by Dan Harris
Meditation is the best tool for neutralizing the voice in the head. The ego is often a hatchery of judgments, desires, assumptions and diabolical plans.
Mindfulness Meditation
- feel the breath – the in breath and the out breath
- try to meditate daily, be consistent
- act of feeling the breath breaks the habits of a lifetime.
- when focused on rise and fall of the abdomen or the cool air entering and exiting the nostrils, the ego is muzzled
- you are not thinking, you are being mindful – an innate but underused ability we all have, which allows us to be aware without judging.
- build mindfulness muscles by going back to breath
- mindfulness provides space between impulse and action so you’re not slave to whatever neurotic obsession that pops into head.
- “meditation is not about feeling a certain way, it’s about feeling the way you feel” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Random notes
- make eye contact
- smile
- acknowledge other people’s basic humanity
- win people over – take their perspective and validate their feelings