Hello my friends and welcome back to practicing human the podcast where every day we're getting a little better at life I am your host

Cori Maccara and in today's episode I'm going to tell you why you do not need to clear

your mind. More to come on that in a moment, but first let's listen in to the wonderful beautiful delightful sound of the bells.

I'll ring them bring your full presence to the sound all the way until that micro moment when it dissolves back into silence. So I think if I could put a billboard up for all meditators to see, it would say one thing,

stop trying to clear your mind.

Somewhere along the way in all of the hundreds,

the thousands of years of meditation,

and especially in the last 50 years of meditation.

We've developed this notion that meditation

or mindfulness is sitting down and clearing away all the thoughts and

getting into this pure tranquil completely still non-thought no mental activity kind of place and that that is where

the peace comes if we don't have that if there are thoughts then we can

experience peace and we need to push the thoughts away.

I don't know where this came from but if you've ever attended a yoga class and no no events to any yoga teachers that are maybe listening.

But a lot of times at the end of the yoga class,

you're lying in Chivasana.

One of the common things to say, you hear,

at least I've heard many times, is, okay, just relax and clear your mind.

And it's a beautiful sentiment, it sounds nice until you try to actually do it, and all the thoughts come rushing in and then the thoughts about

how much meditation is so hard and you're not good at it and you can't clear your mind and

everyone else must be great at it and that just

creates all this extra turmoil. So if you've listened to this podcast you know I've

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