Episode 10: The Courage To Do Nothing

One Heart One Mind

Thomas McConkie

Meditation, Spirituality, Mindfulness, Contemplation, Psychology, Buddhism, Development, Thomasmcconkie, Religion & Spirituality

5 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 20 September 2023

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Busyness is the fashion in our modern world—the default mode of being. No matter how much we’re doing, we can always do more. At least, that’s what many of us are taught to think. But what happens when we become willing to sit and do nothing? What if we don’t assume that doing something all the time is inherently productive or good? More radically, what if doing nothing is at the very heart of actually doing something real with your life? Start cultivating the courage to do nothing right now, and discover what beautiful places it will take you!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to another episode of Mindfulness Plus.
0:07.0	I'm your host Thomas Mekonki. Thanks so much for listening today.
0:11.0	I think I've mentioned this several times this season that I am so tired, I don't know who I am anymore.
0:18.0	My daughter, Sora, turned four months old yesterday. We're in a moment,
0:24.9	a real moment, the last couple weeks. So we'll see if I'm functional today. See if I have
0:30.9	something coherent to share by way of mindfulness practice. A title, I waslling around and this phrase came to me that felt like a mindfulness
0:43.3	plus episode, which is the courage to do nothing.
0:47.6	I want to share with you a little bit about the courage to do nothing as I see it in the
0:53.6	practice today. And then naturally we the courage to do nothing as I see it in the practice today.
0:55.0	And then naturally we will proceed to do nothing together for a little while and see what
1:00.7	effect that practice has on us.
1:03.4	So the courage to do nothing, I recall when I first started this meditation practice that one of the more difficult things, and this
1:12.8	is easy for me to forget and to look past, so I'm glad I'm remembering it now, especially
1:17.1	for people who are just getting started and wanting to establish a mindfulness practice.
1:23.0	One of the most difficult things, forget the physical posture and the pain, the mind
1:27.1	wandering, all that stuff.
1:29.3	It was this feeling I had like I was wasting my life.
1:33.4	Like when I cleared my calendar, turned off my phone, sat still for any period of time,
1:40.0	there was this inner voice, inner critic that would just flare up and say, what are you doing with yourself?
1:48.6	What a tremendous waste of time.
1:52.2	And I really struggled with that voice for a long time.
1:57.0	I didn't recognize the voice for what it was at the time.
	...

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