Welcome to the December 2020 “Holiday” issue of The Daily Meditator. This is your monthly resource for fun, quirky, interesting, and noteworthy happenings in and around the worldwide meditation community. Our mission is simple: to help broaden the horizon of what a daily meditator looks like while providing you with relevant information and timely inspiration for staying committed to your daily practice (even during a pandemic).
[ MEDITATION & NEWS ]
We’ve heard of hot yoga, but warm mindfulness?
Science has a hot take on mindfulness. We’ve read that mindfulness can help change bad behaviors like smoking, but according to a new round-up of research, there is an important distinction that can make or break success: a warm approach.
Often, mindfulness is taught with the mentality of coolly accepting unpleasant sensations as you kick a habit. But it may be beneficial to focus on cultivating the same compassion and warmth toward ourselves that we would show a loved one. Self-compassion makes emotional regulation less stressful and increases the likelihood of success.
Bottom Line: Playing it cool may work in dating and poker, but when it comes to mindfulness meditation, turn up the temperature for the best results!
[ MEDITATION & LIFESTYLE ]
A link between mindfulness and making it rain?
Wondering whether to give to charity this season? Don’t sleep on it. Meditate on it. Authors of a study in Scientific Reports set up an experiment to see if mindfulness meditation affected altruism. The 326 participants were paid to watch either a video on meditation or how to draw Mickey Mouse. And then they were all hit up for a donation.
Evidently, those who watched and practiced the meditation were almost three times as likely to donate a portion of their payment to charity. Meditation increased the likelihood for social cooperation, with neuroimaging showing that some of the same reward-processing areas of the brain that react to cooperation also react to meditation.
Bottom Line: Humans are social animals and inner peace is a reward that we inherently want to pay forward.
[ MEDITATION & BUSINESS ]
Mindfulness is no longer a fad, according to Forbes
Yes, you will have to wear real clothes to work someday. But it’s not all bad news! According to Forbes, COVID-19 has caused mindfulness to transform from an earthy-crunchy fad to an essential tool for high-level leadership around the world. CEOs and those at the top of their field, from sports to hedge funds, have found meditation to be one of, if not the most, important means for boosting their success. The article details the wonders of mindfulness meditation and how it is taking the boardroom by storm. Here are a few tips to make mindfulness a part of your workday:
Choose a regular time and quiet space – make a habit
Apply mindfulness to the rest of your day – experience rather than think
The Doorknob Technique – pause for a breath and a moment of awareness before events
Bottom Line: Mainstreaming meditation in business can mean only good things for CEOs all the way down to frontline employees. Let's make 2021 a bit more chill.
[ MEDITATION & POP CULTURE ]
Celebs raise money to teach stressed-out folks TM for free
Stressed out and want to learn TM for free? Transcendental Meditation’s Meditate America event, held on Dec 3rd, brought the celebs and 40,000 of their friends together for a virtual benefit celebration and concert.
The line-up included Sting, Hugh Jackman, Katy Perry, Robin Roberts, and more. The mission: to raise awareness and financial support to help people living under trauma and stress. Proceeds will bring Transcendental Meditation training (which can cost up to $1000) to frontline workers and at-risk families for free.
You can watch the event here and donate to support healthcare workers, first-responders, veterans, and families under trauma and stress.
[ MEDITATION & TECHNIQUE ]
When sitting in meditation isn’t an option, there’s always writing
Mindful journaling is one of the best self-care activities that you can pick up. It is a cheap, on-the-go way to sort through struggles and experience a shift in awareness. Writing things down helps bring deeper understanding to feelings like fear and anxiety. The practice has been shown to lower stress, improve memory, increase self-compassion, even boost immunity! It can help us put an ocean of struggles into perspective, allowing us to keep our heads above water.
According to Mindful, here are a few best practices:
Pick a goal: Do you want to sort thoughts, record dreams, ground yourself?
Pick a strategy: Stick to a word count, a set time, or just whenever you need to vent.
Pick a medium: Tactile people can use good ol’ pen and paper, but even a conveniently built-in Notes app or an online writing site like 750words are excellent options.
Bottom line: Make it a habit and if you get lost, just come back to your breath... we meant to say, your pen.
[ REALITY CHECK ]
Come Jan 1st, don’t forget the key
As 2021 approaches, it’s time to start thinking about resolutions. If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that having the ability to adapt to change is perhaps the most important habit to prioritize. And lucky for us, being adaptable is one of the primary benefits of meditation. So the one resolution that should top everyone’s list by Jan 1st is making our daily meditation practice non-negotiable. Considering that the most popular resolutions year after year are exercise, saving money, and eating better, being consistent with meditation will help give us the energy and the desire to make time for those habits as well. And in that sense, meditation is the key habit of all of the rest.
Bottom line: By prioritizing your meditation practice, you’ll have all your resolution bases covered too.
[ READ. WATCH. LISTEN ]
Read: Eat Smarter by Shawn Stevenson
Daily meditator and The Model Health Show podcast host, Shawn Stevenson, just released his book on eating smarter, which means eating more mindfully. Having family meals. Choosing foods that support your goals instead of degrade them. Shawn has discovered that certain foods make us more prone to depression and violence, while others boost happiness. No more eating just to get full. It’s time to learn how to Eat Smarter. Read more
Watch: It's a Wonderful Life
One of our favorite Holiday movies is Frank Capra’s 1941 classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. Although it’s an old black and white film, the story is still as relevant as ever: everyone’s life matters, no matter how upside down things seem to get. If you find yourself in need of something good to watch, definitely check out this film, and make sure you have some tissues nearby for the ending. Watch now
Listen: Vital Veda Podcast
Our friend and fellow meditator Dylan Smith has been rocking his Vital Veda Podcast for a few years now. It’s a show for people who appreciate learning about natural ways to maintain optimum health. Dylan covers an ever-expanding range of topics, from meditation and Ayurveda, to relationships and bio-hacking techniques. Take a deep dive into the Veda: knowledge governing the unity of the laws of nature and human consciousness. Listen now
[ REPORT FROM THE FIELD ]
“I love that the act of doing nothing (being still) is actually a big something.”
What have you gotten from meditation? One of the biggest things I’ve gotten from meditation is that it has brought me peace of mind.
Strangest meditation moment? Probably doing a large group meditation at a men’s retreat. It was about 75+ of us in a small conference room lying flat on our backs… I’m sure the optics from the outside looking in was that we looked culty.
Most unexpected benefit of meditation? It has brought me a great deal of clarity. I love that the act of doing nothing (being still) is actually a big something.
[ WHO TO FOLLOW ]
Two of our favorite Instagram accounts with a purpose
Lindsay Meyer Harley
Lindsay (left) is the founder of Still We Rise, a community of artists, brands, creatives, and shops who auction their artwork and products to support organizations such as No Kid Hungry, M4BL, World Central Kitchen, Black Lives Matter, and Families Belong Together just to name a few. After Trump’s inauguration, Meyer-Harley, the owner of the shop Darling Clementine, reached out to her circle of artisans, retailers and artists to donate to an auction for the ACLU. Since that first auction, Still We Rise has raised over $619K to lift up those working tirelessly for good. Follow her at @lindsaymeyerharley and @stillwerise.
Mascha Davis
Mascha (right) is an LA-based author, dietitian, and daily meditator Her most recent book, Eat Your Vitamins, is helping people understand the healing power of food (along with Shawn’s book, Eat Smarter), and in a former life, Mascha was an aid worker throughout the African continent. Follow her for food inspiration and her occasional “dry” challenges. See Mascha’s profile
“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
Alan Watts
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