The Headspace Guide to... Mindfulness & Meditation: 10 minutes can make all the difference

This shows how easy it is to get caught up in all the little stories, the dramas, the hopes and the fears of the mind.

Like thoughts, emotions spontaneously arise. It’s how we meet these emotions, how we respond to them that is important.

Headspace does not mean being free from emotions, but rather existing in a place where you are at ease with whatever emotion is present.

Meditation is simply the exercise that is going to give you the best conditions to practise being mindful of these emotions. And

Mindfulness is the willingness to rest in that natural state of awareness, resisting the temptation to judge whatever emotion comes up, and therefore neither opposing or getting carried away with a feeling.

Headspace and emotions

Sometimes our emotional states can become so ingrained, they start to feel like traits. It’s as if the emotion is so overwhelming that we can’t see past it. And in these situations the emotion can even begin to define who we are. Depression is a good example of this. So while at times the two can feel inseparable, it’s useful to be aware of the dif

‘States’ however refer to those fleeting emotions that come and go in everyday life.

States