A Mindful Week #25
Your weekly dose of mindfulness, creativity & insight. Curated by Nikolas & the Art of Meditation team.
Your weekly dose of mindfulness, creativity & insight. Website / Blog / Club
01 Mindfulness
Self-Compassion can make us more resilient when we make mistakes: A recent study showed that we feel more self-compassion when we see that other people are imperfect, too.
02 Art
Our new series: Let us introduce you to the best music videos of our time. This week, director Michel Gondry.
03 Music
In our weekly letter below I reference the one and only Bill Withers. Here is his iconic 1973 concert.
04 Photography
The absolute beginner’s guide to film photography: Common film formats & types. Your holidays will never look the same (your wallet neither).
05 Vibes
Sam Youkilis: I asked writer Alexi Gunner to share his favourite artists "capturing vibes". We landed on the artist Sam Youkilis. Look out for his eye and poetic intelligence in everyday places and situations.
06 Music
Soulful Moments Spotify Playlist: Hibernation material. The best backround for absolutely everything.
07 Quote
Quotes that inspire us and make us think.
If you haven’t joined the club yet.
08 Meditation Club
In our Art of Meditation Club a dream team of meditation teachers and coaches support a community of mind explorers in their quest to living an examined life.
This week at the Mind Club
09 Meditation & letter of the week
Why you should become a connoisseur of your attention.
Think about how your attention shapes the quality of every moment: How present are you in that conversation with your partner? How centred are you during those hour-long meetings? And honestly, when that long day comes to an end, how often do you have to re-read that book-page simply to grasp what the words mean?
The quality of your attention makes or breaks your day. To remix soul singer Bill Withers, “watching me, watching you” is where it’s at.
What is this mindfulness craze about? Its mostly about three things - your awareness, your meta-awareness & your interoception. In other words, mindfulness is all about your attention, your mastery of this attention & the bodily intelligence that arises from this mastery.
So, are those some long-bearded know-it-alls out there actually pointing to something worth the effort?
The best way to find out is to enquire yourself. Become a connoisseur of your attention.
Mindfulness Meditation is the game of becoming an intimate friend of your attention. It might pay of swiftly.
Once you look closer you will find nuances. This begins with the words we use. Looking at the verb concentrate, from concenter (1590s yeah), we find that it can be many things from “bringing something to a common center” to “reducing to a pure state”. This is because your attention knows many forms.
I ask you to go on a mission and discover the many forms of attention you are capable of. All you need to bring to the table is a beginners mind and curiosity.
The following meditation might also help.
Wishing you a great week,
Nikolas
10 This Week in our Club for Curious Minds
On Mindful Monday
Nikolas will invite you to use your imagination in a meditation inspired by modern mindfulness icons.
On Zen Tuesday
Former Zen Monk René will introduce you to meditations and insights from old wisdom traditions.
On Loving-Kindness Wednesday
Hannah will explore the self-healing power of training compassion and loving/kindness practice.
On Deep Mind Sunday
Sascha will offer a space to deepen your meditation practice.
Workshop on Sunday
Each sunday our coaches and Meditation teachers will host a virtual workshop that will help you life an examined purposeful life.
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