Transform Meditation Into a Collective Practice Today

(sizzle) (key clicks) (gentle chime) Headspace Studios. (etheric music) Hi, welcome back to "Radio Headspace," to Friday, and this brand new moment. It's Dora here. So every year for the past few years, I write down some goals I have as a teacher and revisit my values. This year for 2024, one of my goals was to do a better job at sharing how meditation is for the benefit of the collective just as much as it is for the individual. The practice of meditation is not meant to be a solo pursuit, it's a team sport. I think this gets lost in the barrage of marketing that only highlights the benefits of being faster, more productive, happier, less stressed, all focused on I or the self. We lose sight of the fact that meditation is a practice that is also beneficial to others, people we know and people we don't know. As we cultivate awareness of our thoughts and emotions, we're also cultivating compassion too. We start to understand why we think and say the things that we do, and this gives us insight into why others do as well. (etheric music) Sure, when we meditate, we do it alone. We are connected to our own experience, but when we sit with our minds, we also gain insight into the minds of others. Not only do we gain more patience with ourselves and understanding just how chaotic our minds can be at times and how this can lead us to say or do things we sometimes regret, but we can also be more patient with others too. Now, not to say that we should accept harm in any way, but it does help us to let go of things like resentment and anger. The other day as I attended a meditation class, I was introduced to this idea of dedicating the benefit of the practice to someone in our lives that was struggling or that we were struggling with. It could also be to people who are just struggling in general. I had never done this before. I felt a sense of responsibility for others, like by me showing up to meditate, this has an impact on those in my life that are suffering and struggling. It also has an impact on complete strangers too. The person serving me coffee at the coffee shop, or begging my groceries. Even to whomever is listening to this podcast episode right now, you're all impacted by my practice. We're interconnected in some way. If we're not careful, our meditation practice can become quite self-centered, as with any spiritual or healing practice. We think that it's just us benefiting from it, but really it's a ripple effect. There's an African saying, ubuntu, that means I am because you are. And this reflects the idea of interconnectivity and reinforces a need for one another, which sometimes is hard. (gentle music) Sometimes the world can be a strange and challenging place, but I think this is why the...