The StillMind Journal 113 posts

Writing on meditation, in plain language.

Techniques that actually work, and honest reflections from real practice. What we've tried, and what we've learned.

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A hall table under one lamp holding car keys, a hospital parking permit, a visitor pass, a solicitor's envelope and a birthday card, with a lit doorway further down the hallway
Emotional fitness

Grieving someone who is still alive: what actually helps

You grieve them twice, and nobody sends flowers the first time. What ambiguous loss is, why grieving early is not a head start, and what to practise instead.

By Jamie Murphy
Read the article
  1. A woman sits by a window in late afternoon light with her eyes gently closed and one hand open in her lap, while warmth gathers as fine gold filaments that begin low in her chest and spread outward through her ribs and shoulders, with nothing glowing around her head.

    Gratitude meditation: the practice with nothing to write

    Techniques
  2. A kitchen table someone has just left: a steaming mug beside an open journal with two handwritten lines and a pen, while a pristine health advice leaflet sits pushed to the far edge of the table

    Meditation for people sick of being told to meditate

    Emotional fitness
  3. A bedroom blackout blind caught three quarters pulled down, with a narrowing band of hard morning light still coming through the gap above a turned back, unslept-in bed

    Meditation for night shift: sleeping when your body won't

    Emotional fitness
  4. A person still in their coat leaning forward in a clinic waiting chair, a steady unbroken bar of light under the closed door opposite them

    Waiting for test results: meditation for the not knowing

    Emotional fitness
  5. Headphones lying where they were pulled off on a bedside table, sound still spilling from the earcups as fine gold threads into a dark room where nobody is listening

    Why guided meditation voices annoy you, and what helps

    Scripts
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  1. A man in work clothes sits on the edge of an unmade bed in late afternoon light, forearms on his thighs and hands loosely clasped, looking away toward the window with his phone face down on the covers beside him, while a band of warm light holds him in focus and the room softens into haze at either edge.
    Emotional fitness

    Meditation for men: when 'stressed' is the only word

    One word covers anxious, tired, angry and flat, and a practice chosen for that word does nothing. Three questions that find the state underneath in 90 seconds.

    By
    meditation for menis meditation good for menhow to know what you are feeling
  2. A small notebook open on the floor with two lines just written in it, a pen still lying across the page and a finished meditation timer beside it
    Techniques

    How to meditate: what every instruction is actually for

    You are sitting alone, wondering whether your posture looks wrong. Every meditation instruction does one of three jobs. Here is how to tell which.

    By
    how to meditatemeditation posturewhat to do with your hands
  3. A man reclined on a sofa with his eyes closed, warm light glowing through his chest and arms and stopping at his knees, leaving his lower legs and socked feet in cool shadow
    Journaling

    Therapy homework: the meditation half nobody helps with

    My therapist gave me practices to try between therapy sessions. Doing them was never the hard part. Holding on to what I noticed was. Here is what helps.

    By
    meditation between therapy sessionsbetween therapy sessionstherapy homework
  4. A person sitting still in low evening light with one hand resting open on their knee, a faint ring of light circling back on itself just above the hand and a second line of light travelling outward past it into the room
    Techniques

    Does meditation make pain, tinnitus or anxiety worse?

    Meditation asks you to turn toward what already hurts. What the evidence actually says about attention and tinnitus, chronic pain, health anxiety and OCD.

    By
    does meditation make tinnitus worsedoes focusing on pain make it worseis body scan meditation safe with health anxiety
  5. A person holding their breath on the edge of a bed, shoulders raised and light compressed inside their chest, as a square of light closes on its fourth side around them
    Techniques

    Breathwork techniques: what the evidence actually shows

    Box breathing, 4-7-8 and cyclic sighing, checked against the head-to-head trial we could trace. What was tested, what wasn't, and the dose that worked.

    By
    breathwork techniques explainedbox breathing technique4-7-8 breathing technique
  6. A painterly kitchen scene in which a woman sits on a wooden chair with her forearms on her thighs and her face calm and unreadable, while a translucent version of herself stands a half step behind and to her left, looking down at her, with a narrow column of light rising through the empty space between them and an untouched mug of tea on the table.
    Emotional fitness

    Meditation when you feel nothing: which numb is it?

    Numb isn't one state. Four kinds wear the same word, and the advice that helps one can deepen another. How to tell which flat you're in, and what actually fits.

    By
    meditation when you feel nothingemotional numbness meditationmeditation makes me feel more numb
  7. A person sitting cross legged with eyes closed next to a pale blank canvas where a beach scene would be, warm light falling across their resting hands and shoulders
    Techniques

    Meditation with aphantasia: when you can't visualize

    The guided session works fine until the voice says picture a beach. If mental images were never a thing for you, here is what to do with the instruction.

    By
    meditation with aphantasiaaphantasia guided meditationmeditation without visualization
  8. Man sitting cross-legged on a bedroom floor at night with his eyes closed, a phone lying face up on the floorboards in front of him sending ribbons of amber light upward that fray into scattered particles at his jaw before reaching his face
    AI meditation

    Meditating with ChatGPT: how to make the session land

    ChatGPT writes a good meditation, then hands it over and steps back. How to prompt for a session you can actually practise, and where the format runs out.

    By
    how to use chatgpt to meditatechatgpt guided meditationchatgpt meditation prompts
  9. A woman meditates cross-legged on a cushion while a vertical seam of light divides the room behind her, a speaking human figure on her left and a lattice of glowing filaments on her right, each sending identical warm threads of light to one of her ears
    Research

    Can you trust an AI voice? Our data found no difference

    People rate an AI-narrated meditation no differently from one they guide themselves. What that proves about trusting a synthetic voice, and what it does not.

    By
    can you trust an ai voicecan people detect ai voicesai voice vs human voice
  10. A seated person holds a small orb of light in cupped hands, its centre pale and its outer edges glowing warm, with fine strands of light drifting outward past their shoulders
    Techniques

    Loving-kindness meditation: a guide to the five circles

    Metta is five different practices sharing one set of phrases. What each circle actually trains, the technique that moves it, and what to do when one stalls.

    By
    loving kindness meditation stageshow to practice metta meditationloving kindness meditation phrases feel fake
  11. A woman sits awake on the edge of an unmade bed in the small hours, head lowered, a glass of water on the floorboards by her bare feet, while vertical threads of amber light crowd the room and thin away in the space her body occupies
    Research

    AI sycophancy: why it agrees about spirituality, not sleep

    Anthropic measured sycophancy across ten guidance domains. Spirituality hit 37.9%, health and wellness 2.9%. Here is the full table and what drives it.

    By
    ai sycophancy by domainwhich topics is ai most sycophantic aboutanthropic claude personal guidance report
  12. An open notebook on a wooden table in warm morning light, showing three faint handwritten lines crossed out (I am grateful for this day, I am grateful for my family, I am grateful for my health) and beneath them one glowing line that reads: Ran for the bus on Tuesday, wasn't out of breath
    Journaling

    Gratitude journaling that stays alive past week two

    Your gratitude list collapsed into the same three things by week two. That's a category problem, not a gratitude problem. Six techniques, and the evidence.

    By
    gratitude journalinggratitude journal repetitivegratitude journal same things every day
  13. A woman sits cross-legged on a bedroom floor in low morning light at the end of a short meditation, with a translucent version of herself behind her holding a longer, more upright formal posture
    Techniques

    How long should you meditate? What the research shows

    Research on meditation session length points to frequency and follow through as much as minutes. Here is what the evidence shows, and where it stays uncertain.

    By
    how long should I meditatedoes meditation length mattermeditation session length
  14. Woman seated cross-legged on a floor cushion in a warm sunlit room, a restless field of golden bubbles crowding the air behind her and a single unbroken thread of light descending to rest at her chest
    AI meditation

    Is your AI meditation app talking to you, or guiding you?

    Most "AI meditation" apps mean chatting with a bot. A real guided session works differently: rooted in technique, shaped by your context, narrated for you.

    By
    AI guided meditationpersonalized meditation appmeditation personalization
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