Finding steadiness and stability — a practice for distracted minds, by Rohan Gunatillake
Meditative Story
WaitWhat
4.6 • 3.1K Ratings
🗓️ 8 February 2024
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When life pulls us in a million different directions, it’s easy to feel distracted. The harder it is to quiet our minds, the more difficult it can be to find the moments of peace that are so essential to our well–being. In today’s meditation, Rohan guides us through three tools that can help us build our practice of finding steadiness and stability.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thanks for tuning in to today's meditation about steadiness and distraction, two subjects |
| 0:06.7 | that feel increasingly relevant in our world. |
| 0:10.4 | If you'd like to listen to a classic meditative story, we invite you to enjoy the rest of our library. |
| 0:17.0 | Back in 2014, I wrote my first mindfulness book. I had booked a desk in a co-working space in another part of town to my regular office and each morning would walk in |
| 0:35.8 | listening to a playlist named writing hype songs Pompeii by Bastille a particular favorite at the time. |
| 0:45.0 | Once in, I'd knock out three hours of work |
| 0:50.0 | and then head over to my day job. |
| 0:52.0 | I did that. and then head over to my day job. |
| 0:54.0 | I did that for about five months I think and I was pretty pleased with the end result |
| 1:00.0 | but then I would say that wouldn't I? |
| 1:02.0 | Rereading it now, the book still holds up, as a guide to my particular take on modern |
| 1:08.8 | mindfulness. |
| 1:09.8 | So yes, I'm proud of it. |
| 1:18.0 | Thinking back to that time, there was a particular morning that stands out. |
| 1:28.2 | I was writing the opening passages of the chapter dedicated to focus, what concentration is, and outlining techniques on how to achieve it in a range of situations. But while doing that I was just so distracted. Every time I tried to |
| 1:40.0 | write a sentence, write a word. Before I knew it I was on my phone, checking my messages or the |
| 1:46.8 | latest news or sports scores or whatever I could. Obviously I appreciated the irony. |
| 1:55.0 | It was not okay to try and write this chapter with my own mind so far away from what I was trying to communicate and share. |
| 2:05.0 | And with being authentic, one of the principles of the project, |
| 2:10.0 | it wasn't very. |
| 2:12.0 | So let's talk about. It wasn't very. |
| 2:17.0 | So let's talk a bit more about concentration. |
... |
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