Recent times have been challenging for everyone. We’ve all had to deal with different issues such as forced isolation, fear of getting sick, mental and physical health, loss of loved ones and collapsing structures at work. As a result, many of us have sought alternative methods to ease the mind.
For years, we have spent much of our lives attached to devices that make our day-to-day lives easier but disconnect us from ourselves. Much of the content on social media, news, TV shows and streaming platforms is filled with drama, which can take us away from our center.
The pandemic caught us off guard, in many cases without the resources to cope mentally and emotionally. With a new initiative, Netflix helps the users to find the time to dedicate to themselves, to focus, to get started in meditation and to make it a frequent practice.
The Netflix documentary series Headspace Guide to Meditation was developed during the pandemic, so it is specially designed to illuminate paths and connect people with what truly matters.
The creator of the series is the Headspace platform, a company that has been trying to bring happiness and health to the world for more than ten years. Through its app, Headspace teaches the benefits of meditation and techniques developed by Andy Puddicombe, who ordained as a Buddhist monk in the Himalayas after renouncing his career in sports science.
Through his years of learning and traveling the world, Puddicombe decided to bring meditation to as many people as possible and thus began his journey in teaching his techniques. On that path, he met Rich Pierson, with whom he co-founded Headspace.
One of the company’s objectives is to promote meditation in a variety of places, allowing it to be found by an audience that is unfamiliar with the discipline. From there, the union with Netflix was created, which has helped to amplify the message in recent weeks.
The guide, which brings calm and enlightenment, is composed of eight episodes of approximately 20 minutes each, with an initial focus on theory and then move onto practice, to give people the opportunity to digest the information and stay anchored to the experience.
Each episode develops a new theme that allows the viewer to assimilate and deal with aspects in diverse life scenarios, such as stress, kindness, grief, anger, falling in love again with life, and reaching our full potential without limits. In this way, we can take care of ourselves and work on unfinished business.
The narration is by Andy Puddicombe, a wise choice as his tone provides calmness, relaxation and reassurance to the listener. His voice is beautifully accompanied by animations that generate the effect of peace and focus, greatly needed when beginning meditation.
During the first episode, Andy narrates his experience as a monk and the methods that helped him to focus his mind and not feel guilty about distractions. Later, he highlights how science has proven the health benefits of meditation, reducing heart rate, blood pressure, stress, frustration, depression and pain.
Meditation is an ancient practice, although many try to pigeonhole it as a fad. With this guide, the experts want to eliminate these labels that prevent more people from joining in with the experience.
In addition, the techniques provide viewers with the tools to slow down the pace of life, reduce distractions, train the mind to be more present, accept a loss of control, release stress, work on concentration, stop, breathe, and allow ourselves to do nothing for a few minutes.
Meditation can be difficult at first, but practice breeds mastery. The important thing is to generate a routine that helps to maintain it in the long term, to begin to notice the changes and benefits in our lives. To get to that point, we should start with the easy steps, be guided by the experts and understand that there is not just one path, there are many ways to reach the goal and experience the associated wellbeing.
By clearing our mind with meditation, we can have a better balance of our lives and the things that surround us. It will not always be easy, but it can help us to have the ability to cope with everyday circumstances.
Image credit: NappyStock