Long ago, there lived a great Emperor, renowned for his wisdom and kindness. One day, while the Emperor was away from his palace, an unexpected visitor arrived: a Demon, crimson-skinned with fierce fangs and glowing eyes. Without ceremony, the Demon climbed onto the Emperor’s throne, acting as though he owned the place.

The courtiers soon noticed this uninvited guest and cried out in horror: “Who dares sit on our Emperor’s throne?! Begone!”

The louder they shouted, the larger the Demon grew. Their anger and insults made his eyes blaze even more intensely, and his body expanded to fill almost the entire throne room. Terrified, the courtiers continued to yell: “Get out of here, foul creature!”

But the more they raged, the taller and more imposing the Demon became.

Right at that moment, the Emperor returned. His attendants ran to him, pleading that he banish the Demon immediately. But the Emperor only glanced over and said gently: “Welcome, dear guest! Please, make yourself at home.”

The Demon froze in astonishment—and suddenly shrank in size. The Emperor reached out his hand: “You may stay as long as you wish.”

Upon hearing those words of gracious hospitality, the Demon shrank even further, confusion now replacing his previous fury. Everyone in the palace stood still, watching. The Emperor smiled calmly and added, “Would you like some tea? Allow me to have you served.”

The more kindness and acceptance the Emperor showed, the faster the Demon dwindled. The anger and fear that had once fueled the Demon were gone, and with nothing to feed on, his power vanished. Soon he was hardly bigger than a mouse. Then, in the blink of an eye, he disappeared completely.

From that day on, everyone at court remembered: anger and hostility only feed our monsters, but kindness and calm acceptance take away their very ground to stand on.

Start to put more attention to your breathing, Especially when you are in extreme performance BUT don’t need to and you need to keep your energy. Make sure to breathe slowly and lower your heart rates, keep the flow of the breathing.

Been trying to practice mindfulness to improve my anxiety, rumination, overthinking, etc., but now my anxiety has latched onto mindfulness. Whenever I try to practice mindfulness, it’s like I’m straining and concentrating really hard to be as mindful as possible, examining every sound, color, sight, taste, feeling, thought, etc. but to no avail. I know it’s supposed to feel like letting go and relaxing, but it’s like I’ve forgotten how to relax. Even the act of trying to let go and relax is a massive chore that requires strenuous but fruitless effort. I try to observe the thoughts and let them flow, but in doing so I end up getting lost in them or pushing at them, all while I struggle to retain focus on my breath and my surroundings. No matter what I do every day is so stressful and anxious.

I haven’t been allowing myself to ponder or indulge creativity. I used to dream up creative ideas or stories in my head, ponder deeply about life, cultivate hopeful visions of the future, cherish memories, process my emotions and pains from the past. Now I’m too focused on my strict anxiety-driven version of mindfulness to do any of those things. And I’ve basically decided in my mind that all of those things are threats. Whenever one arises it gets stomped out. And it can be very hard to tell the difference between genuinely pondering, and ruminating or engaging with intrusive thoughts.

I want to know what I’m doing wrong here. If someone has any advice please help me out! I’d really appreciate it.

Excerpt from the book

"The Zen Wisdom and the Monkey Mind":

The first monkey, with his hands covering his eyes, was called Mizaru. He personified the principle of “see no evil,” reminding all who crossed his path of the importance of not focusing on the bad in people and situations, nor obsessing over negative or harmful thoughts.

The second monkey, with its hands covering its ears, was called Kikazaru. He represented the idea of “hear no evil,” teaching others not to listen to gossip or harmful words that could cause discord and harm.

The third monkey, with its hands covering its mouth, was known as Iwazaru. He exemplified the concept of “speak no evil,” encouraging others to think before they speak and to use their words only for goodness and truth.

Together, the three monkeys taught everyone the importance of avoiding harmful thoughts, words and actions, to focus on seeing the positive in people and not the negative, to avoid listening to and spreading gossip and harmful words and to use words wisely and goodness.

Their simple but profound message taught everyone to strive to cultivate purity of heart and maintain a clear and calm mind.”

I struggle with turning to the internet every time I feel bored, stressed, anxious, depressed, you name it.

My issue is more so with going onto Reddit because I am able to listen to a YT video while working on something with my hands. With reddit, I have to have my full attention on it in order to read a post, write comments, or work on a post of my own.

I've always had an inner voice telling me that I need to stop using Reddit so much, but I'd never listen to it. It was only a few months ago that I fully acknowledged that I had an addiction to begin with. Still, I didn't make any steps back then to stop, but I want to, now.

I'm fed up with my behavior, and I'm fed up with how much time I've wasted because of the addiction. It hasn't been good for my mental health, either. I cringe and feel sad whenever I think of all the productive things I could have been doing instead. I'm never getting that time back, but the next best thing is to start right now.

I think that another reason why it's lasted this long is because I was always using Reddit/the internet as a crutch, but I was too afraid, lazy, or unmotivated to do something about it. I strongly believe that the reason why I relied so much on Reddit for my entertainment and source of interaction with other people, especially in the past few years, is because I don't really have any friends.

I know it is not my fault for why I lost the majority of my friendships. I left my friend group because they decided to show support to the best friend of the man who SA-ed me.

However, it is my fault that I haven't made any steps to make new friends. I know that I am lonely and use the internet as my daily dose of social interaction. But obviously, the only thing that it's done for me is cause this addiction. Admittedly, going on the internet and speaking to people on Reddit is very fun. But like with all fun things, it's very important to not get addicted to it. I let this get out of hand.

I will still use the internet, but I need to reduce my usage by at least 90%. I especially need to stop opening up Reddit every chance I get. From now on, the only Reddit interactions I will accept for myself are posting my art and responding to comments and messages about my art.

I know it's going to be difficult, but I really want this for myself. I know that for the sake of my mental health and general wellbeing, I need it.

Hi all,

Undergraduate student who has always had random mental chatter / overactive inner monologue. Specifically, whenever I stop deliberately focusing on my surroundings, random songs or movie snippets will start playing involuntarily through my head. I don't suffer from anxiety or racing thoughts -- my mind is literally just random, chaotic junk.

While I am able to turn off the mental chatter somewhat easily while meditating, whenever I attempt to focus on a task that requires thinking (such as studying / reading a book), my brain starts to chatter away and cannot be stopped on command, no matter how hard I try to focus on the task at hand.

For this reason, has anyone managed to turn off the mental chatter while studying, and achieve sole focus? And if so, how?

For context, I have been practicing focus meditation for the past few months (i.e. focusing on thoughts and removing unnecessary ones whenever they pop up), but it has not helped much with studying.

Any true success stories would be deeply, deeply appreciated.

Sincerely,

nihaomundo123

i (21M) was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, and i have been meditating consistently (missing a day or two on rare occasions). i wanted to ask people with GAD who have been meditating and practising mindfulness about their experiences, insights, and advice.

kindly share!

I’ve been bullied for 9 years as a child in primary school. I was treated like some alien, nobody wanted to be my friend. They didn’t even have a particular reason.

This continued throughout high school, university and later life. Every friend I seemed to make usually wanted to ghost me, or go away or treat badly, despite the amount of kindness I would try to give them.

As a result, I live thinking I’m a burden to everyone I meet. I find it incredibly hard to make new friends for the fear they will ghost me or treat me badly. I have trust issues with friendships and don’t really know how to get through that - I’m lonely but I don’t want to be with people that make me feel alone.

I recognize how little in tune with I am with myself. I'm too busy rushing around like every other person out there. When I slow down and take in where I'm at I feel so much better and it makes me question why we don't more often. It seems like busy, fast, and hectic are more the norm and if you're not you're just different or don't fit the mold. I just find something terribly wrong with that.

Whole energy is concentrated here when you do not run away from the uneasiness of sadness, embarrassment, insult, shame, any irritating situation. Thought is not able to gather relief by complaining or by solacing.

Discomfort is disturbance in the nervous system. It is healed automatically giving way to relief, pleasure. Relaxed and conscious action emerges.

The illusion sees discomfort as a threat as in the case of physical danger and reacts giving way to all the complications of living.

1. silent meditation: sitting still and letting the thoughts flow, focussing and acknowledging that my entire body is separate than my mind where my thoughts are flowing freely (i can separate my mind + thoughts from the body and let them flow while knowing my body is there sitting). sometimes, i also start focusing on the imaginary black spot in between my eyes during the mind-body separation, which mostly leads to more thoughts to originate and flow.

2. breathing/mindful meditation: sitting and focussing on my in-breadth and out-breadth (saying stuff like-breathing in/out i know i’m breathing in/out). i breathe through any thoughts that arise, bringing my focus back to my breathing (the present moment)

what i have noticed for each type of meditation relative to the other type of meditation- •30 or more mins of silent meditation: more calm, slightly more anxious, slightly less confident . •30 or more mins of breathing meditation: less calm, more confident, less anxious

both when compared to no meditation: much calmer, more confident, less anxious

in any case, i do both daily, usually sitting meditation right after breathing meditation.

Like the title says, i literally don’t know how to move on. I’m 19 and I don’t know why I’m feeling these thoughts, I keep thinking of the past and how much I miss it from like early childhood to the end of high school grad. I’m in uni rn and everytime I think of the future it eats me up alive because I feel like there’s nothing for me. Even when I am having fun right now doing things I just have a guilty feeling in my head about nothing. Idk if anyone has gone through this, maybe growing up is just something I haven’t been able to handle well. Does anyone have any advice if they’ve felt or tips to improve my mind feeling like this. I’m sorry if this isn’t even the right subreddit to be in😭😭

I've always been uncomfortable at the holiday table. I interpreted it as social anxiety until I learned to relax. Now I can sit, quietly bored, without caring how that looks. I'm excited about the fact that I'm changing and about what's coming next. I'm becoming aware of my ability to affect people around me and the responsibility to do that properly. In this way, I speculate that boredom might get replaced by love.

Happy holidays 🎄

P.S. What's a good mindfulness-oriented personal growth sub?

Hi! I am taking free clients (no payment needed at all!) to receive an auric cleanse & chakra healing! If you’re interested — shoot me a dm. 🤍🧚🏾✨

Wanted to share this video with you in hopes that it helps. https://youtu.be/Th4wKmExImA?si=ZK7V8JDqpJd-Zol6

Good morning!

I'm approaching meditation/mindfulness after a stressful spell and a neck/nerve injury that I attribute largely to stress.

I'd love to hear some inspiring stories about folks who have taken similar paths and how it's helped; what the challenges are; any tips, etc.

Thank you in advance.

Take a breather with a cup of tea and a few minutes of meditation. Remember, the holidays are for you to enjoy! 🍵😄

I’ve been exploring different breathing patterns for stress relief and mindfulness. A common one is the 4-7-8 technique - inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds, repeating a few times. However, I customise it to 4-7-5 which I feel comfortable.

Do you follow a common breathing pattern when you’re trying to relax? Or have you customised it differently?

We all know how important mindfulness is, but let’s be honest—who has time for hour-long meditations? Not me.

That’s why I started a simple 5-minute routine with my Zen garden. I grab a cup of tea, sit down, and rake patterns in the sand. It’s so calming and creative, and it reminds me to be present.

It’s proof that mindfulness doesn’t have to be complicated. What’s your favorite quick way to reconnect with yourself?

Hi everyone,

I’m 14 years old (almost 15 in a few days), and I want to share something I’ve been feeling deeply lately. I’m in a moment of my life where everything feels so perfect that it hurts to think it won’t last forever. I love what I do, I have time for myself, and I feel deeply loved by my family and friends. But there’s this constant shadow: time.

I don’t want to grow up. I don’t want to face the future, the day when my grandparents (the greatest fountain of love I have in the world) are no longer here, or when I stop being a kid (I am not a kid longer, but paradoxically I am afraid to stop being one), or when I have to leave this phase of my life that feels so full of meaning. I wish I could encapsulate these moments, put them in a jar, and stay here forever. But I know I can’t. I know change is inevitable, and that thought breaks me.

I keep thinking about the day when all of this is gone. How life will push me forward even when I just want to stay. And I feel fear. Fear of losing what I have, fear of facing the unknown, fear of watching these precious moments fade away.

Sometimes it feels like time is this unstoppable force, dragging me forward while I desperately try to hold onto the present. I think about how fragile everything is—relationships, places, even myself—and it’s overwhelming. I find myself trying to savor every little detail: the way my grandparents laugh, the warmth of my family, the freedom I feel right now. But no matter how much I try to hold onto it, it feels like sand slipping through my fingers.

What scares me the most is how inevitable it all is. I can’t stop the clock, I can’t keep people around forever, and I can’t remain in this moment. It makes me question so much about life: Why are we so deeply connected to things and people if we’re destined to lose them? How do you balance cherishing the present while accepting that it won’t last?

I know people say that change can bring growth, but right now, I don’t want growth—I want stability. I want to stay here, in this moment, where I feel safe and loved. Yet, deep down, I know that resisting time is impossible. I know that life is about change, but I just wish it wasn’t so hard to accept.

So, I’m here, trying to find a way to live with this. How do I stop fighting against time? How do I stop fearing it? I want to be able to live fully, to embrace what’s here without being consumed by the fear of losing it.

If you’ve been through something similar, or if you’ve found a way to make peace with the passage of time, I would truly appreciate hearing your thoughts. Any advice, stories, or practices you can share would mean a lot to me.

Thank you for reading this (and also sorry if I had any grammatical errors, my native language is spanish). Writing it down already feels like a step toward understanding and accepting these emotions.

I've been meditating for a couple years consistently using a focus method, just focusing on the breath and whenever a thought comes up I come back to the sensation of breathing, now this technique has helped me immensely, especially in the beginning of my practice, it has helped me with focus and clarity, but nowadays, it leaves a lot to be desired, sure it feels nice to feel the breath and it is relaxing, but I feel like it doesn't have applications outside of when I'm meditating, I feel like my problems are still there and I don't do anything to address them, ie when a problem comes up I just go back to the breath and ignore it.

My goals
I want to cultivate more positive thinking and less reactiveness to negative thought patterns, less identification with them so I can choose another way to think and to move on with my issues.

The problem
I try doing what seems like the opposite of focus meditation, which is open awareness/mindfulness meditation (I'm not sure if these two are the same thing) but I often find myself lost in thought or forgetting to be aware of my thinking when I practice in this way without an anchor.
When I practice with just breath concentration I find myself ignoring thoughts instead of letting them pass and observing them.
I also have confusion whenever a thought arises, should I just see what thought it is and stop it? or should I continue with the thought train while observing it and see what might be wrong thinking patterns so I can correct them?
So my question is, how can I balance the two approaches in a way that would fit my goals?

Is it better to be mindfulness 24/7? Or is there “too much “?

Hello all, hope you are all well and happy holidays! May I ask how long it took you to let go of controlling (in and out) and just managing to observe the breathing? This is the main thing I noticed while doing the mindfulness program. I have been doing the program (guided meditations) for awhile now and it does state to just observe the breathing without controlling it and it seems impossible if my attention is solely focussed on my breathing. If I observe the body first, the breathing comes in and out naturally (without me controlling it,i.e.in and out). This is my main struggle at the moment.