I often get asked by listeners to this podcast what my meditation practice looks like, because I do

mention it in various episodes. And I will explain that in a sec, but I would say this. If I wake up in

the morning and I meditate, I notice I'm far more centered and attentive throughout the day than if I get

on the phone and start the day reactively by replying to emails or reading the news or whatever.

The benefits of meditation are unquestionably vast, whether you want better focus, better sleep,

less reactivity, all the way through to understanding the nature of mind and even awakening and enlightenment.

It's really just about sitting down and doing it.

Who better then to ask for a simple but comprehensive explanation of breath meditation than the founder of Headspace and former Buddhist monk Andy Paddickam?

And in terms of how I meditate, I do a 21, 22 minute breath meditation, starting with a body scan.

I follow my breath either in my belly or at the tip of my nose.

And then when I get to the end, I let my mind go.

And sometimes I will then introduce some self-inquiry, some self-inquiry questions

that I elaborate on, on my substack.

So please do follow me there. But some self-inquiry questions at the end of meditation I find to be extremely potent and powerful. So that's how I do

it. But here's Andy Puddikam to suggest how you can too. So let's talk quickly about like what a meditation session, if you like, looks like for people who aren't familiar.

So I'll sit down and as I mentioned, I did this course.

So I'll either listen to a body scan or but now increasing I'm just following my breath.

So I'll just have my attention down in my belly, follow the breath.

And invariably in like split seconds, off I go into thinking about something that's happened or whatever.

And I know that my inclination can be I'm not doing it right.

I can still have that pattern.

Yeah.

...