Change is Inevitable

(sand shaking) (mouse clicking) (peaceful music) Headspace Studio. Welcome to Radio Headspace. My name is Kessonga, and it is Friday. Here's hoping that you all had a harmonious week. Today I wanna discuss something that actually is happening moment by moment in the world whether we like it or not, I'm talking about change. I truly believe that everyone wants some kind of change to occur in their lives. And I think in many cases, the word change is often synonymous with the word goals, a raise in salary, a healthier diet or a romantic partner. I often get asked how mindfulness and meditation can help in making changes that we want in our lives and should we even be striving for change in the first place. This can indeed be tricky because practicing mindfulness means paying attention to the present moment. But get this, the present moment is constantly changing so why not place your energy and focus on the changes that you want to happen? Remembering the mindfulness concepts of beginner's mind acceptance and non-striving can be helpful when it comes to embracing change and making the most of the journey to reach our goals. So let's break these down. Essentially, beginner's mind highlights the idea that every moment is completely brand new. So by treating each moment as if you've never experienced it before because essentially you really haven't you're allowing yourself to shed any expectations and judgments based on previous experiences. For instance, say you're going on a first date. If you approach the date with a beginner's mind you're letting go of any past first date experiences. You're free to take each moment as it comes, listening to the other person, noticing how you feel when you're with them and maybe even enjoying yourself more than you would without the pressure of expectation. You can relax and live in the now. Next, the concept of acceptance speaks to the idea of noticing and seeing things just as they are in the present. And it doesn't mean that you have to like what's present, but in order for the change that you want to occur, then you have to accept what's currently present and not let your disappointment keep you from moving forward. So for example you may not like the salary that you have right now but for it to change, you have to accept it. If you don't then you may be so filled with resentment, frustration or anger that you may not notice what you need to do in order to get that raise. Versus acknowledging the strong emotions accepting that's what your salary is right now, not letting the emotions cloud your behavior and therefore gaining some clarity on what you need to do to make that salary increase happen. And lastly, the concept of non-striving. Once we set our goals or the changes that we want to happen it's tempting to only focus on them as we go about accomplishing them. The...