#238: Quieting Your Inner Critic and How to Overcome Fear and Unconscious Bias in Order to Be Your Best Self with Ariel Garten

If You Want to Embrace Mindfulness and Meditation You Should:

1. Stop assuming your thoughts are facts and start being decisive about the thoughts that you give your attention
2. Shift your relationship to your experience of life by understanding what is going on in your brain 
3. Turn small daily practices into moments of mindfulness to help you calm your brain and take control of your mental space

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Episode Summary

When my husband Alex said he wanted to try meditating but didn’t feel he had the time or the knowledge to ‘do it right,’ I knew there had to be a better way. Luckily some friends recommended Muse Meditation Technology, and it has totally changed his and my world.

What Is Muse with Ariel Garten

Muse is a brain-sensing headband that helps you meditate by translating your brain activity during meditation into guiding sounds. It was co-founded by Ariel Garten, a Neuroscientist, mom, former psychotherapist, and former fashion designer. Ariel is probably one of the most interesting people you will ever meet and is passionate about helping people understand what is actually going on in their minds.

Choosing the Thoughts You Pay Attention To

Most of us go through life on autopilot, assuming that the thoughts in our head are supposed to be there and are facts. In reality, you have total control over what thoughts you want to pay attention to and the ability to take power over your own mental space. 

Meditation is not about stopping your mind from wandering. It is about training your ability to notice when your thoughts are wandering and choose to focus your thoughts on things that are actually serving you. By understanding what is going on in your brain with the help of technology like Muse, you can shift your relationship to your experience of life.

How to Embrace Mindfulness Every Day

Mindfulness can help you see the world differently. By truly experiencing what you are doing on a daily basis, even if it’s just putting on your moisturizer or going for a walk, you can practice mindfulness until it becomes an unconscious habit. It is possible to turn any practice in your day into a mindful moment that can reduce your stress, calm down your brain, and help you focus instead of being distracted.

Are you willing to spend 3-5 minutes per day soaking in the enormous benefits of meditation, reducing your anxiety and fear biases, and applying mindfulness into your daily life? Share what you loved most about Ariel’s science-based approach to meditation and mindfulness with us in the comments below!

Quotes

“When you meditate, you are in that space where there is nobody sitting in your brain telling you what to do, there is nobody telling you that you are doing it right. And if we could create a tool that would solve that problem for people, we could get more people meditating. And it worked!” (11:02)

“Having beliefs about ourselves, that we are not good enough or the thing we did was terrible, and just living through that. But that is just a thought. That is not necessarily reality, and that is not necessarily the thing that you need to choose to go over and over and over again. Because you have a choice.” (16:33)

“The trick with a meditation practice is not ‘How much am I doing it,’ but it is ‘Am I doing it regularly?’.” (23:06)

“What you are training in focused attention meditation is your ability to notice the wandering of your mind and then shift your choices around following your thoughts. So if your mind wanders, totally no problem, the question is just what do you do with it.” (25:40)

“When you engage mindfully in an act, it is as if the world becomes sparklier and brighter. You’re feeling it, you are smelling it, you are experiencing it, you are here with it here and now. You are making that moment of your life meaningful at that moment with the experience you are having. And that is a transformative way to be.” (31:07)

In This Episode

• Why you should embrace meditation as the most powerful stress-relieving tool available by natural means (13:30)
• Understanding the neuroscience behind meditation and how to overcome your wandering thoughts and stress (17:10)
• Dismissing the common misconception that in order to meditate you have to stop your mind from wandering completely (24:50)
• How to embrace and create mindfulness in your daily life to stop being so distracted all the time (27:02)
• How to use Muse to improve your sleep naturally and fall asleep faster (36:30)

Resources Mentioned

Organifi Green Juice 15% Off Shop Page

Muse Meditation Technology

Use Discount Code choosemuse Here

Follow Muse on Instagram | Twitter

Follow Ariel on Instagram | Twitter

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