Awake in the World Podcast Best of Awake in the World: Aim & Allow: How Mindfulness of Breathing Helps Us Manage Expectations
Jun 1, 2025
Discover the power of mindfulness through breathing techniques, as listeners explore focal points like the belly and nostrils. The conversation emphasizes managing expectations in both meditation and everyday life, illustrated through relatable metaphors. A touching story reveals that true rewards come from nurturing experiences rather than just outcomes. The 'aim and allow' approach encourages openness and compassion, particularly in supporting individuals with autism. Personalizing meditation practices to address challenges like trauma is also highlighted.
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Mindfulness: Bowl Polishing Metaphor
- Use the metaphor of polishing a bowl to understand mindfulness: initial contact and sustained rubbing.
- Keep placing attention back repeatedly just like rubbing a bowl to maintain mindfulness practice.
Meditation Teaches Frustration Tolerance
- Mindfulness attention can waver often within moments, shifting between peace and discomfort.
- Meditation teaches tolerance of frustration through mindfulness of moment-to-moment experience.
Fear vs. Reality of Pain
- A man with severe back pain feared that focusing on his breath would worsen his pain.
- Mindfulness revealed there was no actual pain then, only fear and expectation of pain.