Meditation Changes Everything
We’ve all heard that meditation is good for us — studies show that it reduces stress, improves concentration and makes us more resilient to life’s challenges. But what if these benefits are just the tip of the iceberg? What if meditation could actually change everything?
Pioneering meditation teacher Craig Hamilton has been practicing meditation for 40 years and teaching it over the past two decades to students in more than 90 countries. In this podcast, Craig reveals how this powerful, ancient practice can transform every aspect of human life. He shares key insights from his personal practice as well as on-the-ground research at the leading edge of spiritual practice and inquiry. As a listener, you’ll discover a mix of in-depth talks from Craig on key aspects of meditation, his responses to common questions from students and guided meditations, so you can experience a variety of meditation practices for yourself.
If you appreciate what you hear in the podcast, Craig invites you to download his free ebook, Unlocking the Power of Meditation, to learn about the five common mistakes most of us make in meditation and how you can avoid them. Download your free ebook at 5meditationmistakes.com.
- Update frequency
- every 13 days
- Average duration
- 35 minutes
- Episodes
- 44
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Awakened Awareness: Discovering the Self Beyond the Story
When we hear about spiritual awakening, it can often sound lofty or out of reach. We imagine it will take decades of practice, or that it belongs only to rare, extraordinary people.
But what if the ve…
The Perfection of This Moment: A Meditative Journey into Wholeness
Many of us come to meditation with subtle expectations—hoping for stillness, clarity, or a familiar sense of calm. When our experience doesn’t match those hopes, we often assume something is missing …
The Practice of Emotional Freedom: Feeling Without Resistance
In this episode, Craig turns our attention to an often-overlooked dimension of meditation practice: our emotional lives.
We’re often taught that the biggest obstacle in meditation is our thinking mind…
A Beginner’s Mind: The Practice of Living in the Unknown
“There’s perhaps nothing we can do that has as radical an impact on our consciousness as the meditation practice of completely letting go of the mind. Something extraordinary happens when we’re willi…
Let It Be: Discovering Freedom Through Surrender Meditation
Surrender is central to every spiritual tradition. But what does it actually mean to surrender—and how do we begin to practice it in a real and grounded way?
In this episode, Craig invites us into a d…
The Trap of Tranquility: Breaking Free from Trance States in Meditation
Meditation can lead us into some extraordinary states of consciousness—moments of stillness, spaciousness, or bliss that feel like a doorway has opened inside us. These states can be deeply nourishin…
The Deepest Yes: How Radical Acceptance Gives Rise to Transformation
“Authentic spiritual awakening is not about getting to a place where we’re above all the pains and tragedies of life. The transformation I’m pointing to is one where we’re able to stay rooted in the …
Beyond the Story of Self: Four Meditations to Loosen the Ego's Grip
In Beyond the Story of Self, Craig guides a series of meditations that gently loosen the structures that define who we think we are.
Most of us move through life with an unspoken assumption—that we a…
Obstacles to Awakening - Part Three: Spiritual Bypassing
“Many of us begin the spiritual path because we simply want to feel better. And this desire to feel good can take us some distance on the path. It will get you meditating daily, it will get you into …
Awakening in Daily Life: Turning Meditative Insights into Action
“Meditation is ultimately about getting out of the way so that a greater intelligence and a higher set of capacities can begin to show up within us. We meditate so that we can unlock a deeper care, a…
Unlocking the Power of Stillness: Equanimity Meditation
In a world where uncertainty, conflict, and emotional triggers seem to be everywhere, staying rooted in stillness can often seem out of reach.
In Unlocking the Power of Stillness: Equanimity Meditatio…
Direct Awakening: Four Meditations to Illuminate the Way
“Awakened consciousness is always deeply at ease. It's very open and fluid and flexible. And that's something we can sit down and practice. We don’t have to focus on our breath or repeat a word, or t…
The Paradox of Practice: When Effort Becomes the Obstacle
“From one point of view, spiritual practice is always a postponement of awakening, because awakening is about embracing our true nature exactly as we are right now. Yet, from another point of view, i…
The Undivided Heart: Releasing Our Resistance to Awakening
“The reason spiritual awakening is so incredibly rare on this planet isn't that nobody wants to awaken. It's that those of us who want to awaken also want something else that's in conflict with awake…
The Power of Not Knowing: Awakening Beyond Certainty
“If we want to live our lives immersed in the mystery of awakened consciousness, we need to give up the idea that we could ever know this mystery with our mind. This means we have to give up trying t…
The Audacity to Be Free: Two Meditation Mindsets to Fuel Your Practice
“The practice of Direct Awakening is always only about this moment. It's always only about awakening in this moment of practice. So we need to come to our practice with the full optimism and audaci…
Obstacles to Awakening - Part Two: The Mind
“An awakened life is a life in which we're no longer centered in the cognitive mind, we're no longer centered in the thought stream. Ultimately, the spiritual path means trusting enough to let go of …
Natural Meditation: Being Yourself Without Effort
“One reason meditation is such a powerful tool on the spiritual path is that it’s a safe place to completely give up control. You can sit down, and just let go…and let go…and let go. You can let go o…
Open Heart, Spacious Mind: The Practice of Unbounded Freedom
“Spiritual awakening brings us into direct contact with reality. When we’re awake, our lens is no longer distorted, and our heart is no longer shut down and defended. We are now fully here, which mea…
Meditation Can Be Simple: Three Doorways to Awakening
In today’s world, it can feel like there are endless options for meditation—each promising a slightly different path. With so many different meditation techniques available to us, it’s easy to feel a…