by Matthew Young | Last updated Jun 29, 2018 | Published on Jun 28, 2018 | Articles
Meditation teachers have a habit of telling people what to do with — or about — their thoughts. Psychologists and self-help gurus do this too. Thoughts, however, are rather mysterious. Scientists can’t really say exactly what they are or how they’re formed. And...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Mar 12, 2021 | Published on May 27, 2018 | Articles
Do you have trouble staying awake when you meditate? Do you feel like it’s wrong, or bad to fall asleep — or that you’ll miss out on the benefits of meditation if you doze off? Does falling asleep mid-practice feel frustrating, or embarrassing? These are...
by Matthew Young | Last updated May 1, 2018 | Published on Apr 30, 2018 | Articles
There are elephants in the meditation room. One of them looks guilty. It’s the one that’s not meditating. At least, not as often as it thinks it should. Perhaps you don’t meditate as often as you’d like either? Why is that? Some people say they...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Apr 23, 2018 | Published on Mar 30, 2018 | Articles
Some people say meditation is boring. They’re right. It can be. Indeed, many of the most widely used meditation techniques — you’ll probably agree — do sound rather monotonous. Repeat a mantra, over and over again, inside your head. Scan the body from head...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Apr 24, 2018 | Published on Feb 28, 2018 | Articles
In recent months I’ve been writing about some of the many meditation myths and misconceptions which, when unquestioned, often make meditation much harder than it needs to be. I’ve addressed the idea that the aim of meditation is to still your mind; the...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Apr 25, 2018 | Published on Feb 1, 2018 | Articles
Some people have suggested that the current interest in meditation and mindfulness is just a fad; and that once media interest wanes these practices will revert to their previous status — as the esoteric hobbies of a few curious eccentrics. I’m not one to try...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Apr 7, 2023 | Published on Jan 2, 2018 | Articles
In our Meditation Myths & Misconceptions series of articles we’ve recently explored the mistaken idea that meditation is all about making your mind quiet, and the incorrect assumption that you have to sit still in order to practice. Another reason many...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Jan 2, 2018 | Published on Jan 2, 2018 | Articles
Last month, in the first of this series of articles on Meditation Myths & Misconceptions we explored the mistaken idea that meditation is all about making your mind quiet. This month we’ll explore a related idea: How much effort do you put into remaining...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Jan 2, 2018 | Published on Jan 2, 2018 | Articles
When I started teaching meditation, apps didn’t exist, mindfulness was a term you’d only be familiar with if you studied Buddhism, and nearly everyone coming to a class worried that they’d be expected to sit cross-legged on the floor and invited to...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Dec 20, 2018 | Published on Nov 22, 2017 | Articles
A reader recently asked the following question, having read my article How to make friends with your emotions. What would one do when one has become addicted to so called negative emotions and thoughts and can’t break the habit of rumination that seems to serve no...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Aug 29, 2017 | Published on Jul 29, 2017 | Articles
Have you ever woken up in the midst of a dream, thinking “I must remember this!” then padded off to the toilet — or to put the kettle on — only to have your dream vanish from consciousness? The same thing can happen in meditation. You might remember...
by Matthew Young | Last updated Jul 28, 2021 | Published on Jun 4, 2017 | Articles
Meditation is a very broad term. It’s probably not quite as broad as sport, or music; but is analogous to the degree that there are many different techniques and traditions, practiced for a variety of purposes. And just as everyone has their own preferred styles and...
