnkd.in/emuCbi5Z

🌟 Unveiling The Art of Meditation 🌟 Tired of boring meditation routines? Dive into the world of Self-Attention where judgment takes a back seat and your awareness takes center stage. Imagine this: Meditation that's not about forcing a zen-like state, but about embracing your present self – thoughts, emotions, and all. I had an eye-opening chat with a client recently. We both agreed – meditation's like a new dance move. It feels awkward at first, but practice makes perfect. It's not about chasing a blank mind or locking away 'negative' thoughts. Nope, it's about showering yourself with awareness. Letting every thought, feeling, and sensation be as they are, no strings attached. Ready for the twist? I've got game-changing tips to kickstart your Meditation journey: 1️⃣ Set a time (3, 5, 10, 15 minutes) ⏱️ 2️⃣ Seek your sanctuary 🏞️ 3️⃣ Eyes open or closed – your call 👀 4️⃣ Travel within – scan from toes to crown 👣 5️⃣ Tune into sensations – tingles, warmth, pulsations 🔊 6️⃣ Be a spectator, not a critic 🎭 7️⃣ Embrace your awareness – you're the star 🌟 8️⃣ Daily date with yourself – non-negotiable 📅 Remember, even a minute's retreat for you = a symphony of peace, connection, and self-love. Your mind and body will thank you. Is stress leaving its mark on you? We've all been there! To me, meditation felt like deciphering a cryptic code. I assumed our minds should be barren wastelands – but we're humans, not robots! It's about dancing with awareness and honoring what's within. So grab your meditation mat and join The Self-Attention Revolution. Dive into the canvas of your consciousness and let every hue of your awareness paint a masterpiece. 🎨 Let's redefine meditation together! Ps. Download the Self-Awareness meditation. Link in the comments.

Meditation is a complete waste of time. Said no one ever. And if they did, that person was uneducated. What meditation is not: ❌ Becoming a hippy. ❌ Listening to a soothing voice telling you to walk through fields and down paths. ❌ Trying to stop your thoughts and make your brain be quiet. What meditation is: 👌 An enlightening superpower that can help you improve EVERY area of your life. 👌 A muscle that gives you control of your mental and physical well-being. 👌 A way of seeing situations for what they are – not your twisted version of them. In a nutshell, it’s the turning on of the light that allows you to see the steps that need to be taken to let go of that which has been holding you back and start living a life that you love. Meditation alone was responsible for a significant shift in my mental well-being that stopped me knocking heavens door. Meditation combined with a process of self-discovery, release, enlightenment and re-education was what gave me what I have now – utter peace, contentment and joy with the life I have today and my ability to return to that place after any diversion. If I had a magic wand to be able to build this muscle overnight I would be a mega gazillionaire. Sadly I do not. “But I’ve tried meditation doesn’t work for me” Then you either haven’t attempted the proper method of meditation or you haven’t grasped the concept. Want to find out how to do it successfully? Drop me a comment below with ‘yes please’ and I’ll send you a link to register for my weekly meditation sessions on a Thursday evening at 7pm live on zoom. Ditch the strife 😫. Enjoy life 🥳. Be more YOU 😁.