A Man's Guide To Meditation and 5 Benefits

05/09/20 • 46 min

Behind The Mask-ulinity

To join the community and be part of the conversation:

Behind The Mask-ulinity Private Facebook Group

To connect with directly:

E-Mail Me: [email protected] or Instagram Me

What are some of the thoughts that come to your mind when you hear the word meditation?

"It's too woo-woo... it's too 'out there'... it's for hippies... it's boring... I don't have time... I can't sit still... I'm not spiritual... it's for women... it's too feminine"?

Trust me, I get it. Those are the same thoughts, along with many others, that I had when I first heard about and was approached about meditation. It just wasn't for me.

But, I changed my mind once I gave it an honest shot and put those presumptions in the back seat. What I found that there are some legit benefits that mediation can offer, and not just anecdotal benefits, but benefits backed by science, study and research.

Join me in this solo episode as I give you my top five benefits of a meditation practice, a few ways to mediate without sitting in silence, some apps to get you started, and how you may even be meditating already without even realizing it.

The key to meditation is not to sit in silence without a single thought entering your mind, that's impossible! The key is to keep coming back to the present moment over and over and over. That is how you build mindfulness, which in my opinion is the best thing that meditation develops.

To join the community and be part of the conversation:

Behind The Mask-ulinity Private Facebook Group

To connect with directly:

E-Mail Me: [email protected] or Instagram Me

What are some of the thoughts that come to your mind when you hear the word meditation?

"It's too woo-woo... it's too 'out there'... it's for hippies... it's boring... I don't have time... I can't sit still... I'm not spiritual... it's for women... it's too feminine"?

Trust me, I get it. Those are the same thoughts, along with many others, that I had when I first heard about and was approached about meditation. It just wasn't for me.

Previous Episode

There's No Crying in Baseball... or is there? with Mike Robbins

To join the community and be part of the conversation:

Behind The Mask-ulinity Private Facebook Group

To connect with me directly:

E-Mail Me: [email protected] or Instagram Me

Have you ever cried over a girlfriend or some other relationship you've been in? If so, you've probably had someone call you soft, weak, beta male, a girl, feminine, a p***y, or some other form of emasculating term.

Have you ever seen a male athlete cry after winning the World Series, the Super Bowl, a gold medal? What do they say about him? He's passionate, he's dedicated, he cares, he let it all out, he gave it his all, and other words of praise.

So which is it? Is crying weak or is it strong? I'm not advocating for a world full of cry babies that just cry about anything instead of using other productive ways to deal with emotions, but give us some direction here.

Join me as I sit down with former professional baseball player Mike Robbins as we dive into his story from the little league fields of Oakland, to the prestigious confines of Stanford University, to his journey as a professional with the Kansas City Royals, to his premature retirement because of injuries--and all the emotions he encountered in between.

Mike used those injuries, struggles and emotions to become the man he is today: a leading expert in teamwork, leadership and emotional intelligence, delivering keynotes and seminars around the world that empower people, leaders, and teams to engage in their work, collaborate and perform at their best.

His clients include Google, Microsoft, the U.S. Department of Labor, Harvard University, Coca-Cola, the NBA, MLB, and many others. His work has been featured in New York Times, Harvard Business Review, NPR, ABC News and Forbes.

He is the author of 5 books, including his brand new title "We're All In This Together: Creating A Team Culture Of High Performance, Trust And Belonging". You can find it here https://mike-robbins.com/together/.

Next Episode

My Top 10 Core Values and How To Find Yours

To join the community and be part of the conversation:

Behind The Mask-ulinity Private Facebook Group

To connect with me directly:

E-Mail Me: [email protected] or Instagram Me

What are your values? Have you ever heard someone ask you that or heard it in a book, podcast, or TED Talk? What exactly does it mean? What does it mean to you?

In simpler terms, values are things you care about. Not material things and external things, but intangible things like characteristics and traits. What traits do you try to exemplify every day? What traits do you want to exemplify? What do you look for in others?

Why is figuring out your core values important? Why does it matter? Because they help you get to know yourself better and function better. It's like getting a physical examination from your doctor, but for your mind. When you get a physical, you may find out certain things about yourself: maybe your blood pressure is a little high, maybe your cholesterol is a bit off, maybe your lungs are a little wheezy, maybe your weight has fluctuated.

What do you do? You become aware of these things and you make adjustments to live a healthier life that's better for you and those around you. You eat better, exercise more, reduce your stress and make better decisions that will better align you for success.

Same with figuring out your values. You start to realize how you see the world, become aware of your perspective, notice why you think the way you think, say the things you say, and do the things you do.

Not only is this helpful to you personally, it's helpful in all areas of your life, including your relationships. And what is life without relationships? When you become aware of these core values, you build your self-awareness. When you build your self-awareness, you start to make better decisions, you start to create better boundaries and your life starts to look more like the life that you actually want it to look like.

Join me in this solo episode as I share my top 10 core values and, why they're important to me, and how you can begin to find yours.