Why We Meditate: Purposes, Methods, and Common Misconceptions

Being Well with Forrest Hanson and Dr. Rick Hanson

Being Well

Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 April 2021

⏱️ 54 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What's the "point" of meditation, and how can we build a practice that works for us? In this episode Rick and Forrest clear up some common misconceptions about meditation, explore major forms of meditation, and share how you can get more out of your practice. Life After COVID Summit: Join Dr. Rick Hanson, Forrest Hanson, and a roster of world-class experts during this FREE three-day online event to explore our life after COVID. Click here to learn more about the Summit and register now. Key Topics: 1:15: Forrest’s history with meditation, and some of the benefits of practice. 5:30: What’s the “point” of meditation? 11:30: Skepticism toward narrow views of meditation. 14:10: Do you have to be “spiritual” or “religious” to meditate? 14:45: Three breaths practice. 16:30: Secular vs. spiritual orientations toward meditation. 17:45: The two major tools: insight vs. “calming” meditation. 20:40: Virtue, concentration, and wisdom. 23:20: The tendency to “skip” to insight. 26:30: Why Rick meditates. 32:30: What does it mean to be an “intermediate” or “advanced” meditator? 34:15: What are some of the forms meditation can take? 47:45: Recap As a quick note, there's a little background noise at some moments during the episode. Forrest has a new YouTube channel! Subscribe to the channel, and watch his newest video over there. Sponsors: From Dr. Hanson: The Foundations of Well-Being brings together the lessons of a lifetime of practice into one year-long online program. Podcast listeners can use the code BEINGWELL25 at checkout for an additional 25% off! Please don't hesitate to apply for a scholarship if you're in need. Join over a million people using BetterHelp, the world’s largest online counseling platform. Visit betterhelp.com/beingwell for 10% off your first month! Want to sleep better? Try the legendary Calm app! Visit calm.com/beingwell for 40% off a premium subscription. Start a new healthy habit with Seed! Visit seed.com/beingwell and use code BEINGWELL to get 20% off your first month of Seed’s Daily Synbiotic. Connect with the show: Follow Forrest on YouTube Follow us on Instagram Follow Rick on Facebook Follow Forrest on Facebook Subscribe on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Being Well, I'm Forest Hanson.
0:10.9	If you're new to the podcast, this is where we explore the practical science of last and
0:15.2	well-being.
0:16.2	And if you've listened before, welcome back.
0:18.7	We've talked many times on the podcast about meditation, including getting pretty detailed
0:23.7	in some episodes about these fairly esoteric states that people might experience through
0:28.8	meditation and exploring some pretty deep conversations about what is the self, or is there
0:35.3	a self at all?
0:36.9	We've extolled its many virtues over and over again, and certainly one of the major speakers
0:43.4	on this podcast has a significant meditation background.
0:47.1	But going back through our catalogue recently, I realized that we've never done a detailed
0:51.8	what is meditation and why would someone want to do it episode.
0:55.5	Especially that's because there are a lot of fantastic meditation resources out there,
0:59.6	but I think that this is a good opportunity to talk about it and maybe clear up a few
1:03.8	misconceptions along the way.
1:05.9	To help us do that, I'm joined by a meditator of 045 years or so, Dr. Rick Hanson.
1:10.8	So dad, how are you doing today?
1:12.6	I'm good.
1:13.6	Yeah, we're going to talk about one of my favorite subjects.
1:18.0	Of course, not one that I was able to impertune you or seduce you into as a young whipper
1:26.0	snapper.
1:28.0	I will say to my credit, I never preached meditation at you.
	...

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