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...
