Hey everyone, it's Dora here. I just want to let you know that we've launched a brand new

call and advice podcast called Dear Headspace. Each week the headspace teachers along with

some amazing new friends are answering your questions about relationships, work, life,

mindfulness, and just about everything else. It's so different from anything we've ever

created and we're so excited for you to hear it. Dear Headspace comes out every Tuesday

on the Headspace app and anywhere you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Hi, I'm Sam and welcome to Radio Headspace and to Monday morning. So I got to admit this

is a crazy story and people don't really know what to say after I tell them. So it

involves visualization and I was in a long-term relationship for about 11 years from the time

I was 17 to 28 and I kind of always knew that it was destined to end but it just sort of

kept going. Anyhow, I knew it wasn't going to last but didn't know what to do. So I started

to meditate and a big part of my practice involved in visioning what I wanted out of my life.

This included work and relationships and during one meditation session, I imagined a tall

man in the kitchen. He had a towel sling over his shoulder and he was whistling while he

skillfully stir fried a meal for us. So this vision was recurring. I remember feeling

safe and delighted when seeing the man I would come to refer to as the singing cook. I

repeated this meditation over the years, checking in with my imaginary singing cook and noticing

new details. I imagined him as a single father and he was connected to nobility somehow and

he was always very chipper. So as predicted, my relationship came to an end but my friend

who knew about the imaginary singing cook encouraged me to trust that he would come along

and I kind of did. So a few years after the breakup, I decided to take a trip to Sweden

because I've been fixated on Sweden for years. It's a place I'd always wanted to visit

...