Latest / Hurdle with Emily Abbate / In Focus: Making Meditation a Regular Habit With Andy Puddicombe, Co-Founder of Headspace

Transcript

In Focus: Making Meditation a Regular Habit With Andy Puddicombe, Co-Founder of Headspace · Hurdle with Emily Abbate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Put away any preconceived notions of meditation. Every time you
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: sit to meditate, remember that it's not about stopping thoughts.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: It's not about trying to have a quiet mind.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: It's about witnessing the mind and seeing the mind more clearly,
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: and getting comfortable with the mind when it's quiet, the
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: mind when it's busy, when there's lots of thoughts.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: When there's no thoughts.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: So having that kind of clarity, I think that gives
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: us a real sense of freedom in life.
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Twenty twenty one, Here we are Emily Aboudi. Here you are.
• 0:44
  Speaker 4: Listening to a special five day series called in Focus
• 0:49
  Speaker 4: from Hurdle, a wellness focus.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Podcast where I sit down with.
• 0:52
  Speaker 4: Inspiring individuals to talk about everything from their big wins
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: to how they've gotten through some of life's toughest moments.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: Show you can.
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: Expect vulnerability, motivation, and candid discussions with everyone from top
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: athletes to aspiring entrepreneurs on what it really takes to
• 1:09
  Speaker 4: follow your passions. My mission is simple to inspire you
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: to be your best self, move with.
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: Intention, and have some fun along the way. Now, if
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: you've been following.
• 1:21
  Speaker 4: Along at home leading into the new year, I had
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: some really awesome conversations last week with past guests including
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: Jess Linden, coach Chris Bennett, Jess Sim's Rigel jury, and
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: Sadie Lincoln about how they managed the past three hundred
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: and sixty five days and what their biggest takeaways were.
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: This week of a show, I felt it was really
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  Speaker 4: important to continue my mission to help hurdlers sort through
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: the chaos that is the start of a new year,
• 1:49
  Speaker 4: setting new goals what some may refer to as resolutions,
• 1:53
  Speaker 4: and really break down.
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  Speaker 3: Some of the most popular topics.
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  Speaker 4: You know, I can't tell you how many time the
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: ball has dropped it in my head. I have thought
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  Speaker 4: to myself, this is the year I'm gonna be better
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  Speaker 4: at meditation, or this is the year I'm going to
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  Speaker 4: hydrate more, or this is the year where I'm gonna
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: run X amount of miles and this amount of time and.
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: Get really smart and swistent. I know you can relate.
• 2:14
  Speaker 4: So this week on the show, I am talking with
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: top experts to unpack the tips and tricks that you
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  Speaker 4: need to actually stick with your goals this year and beyond.
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: I am kicking off the in Focus series. I'm so
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  Speaker 4: excited to say this with my friend Andy Puttagum.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: He is the founder and the voice of Headspace.
• 2:34
  Speaker 4: He says the best in today's episode, The best way
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  Speaker 4: to experience meditation is to actually do it, which sounds
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  Speaker 4: so simple, but behind myself have seriously struggled at making
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  Speaker 4: this a priority over the last few years.
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  Speaker 3: I feel like, you know, there's a lot.
• 2:50
  Speaker 4: Of stigmas that's around meditation, Like we feel like we're
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: supposed to be doing it a certain way.
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  Speaker 3: It's supposed to look a certain way.
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  Speaker 4: My legs should be crossed, and I should be sitting
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  Speaker 4: at a special little pillow, and I should be compor calm,
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: and nothing else should be going on, like I.
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  Speaker 3: Can keep going forever. But the truth is it doesn't
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  Speaker 3: need to look any sort of way at all.
• 3:08
  Speaker 4: And that is what Anthy and I are hashing out
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: in today's episode. I love what he has to say
• 3:14
  Speaker 4: about his best practice tips for implementing meditation into your
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  Speaker 4: regular routine. I also love what he has to say
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  Speaker 4: about the benefits of this practice, which may finally encourage
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  Speaker 4: you to stick with it on the regular. I do
• 3:29
  Speaker 4: want to call out also that over the weekend, Headspace
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: launched a new animated Netflix series called The Headspace guide
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  Speaker 4: to Meditation, and it's geared toward helping us all learn
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  Speaker 4: more about the tools to build a meditation practice or
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  Speaker 4: explore the sign behind it. So once you listen to
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: this episode of Hurdle as a primer, kind don't know
• 3:48
  Speaker 4: what a Netflix and check it out now.
• 3:52
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• 3:52
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• 5:53
  Speaker 4: to the show today, head on over to Instagram and
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: tag me over at Hurdle Podcasts and over.
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: At Emily a body. I want to hear.
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  Speaker 4: About your New Year's resolutions, your goals for the upcoming
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  Speaker 4: three sixty five, so feel free to shoot me a DM.
• 6:07
  Speaker 3: Let's have a combo. Let's talk about what we want
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: going into twenty twenty one.
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: And if you're still trying to figure out what your
• 6:14
  Speaker 4: big goals are for the new year, I am here
• 6:17
  Speaker 4: to help. I've got a goal setting workshop on January
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: sixth at seven pm Eastern. Link to sign up for
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: that is in the show notes. Use code twenty twenty
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: one at check out to get five dollars off. I
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: would love, love, love to see you there. Thanks for
• 6:34
  Speaker 4: joining me for another special week of content.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: With that, let's get to hurdling today. I am sitting down.
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  Speaker 5: I'm so elated to be saying this with my good friend,
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  Speaker 5: the founder, the voice of Headspace, Andy Pudicom.
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  Speaker 3: How you doing today, Andy.
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  Speaker 2: Hi, Emily, I'm very well. Thank you. How you doing?
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  Speaker 3: I know I'm doing pretty well too.
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  Speaker 4: You know, we're on the brink of this new year.
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  Speaker 4: We have this clean slate. How do you feel about
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: setting new year's goals.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's an interesting one.
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  Speaker 1: I think this year, more than perhaps any other year
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  Speaker 1: in memory, everyone's sort of desperate to say goodbye to
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  Speaker 1: the year past and to maybe look ahead to something new.
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  Speaker 1: And it's an interesting one through the lens of mindfulness, right,
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  Speaker 1: kind of where we're sort of encouraged to be more present,
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  Speaker 1: not really sort of looking forward or looking back. I
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  Speaker 1: don't really I don't do a lot of kind of
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  Speaker 1: New Year's resolution setting, you know, is a truth, not
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  Speaker 1: because I don't think it's useful or important. I think
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  Speaker 1: it can be incredibly helpful, but I try and think
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  Speaker 1: of it more on I don't like to wait something
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  Speaker 1: happens in January.
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  Speaker 2: I don't want to wait.
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  Speaker 1: Until the next New Year to make a resolution to
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  Speaker 1: change that. I try and think of it in it
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  Speaker 1: on a daily basis. So at the end of every day,
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  Speaker 1: kind of what went well, what may me happier, what
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  Speaker 1: made the people around me happier, Let's do more of that?
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  Speaker 1: What kind of made me unhappy, what made the people
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  Speaker 1: around me unhappier, Let's do less of that.
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  Speaker 2: And I tried, really.
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  Speaker 1: Trying and do that on a daily basis so when
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  Speaker 1: it gets to the end of the year, it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: feel like I've got a big bag of resolutions that
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  Speaker 1: I need to kind of make to carry into the
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  Speaker 1: next year. But I think they can be the intention
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  Speaker 1: that thing is is really really.
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  Speaker 3: Important, a big bag of resolutions. I like that. I
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  Speaker 3: like that visual.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, So for the individuals that are focused on making
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  Speaker 4: mindfulness a more regular part of their routine, making meditation
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  Speaker 4: a more regular part of their routine, where would you
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  Speaker 4: suggest that they even begin.
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  Speaker 2: So, look, there's.
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  Speaker 1: A a few options one, there's not just a few
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  Speaker 1: options now, there are many many options in the world.
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  Speaker 1: You know when we when we started only ten years ago,
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  Speaker 1: there weren't any other options, at least not on your phone. Now,
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  Speaker 1: I think kind of there's something in excess of five
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  Speaker 1: thousand different apps out there, and there's you know, centers.
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  Speaker 2: And all kinds of different places you can go. I'm
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  Speaker 2: a little bit biased. I think headspace is a great
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  Speaker 2: place to begin, especially.
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  Speaker 1: If you haven't done any sort of meditation before, if
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  Speaker 1: you've taken a long break from your practice and you're
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  Speaker 1: looking for a friendly, accessible way to get back into it.
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  Speaker 1: And then of course we've got our our new show
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  Speaker 1: coming out on Netflix.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, talk to me about the show.
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  Speaker 1: So my hope is that that will be a way
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  Speaker 1: more direct way for people to kind of get into meditation.
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  Speaker 1: If it's something they haven't that exposure to in the past,
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  Speaker 1: if it's something kind of new they want to try,
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  Speaker 1: you can do it in the privacy of your own home,
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  Speaker 1: on the sofa on the floor whilst watching Netflix. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: it's a break in other programming. Maybe it's something that
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: you're choosing to do just to feel better. But we
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: were chatting with Netflix working on actually a different show,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: and the pandemic began, and we started to talk about
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: as a team, like what can we do that would
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: be helpful to people that we could actually serve up
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  Speaker 1: to folks in their in their own homes. We knew
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  Speaker 1: we could see from the data Headspace that folks were
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  Speaker 1: struggling with stress, with anxiety, with sleep.
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  Speaker 2: You can see all those numbers kind of increasing.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so is this something we can put together that
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  Speaker 1: folks could watch at home. So you know, you know
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  Speaker 1: we've you've used You've used Headspace. We've always used a
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  Speaker 1: lot of illustration, We've always used a lot of animation.
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  Speaker 1: There was no way that we could film anything live
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  Speaker 1: during the pandemic. So we thought, okay, well let's get
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: to work on putting together an animated series, and the
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: team have done an amazing job. There's eight episodes, all animated,
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  Speaker 1: with I hope a combination of it's not meant to
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  Speaker 1: be educational, you know that there is an element of
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  Speaker 1: being guided through an experience and actually having a go
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  Speaker 1: at meditation in each show, but there's also some kind
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  Speaker 1: of personality to it there. I like to think of
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  Speaker 1: it as a sprinkling of the spring thing of the Himalayas.
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  Speaker 1: So taking my experience from from the monastery and actually
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  Speaker 1: bringing some of those stories is that that I sort
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  Speaker 1: of benefited from over there and weaving those through the
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: through the episodes.
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  Speaker 3: So is there an animated Andy Boudigum.
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  Speaker 2: Do you know? I don't know, there might be. I
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  Speaker 2: think they tried to stay clear of it. Actually we
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  Speaker 2: did chat about it.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, Sesame Sesame Street went a different way and
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: our partnership with Sesame Street they did. They went all
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  Speaker 1: out and they gave me a little animated character to
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: to chat to Cookie Monster with. But in this one,
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: we didn't want to make it, you know, it's it's
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: always a really interesting balance. It's the show's not about me,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: and so we didn't want to kind of like bring
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: it in in that way. It's more kind of about
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: the experience and the wisdom that I learned from from
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: my teachers and kind of trying to convey that through
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: sort of illustration animation.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that the guys have struck a really
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: good balance.
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I think that'll be awesome. I'm excited to see it.
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  Speaker 5: I'd love to I'd love to kind of bring it
• 11:58
  Speaker 5: back a little bit to maybe some more kind of
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  Speaker 5: best practice tips that you have for someone that is
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  Speaker 5: trying to get into that at home meditation practice, maybe
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  Speaker 5: an environmental tip or a tip to alleviate judgment as
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  Speaker 5: you go on.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, all good ideas.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, look, there are a ton but here are
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  Speaker 1: something I think of the most useful, same time, same place.
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  Speaker 1: So there's some basic behavioral psychology kind of involved here.
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  Speaker 1: If we are able to repeat something that feels beneficial
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  Speaker 1: in some way on a regular basis, then over time
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  Speaker 1: we start to have an association with that place in
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  Speaker 1: the house or with that place in our living space,
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: and at a particular time linking it with something that
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  Speaker 1: you already do. So if in the morning you, let's say,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: have a share every day, I'm.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: Assuming ross people do or have a cup of.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Coffee feet or breakfast. You think, okay, breakfast to meditate
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  Speaker 1: sharer and meditape. So in linking it with something with
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: a pre established routine, you're that much less likely to
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  Speaker 1: forget it.
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  Speaker 2: You're that much more likely to do it.
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  Speaker 1: Otherwise it just becomes another thing on the to do
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  Speaker 1: list other things. I think if you do it first
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  Speaker 1: thing in the morning, look be flexible. Some people are
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  Speaker 1: morning people, some people are evening people, some people are neither.
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  Speaker 1: But I think if you can do it first thing
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: in the morning, it means you get it done, rather
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: than waking up and trying to do it while still
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: horizontal in bed. I recommend getting up, go to the bathroom,
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: open the window, splash a bit of cold water on
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  Speaker 1: your face, maybe even have a drink. Make sure you're
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: properly awake. That way, you're less likely to fall back asleep. Similarly,
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: if you try it lasting at night, try and do
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: it sitting up if you can. Again, if you're tired,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: you're lying in bed already, there's a really good chance
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: you're going to fall asleep. Not the end of the world,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: but maybe not the doesn't make for the best meditation session.
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: Maybe don't do it immediately after a heavy meal, when
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: all of the the blood rushes to the stomach, our
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: body tends to feel very heavy, and so we're kind
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: of more likely to fall asleep. But all of those
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: kind of practical tips, I would say more important than
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: any of those is kind of the way we approach
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: the practice. So by that, I mean that the attitude
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: we bring towards it. So I'd say put away any
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: preconceived notions of meditation. Every time you sit to meditate,
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: remember that it's not about stopping thoughts. It's not about
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: trying to have a quiet mind. It's about witnessing the
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: mind and seeing the mind more clearly, and getting comfortable
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: with the mind when it's quiet, the mind when it's busy,
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: when there's lots of thoughts.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: When there's no thoughts.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: So having that kind of clarity, I think that gives
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: us a real sense of freedom in life. And then
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: with that attitude, I think remembering that, yeah, that the
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: mind has always thought.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Just because we are sitting down now and.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: We're calling it meditation, Why should the mind suddenly stop thinking. So,
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: don't beat yourself, don't give yourself a hard time, don't
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  Speaker 1: think that you're doing something wrong if the mind is
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: still busy when you sit to meditate, I be kind
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: to yourself.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: We need that, we all need a little bit of grace.
• 15:10
  Speaker 5: I think that for many of us in twenty twenty,
• 15:13
  Speaker 5: just this concept of dealing with hard stuff and things
• 15:18
  Speaker 5: not necessarily have been how we had hoped or gone
• 15:23
  Speaker 5: how we had hoped for someone that kind of is
• 15:26
  Speaker 5: just really going through it and they sit down to meditate,
• 15:30
  Speaker 5: and that mind it's just so clouded with everything that's
• 15:33
  Speaker 5: going on, aside from putting aside the judgment, like what
• 15:37
  Speaker 5: do you say to that person to just help them
• 15:41
  Speaker 5: stick with it?
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, there were a lot of different analogies
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: you can kind of use with meditation. I think one
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: a lot of people are familiar with is maybe sort
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: of going to the gym and maybe kind of we
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: haven't trained for a few.
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: Years, maybe we've never trained before. Well, we would never.
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Go to the gym and do one day of you know,
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: walking for half an hour on the treadmill and say, okay,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: well this doesn't work. I'm no fitter than I was
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: when I came in. We would say, okay, well, I'm
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: going to stick with this for a few months, hopefully
• 16:10
  Speaker 1: at least, and sort of see how I feel over
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: that time.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Same thing is true for meditation.
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: Know that there is no quick fix here like a
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: mind and a body that has been living through all
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: the stresses and strains of twenty twenty. And it's been
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: different for everybody. Some people are definitely at the extreme
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: end that takes time to kind.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: Of let that go.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: But whilst we might feel sort of fearful of knowing
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: that the alternative is so much worse, the alternative is
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: holding on to all of that and sort of carrying
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: that around with us in our life, and.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: At some stage that has to come to the surface.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: So far better that we create an environment where we
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: can gently let go of that, thinking of those emotions,
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: of the tension that we've been storing up, and hopefully,
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: as I said, going into next year, feeling a little
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: bit lighter.
• 17:01
  Speaker 5: Aside from the actual act of meditation. What else in
• 17:06
  Speaker 5: your life is a mindful practice for you? I know
• 17:09
  Speaker 5: for me, something like running or cooking or journaling. What
• 17:14
  Speaker 5: are what are activities that you indulge in that are
• 17:16
  Speaker 5: that are more mindful than you as well as enjoyable.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Yes, So, I mean, one thing I'd say is that
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: every single moment in the day is.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: An opportunity to be mindful.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: There are exercises and activities that I think sort of
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: encourage us to be more mindful, and that a more
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: conducive to a mindful sort of attitude. But I yeah,
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: I think it's really important to remember kind of that
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: we can do it at any point, even if we're
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: at work and we're engaged in something that we don't
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: necessarily kind of want to be like, it's still possible
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: to be mindful even if it's of our resistance to
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: that activity.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: But on my.
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: In my sort of you know, own time, surfing for
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: sure is still a big sort of I want to say,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: it's a big feature of my I don't do it enough,
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: but it's something I love to do and something that
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: feels innately mindful. There is there's the aspect of being
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: out in nature away from everything, and there's also just
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: a sense of being like immersed and connected with the
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: world around also being free from any sense of control
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: as well. If you go into the ocean and think
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: you have any control over what's happening out there. I
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: think it's a risky it's a risky move.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: So I love to surf.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: I still love to run, I love to cycle, I
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: love to row. So a lot for me, a lot
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: of it is very sort of physical activity. But when
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: I'm with my kids as well, whether it's a bit
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: of music, a bit of art, it's at quite a
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: kind of basic level for me personally. But like, engaging
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: in those things definitely gets me out of my thinking mind.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: It makes me feel more grounded, and inevitably I'm better
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: able to connect with other people around me, And.
• 18:56
  Speaker 5: I think that's really special, just this idea of being
• 18:59
  Speaker 5: full present during these activities. It's there's such a difference
• 19:05
  Speaker 5: of being with your kids and being fully present versus
• 19:09
  Speaker 5: being with your kids between eighteen things and not giving
• 19:14
  Speaker 5: that activity your specific attention. Like it doesn't take any
• 19:17
  Speaker 5: more or less time to do an activity and be
• 19:20
  Speaker 5: fully present.
• 19:21
  Speaker 3: So it's like, take advantage.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Of that right, and it makes a difference to the
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: way we feel. It makes a difference to the way
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: the other people feel like children in this case, and
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: they know by the way I mean I think as
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: I think sometimes yeah, they they don't really kind of
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: noticing what we're doing kind of on our phones in
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: between every two other sentence, and but they do know,
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: and they do notice. And my own experience, and I'm
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I'm not suggesting, by the way, for a moment that
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: I do this perfectly, because I definitely don't. And there
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: are definitely times when I catch myself and there's work
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: emails and texts coming in and I'm trying to a
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: conversation and kind of over breakfast with the kids.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: But I think it's something for us all to aspire to.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: For sure, What.
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Are you excited about in the new year.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: I'm always quite excited at see and quite optimistic just generally.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: I don't know why, I just partly maybe is the
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: training over the years, I tend not to spend a
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: lot of time looking back or thinking back in a
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: negative way. I'm really grateful for the experiences that I've had,
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: and you know, of course I go back to those
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: those memories sometimes. But I love I love the idea
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of stepping into the unknown, and for me kind of
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: going into twenty twenty one, it's not because there's something
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: specific I'm excited about I'm excited because I don't know
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: what's going to happen, and I feel like so much
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: of mindfulness, of practices, a willingness to be vulnerable, of
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: being okay with uncertainty in not knowing, And for me,
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: that's kind of I guess the embodiment of that is
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: sort of just stepping into something new without really kind
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: of knowing, but just willing to be present with life
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: as it unfolds.
• 21:16
  Speaker 5: For those of us, all of us coming off of
• 21:19
  Speaker 5: a tough year, what advice do you offer to the
• 21:23
  Speaker 5: people listening to this, maybe watching this, to take that
• 21:28
  Speaker 5: next step and take ownership maybe over what's going to happen,
• 21:34
  Speaker 5: and maybe even putting it in that positive perspective.
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, No, I don't know if I'm if I'm
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: in any position to give any advice Emily, but for
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: what it's worth, you know, I look back this year
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: and so I've spoken to a lot of people at
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: both ends of the spectrum. People who've been through everything
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: and lost loved ones and their own health impacted their
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: jobs and everything else, and people who haven't been that
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: impacted to buy it. And I think, for you know,
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: there are different challenges for everyone. But I do think
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: at the end of this year, it's really tempting in
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: difficult situations to want to get past them as quickly
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: as possible and to move on to something new. And
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: it's almost human nature, I think, you could say, and
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: I would look at that a bit like in meditation.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: So on days when the mind is quiet, when our
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: emotions are very sort of peaceful and happy, of course
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: it's easy to sit. I'm not sure how much we
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: learn about the mind actually, because we tend to just
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: sit and it'say, oh, it's so nice on the days
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: we sit and the mind is busy and the emotions
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: are challenging. Although it's difficult, I feel like we we
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: normally learn something about ourselves, we learn something about our mind.
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: The same is true of the external world as well.
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: I feel like out of this year, we have all
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: been forced to reflect on what is most important to
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: us in our life, who is most important in our life, been,
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: where is even most important in our life, and make kind.
• 23:03
  Speaker 2: Of choices as a result of that.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: So my hope is that people won't just look back
• 23:08
  Speaker 1: at this year and go, oh, it's the worst year ever.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: I can't wait to get away from it, it's more
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: kind of okay, coming out of this year, what are
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: the things that I can take away that will lead
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: to a better life, not just next year, to kind
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: of bey on that as well, and that those lessons
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: or whatever you kind of you know, want to call
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: them will be genuinely beneficial. So I think coming out
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: of the year with that attitude, I feel you kind
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: of can't help but going to next year thinking that
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: we're all hopefully more resilient than we were then we
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: went into twenty twenty. We've been tested in a way
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: we perhaps didn't expect to be tested, and we've shown
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: ourselves in you know, however small the ways might be,
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: that actually we are able to cope in a difficult situation,
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: and we are able to take on challenges when they arrive.
• 23:57
  Speaker 4: To finish us off. I know that there are so
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: many benefits to meditation. I mean, the science is literally endless.
• 24:05
  Speaker 3: For you.
• 24:06
  Speaker 5: If you had to point to one or two of
• 24:10
  Speaker 5: the benefits that in all of your years of practicing,
• 24:13
  Speaker 5: Andy has just kind of really brought you back to
• 24:17
  Speaker 5: this practice time and time again, what would you say
• 24:20
  Speaker 5: that is? And I ask you this under the premise
• 24:23
  Speaker 5: that for those that are still just like having a
• 24:25
  Speaker 5: hard time getting on the train. Yeah, what is it
• 24:29
  Speaker 5: for you that keeps you, you know, on the train
• 24:33
  Speaker 5: not getting off?
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so a great question.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: It's difficult to put down, just like, you know, into
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: into one thing. It's more of a feeling, you know,
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: than an idea perhaps, I mean, definitely a softer kind of.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: Mind, you know.
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: I think I used to be a lot more kind
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: of judgmental critic of myself and others, and none.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: Of us enjoy that mind state. It's not a you know,
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: why would we give ourselves such a hard time when
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: life is tricky enough as it is, and then to
• 25:12
  Speaker 2: put that on others as well.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: I think that it's a lot so to knowing that
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: it definitely softens my mind and takes off the sort
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: of the sharp edges. I think is something that keeps me,
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: keeps me coming back, And then I think, at its
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: most basic level, just a sense of appreciation for just
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: how transitory like this life is. I think ordinarily we
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: are very caught up in our thinking mind and everything
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: that's kind of going on all the time, understandably, but
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: because of that, we're not really spending that much time
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: on being present, And the only time we can really
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: be appreciative and grateful for this life is.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: Here in the present.
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: We might have an idea of it in our mind,
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: but that's an idea of appreciating it rather than actually
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: appreciating it kind of here and now. And I think
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: the more time we spend in that, the more we
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: realize that, wow, life is really really sure. There is
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: only so much time, There is only so much energy.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: Where are we going to put that? Like, what are
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: we going to say to usselves what's important in our lives?
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: And where are we going to sort of focus our attention?
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: And I just feel like the more time I spend
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: being present, I know, the happier I am and the
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: more appreciative I am to be alive.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: So that's what keeps me coming.
• 26:35
  Speaker 5: Back A beautiful takeaway, Andy, how do the hurdlers keep
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: up with you?
• 26:40
  Speaker 3: How do they keep up with Headspace? Give me all
• 26:43
  Speaker 3: the details?
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Sure, well, I guess we can circle back to the
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Netflix thing. Come like I'd love, I'd love and join
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: me on this little journey on Netflix. It starts January first.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: On the Headspace gude to meditation. You could download the
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: Headspace app. I would it would be my pleasure to
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: talk you through some some meditations and kind of get
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: you get you started with some meditation. You can obviously
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: go to the Airspace website, or you can just catch
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: me on Twitter or Instagram.
• 27:12
  Speaker 3: All the usual places, All the usual places.
• 27:15
  Speaker 5: I'm over at Emily a Body and at Hurdle Podcast.
• 27:18
  Speaker 3: Thank you Andy for your time. I appreciate it.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: Please lovely to see you again Emily.
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: Another hurdle conquered. Catch you guys next time.