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Mindfulness meditation is often misunderstood as a practice of forcing yourself to feel calm, peaceful, or positive. In this episode, we debunk this common myth and explore the true essence of mindfulness — allowing your thoughts, emotions, and sensations to arise naturally without resistance. You'll learn why trying to control your inner experience often backfires and how real presence comes from acceptance and awareness, not effort or force.
This episode is sponsored by the Mindfulness Exercises Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification. Learn more about this unique, online, self-paced program at mindfulnessexercises.com/certify
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Show Notes:
Mindfulness is not about forcing yourself to feel good
Many people approach meditation thinking its purpose is to create calm or positive feelings. However, mindfulness is not about trying to manufacture a specific emotional state. It’s about creating space for whatever arises in your experience — whether pleasant or uncomfortable — and meeting it with openness and curiosity.
Trying to control your emotions in meditation creates more tension
When we sit down to meditate with the expectation of feeling peaceful, we often end up frustrated when discomfort or restlessness shows up. This episode explains how the very act of trying to control or suppress emotions adds another layer of stress and resistance, preventing us from fully relaxing into the present moment.
Presence comes from allowing all emotions — even discomfort — to be there without resistance
True presence isn’t about eliminating difficult emotions — it’s about making room for them. This episode guides you to welcome all aspects of your human experience, knowing that allowing sadness, anger, or anxiety to exist without judgment can actually soften their intensity over time.
The goal is awareness and acceptance, not emotional manipulation
Mindfulness meditation teaches us to shift from controlling our experience to simply being aware of it. The goal is not to manipulate how you feel but to increase your capacity to observe thoughts, feelings, and sensations without getting entangled in them.
Meditation becomes more effective when you let go of needing it to feel a certain way
Ironically, meditation works best when you release the need for it to “work” in a specific way. Letting go of expectations allows your practice to become a space of freedom, where whatever arises is part of the journey. This mindset shift leads to a more genuine, sustainable practice rooted in self-compassion and presence.
