Guess how many former Buddhist monks or circus performers I've had on Smart and Simple Matters?
The answer is zero … until now! That's because Andy Puddicombe from Headspace is my guest for this episode.
You're going to hear a lot about:
- The science and benefits of mindfulness and meditation.
- How to stop your mind from wandering away.
- The themes of his TED Talk that has been viewed about two million times.
But you won't expect where Andy has come from and why he is where he's at now. There's some seriously heavy stuff from his past that set him on a journey to come out the other end transformed.
These days, Andy is responsible for about a million people meditating on a regular basis. That's primarily through the Headspace on the Go app, public speaking tours, and graciously giving interviews to folks like me.
His company even works with gold medal winning Olympic athletes who happen to attribute much of their success to meditation.
I respect Andy for what he's accomplished, but more importantly, for who he is. He's humble, driven for the common good, oozing mindfulness, and is a stabilizing presence.
Listen in (or meditate) on our conversation as we help you find more softness, more gentleness, and, of course, more headspace.
You're about to Learn …
- The fascinating science behind meditation.
- Why you don't look after your mind like you look after your body.
- How to capture more fleeting mindfulness and headspace.
- Why headspace is always with us (if we remember to look for it).
- What “Take Ten” is and why you might benefit from it.
- The surprising ripple effects when you meditate.
- How to be familiar (and comfortable) with the present.
- Why softness and gentleness is underrated.
- How to be mindful … even without sunrises and surfing.
- Why everythingness comes directly from nothingness.
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Resources and Items Mentioned in This Episode:
- Websites:
- Headspace
- SimpleREV
- Resources:
- Books:
- Other Podcast Episodes:
Topics
- [04:18] Andy's seeds of awesomeness
- [10:18] The difference between mindfulness, meditation, and headspace
- [12:52] What Headspace is
- [19:05] Why addiction is mitigated when you meditate
- [22:37] Excuses for not meditating (and why they don't help us)
- [26:17] Meditation's differences based on age and place
- [32:18] Why meditation is a training for life
- [35:45] Nothingness and everythingness
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Transcript
The transcript will not be available until I find a new transcriptionist (if you know someone good, let me know).
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I’ll confess I’ve not listened to this all the way through yet. But Andy’s discussing his habit of twenty minutes of meditation per day, even when he was in his early teens, jumped out at me. I’ve renewed my own daily meditation habit
last month, but had stuck with a five minute session.
Yesterday and today I upped it to ten minutes and am feeling pretty good with it – it almost feels like five! I’ll give it a while longer before I jump to twenty – it’ll mean putting my alarm clock back a little every morning – but I’m looking forward to getting there!
I know Andy talks about ten minutes of meditation a day, but I don’t know how significant the exact amount of time is. This is coming from a guy who stills needs to start up his formal meditation practice, though. I’m happy you’re getting your softness and headspace on a regular basis, Rob!
Thanks for posting this! It was great.
I’ll certainly be giving the “Take 10” program a try, and I hope I’ll be working it up to 20 minutes a day after that.
I’m going to be increasing the frequency and length of my meditation practice after hearing so many people tell their stories of its benefits at the 2014 World Domination Summit. Meditation seems like it can be the single difference in a whole host of goals I’d like to accomplish.
Let’s compare notes in a few months, Adrian.
Catching up on episodes and, as I am a fan of Andy, I listened with interest. After getting my body in a fix and nearly not making it, I discovered Andy’s Headspace in hospital. It is now part of my daily routine and it has helped my mind to be more focused and clear. It’s a simple, effective 10 minutes that allows me to deal with stress more easily and also helps me to stay focused in a noisy world. Thanks Joel for having Andy on the show.
I’m glad you enjoy Headspace and the guy behind Headspace, Anne. I did the trial and thought it was nice, but I also realized I prefer non-guided meditation most of the time. So my current go-to is Insight Timer, an app with customizable bells (among other things) for my phone.
As Andy said himself in his TED Talk, it’s more important to simply commit to 10 minutes of mindfulness and do it, rather than do it sporadically or in a specific way. I’m happy we both got the message and I’m grateful you shared your story, Anne. I know it will give a new perspective to others.