The skill of mindfulness allows you to remain grounded in the present moment even when you face difficult stressors, so that your stressful feelings feel more manageable.

—Melanie Greenberg

Mindfulness means being present to whatever is happening here and now—when mindfulness is strong, there is no room left in the mind for wanting something else. With less liking and disliking of what arises, there is less pushing and pulling on the world, less defining of the threshold between self and other, resulting in a reduced construction of self. As the influence of self diminishes, suffering diminishes in proportion.

—Andrew Olendzki

In meditation we discover our inherent restlessness. Sometimes we get up and leave. Sometimes we sit there but our bodies wiggle and squirm and our minds go far away. This can be so uncomfortable that we feel it’s impossible to stay. Yet this feeling can teach us not just about ourselves but what it is to be human…we really don’t want to stay with the nakedness of our present experience.

—Pema Chödrön

It’s like wearing gloves every time we touch something, and then, forgetting we chose to put them on, we complain that nothing feels quite real. Our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world but to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold and the car handle feels wet and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being, soft and unrepeatable.

—Mark Nepo

There is something wonderfully bold and liberating about saying yes to our entire imperfect and messy life.

—Tara Brach

Learn as You Go: How Should I Breathe When I Meditate?

Meditation often begins with a deep intake of breath and a long exhalation. But you don’t have to keep breathing that way after you’ve started! The deep breath at the beginning is intended to refocus yourself on the moment, on what you’re doing now—namely, the meditation practice. Once you’re refocused, you should breathe normally, allowing your body to take care of itself again while you meditate.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

—Pema Chödrön

Acknowledging the pain and the suffering that take place inside you, and allowing the feelings, will take time, but this new way of handling these feelings will change the way you relate to you and to the outside world.

—Kelly Martin

In fact, when you’re mindful, you actually feel irritation more keenly. However, once you unburden yourself from the delusion that people are deliberately trying to screw you, it’s easier to stop getting carried away.

—Dan Harris