by Matthew Young | Last updated Jan 20, 2026 | Published on Jan 16, 2026 | Articles
Earlier this year I shared a somewhat provocative article on why “watching your thoughts like clouds passing through the sky” might be the worst meditation advice ever. Out of curiosity, I posted it on Reddit, to see what the meditation community there might think....
by Matthew Young | Last updated Jan 6, 2026 | Published on Dec 22, 2025 | Articles
Okay, so maybe that heading grabbed your attention. And no, it’s not clickbait. It’s a genuine invitation to question the usefulness of one of the most common metaphors used in mindfulness practices. Yes. It is deliberately provocative. It might raise your...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Feb 23, 2023 | Published on Feb 23, 2023 | Articles
One of the most common complaints I hear from my students is that they regularly nod off whilst meditating. These poor souls worry that if they fall asleep then they won’t get the full benefits of their practice. This is what I call a high quality problem. In...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Oct 11, 2023 | Published on Jan 3, 2021 | Articles
Meditation is simple, uncomplicated and relatively easy to do. Maintaining a practice however, can be quite a challenge. Indeed, most people I know admit to having an on-again off-again relationship with meditation. And that, I’d like to suggest, is perfectly...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Feb 18, 2020 | Published on Feb 18, 2020 | Articles
In the third week of our Meditation and Mindfulness for Beginners Course we introduce the idea that meditation is a simple three-step process in which you continually: Focus Lose Focus Refocus We stress that the idea in meditation is not to stay focused all the time...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Jan 1, 2020 | Published on Dec 30, 2019 | Articles
Have you ever gone out on a Sunday morning, returned home with a gorgeous pot plant, and then watched as it slowly withered away and died over the coming weeks? Perhaps no one ever told you that a plant, like a pet, needs more care and attention than you’d...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Aug 28, 2019 | Published on Aug 28, 2019 | Articles
Innovation and meditation are words that don’t often go together. In fact, in some circles, exploration is actively discouraged. The assumption is that the teacher or tradition know best, and that since the teachings and techniques have been around for a few...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Mar 1, 2019 | Published on Mar 1, 2019 | Articles
Standard mindfulness instructions invite you to pay attention to your thoughts and emotions — but not to get caught up in them. Various metaphors are employed to illustrate this idea. Watch your thoughts like: clouds floating across the sky, or leaves flowing down a...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Mar 19, 2020 | Published on Jan 30, 2019 | Articles
“A ship in harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” — John A. Shedd A few short years ago there was no such thing as a meditation app. Today, there are hundreds. On just one of them — Insight Timer — you can select from 15,000 guided...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Mar 16, 2021 | Published on Dec 30, 2018 | Articles
If you’re like me, you’ve probably had days, (and maybe even weeks or months), when you haven’t felt that inspired to meditate. Like exercise programs and healthy diets, a meditation practice can seem like a fantastic idea at some times, and a burden...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Jan 26, 2022 | Published on Nov 29, 2018 | Articles
Imagine this: you go to bed at 10:30pm but two hours later you’re still not asleep. Or this: it’s 2:30am and you suddenly wake up, thoughts about what you have to do at work tomorrow queuing up like spam in you head. Or this: it’s 6am; you’ve...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Nov 1, 2018 | Published on Oct 28, 2018 | Articles
I frequently meet people who say they would like to meditate. Of course, they don’t actually meditate, and don’t really have any intention of doing so. They like to meditate in the same way they’d like to win the lottery (without ever buying a...
