Hey everyone, it's K-Sunga 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 that you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening.

Hi, my name is Andy and welcome to Radio Headspace. And to Friday, the end of the week.

As we head in to the weekend, I thought it was worth reflecting on the idea of taking

ourselves a little less seriously. In many ways it's a fundamental part of mindfulness,

the journey of looking after the mind, taking care of the mind. For some reason there is

an idea. It's very strong as well as idea that looking after the mind, training the mind,

meditation, mindfulness or any of these things, somehow they're very serious. And in some

ways they are of course because it's our own sort of mental health that's at stake.

At the same time we don't have to approach it in such a serious, worthy way, I think.

There is the opportunity to approach it with a sense of playfulness, of lightness. And

it's something that took me a long time actually to realize and to understand and my hope

is that in learning through my mistakes you don't take the same amount of time to realize

that. You know, for many of my early years in the monastery, I trained in a tradition

that was very strict. I had grown up as someone who, my way of coping in life generally,

had been to sort of clown around if there was discomfort at home, a lot of tension and

arguments, kind of my parents, I would use jokes and humor as a way to diffuse the situation.

If I was at school, I think most of my school reports just said class clown. That was

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