We shouldn't meditate.

We shouldn’t meditate.

We can choose to meditate.  Lots of other people have, and they’ve found that meditation serves them in various ways.  And science has shown that a mindfulness practice helps with focus, with stress, with inflammation, with blood pressure, with anxiety, with depression….  

But we “shouldn’t" meditate.   Meditation and mindfulness aren’t about "should".  These practices are about choice and agency.  We get to choose whether and how to explore mindfulness.  Each of us gets to choose which practices work best for us. We get to choose whether we meditate sitting down, or lying flat, or standing, or walking, or swaying, or cooking, or gardening or dancing or praying…. 

In turn, these choices unlock other chances to choose.  With meditation and mindfulness we have more choice around how we relate to what arises in life.  We're more able to choose how we talk to ourselves, and how we engage with others.  We get to be more choiceful around what we do to meet our needs.

As the saying goes, “Between stimulus and response there is a space.  In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom."

Mindfulness allows us to find and dip into those moments of choice and freedom between stimulus and response.

We shouldn’t meditate.  But we can choose to.  If you choose to, we’ll be here to support you all the way.  And if you choose not to, we’ll honor that choice, too.

May all beings have and know their agency and ability to choose,
Your Community Mindfulness Project family

P.S. Check out our Taking Ten 10-minute guided meditation that samples several different types of practices.