September 29, 2025 • 17 mins
Any time we decide to do something that will make us healthier, happier, more authentic, so often, we are met with resistance. That resistance manifests in many different ways. Fear, anxiety, insecurity but no matter how that resistance shows up in our lives, it is blocking us from becoming our true self. This meditation, inspired by a quote by Steven Pressfield, the author of The War of Art, aims to help us be more mindful of the resistance that is getting in our way so we can push past it and transcend our former selves.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello again, and welcome to Mindful Meditations for Calm the
Bleep Down. I'm your host, Michael Beckameier, and this time
we're going to fight the resistance. Let's go ahead and
get started. As always, we have a mindfulness quote to
(00:30):
help get us started, and this time our quote comes
from Stephen Pressfield, who wrote The War of Art. It reads,
the more important a call or action to our soul's evolution,
the more resistance we will feel toward pursuing it. If
(00:54):
you've never read The War of Art, it is kind
of a life changing book, especially if you are some
kind of creative or artist. But I found the concepts
in the ward are to be very universal. You don't
have to be a writer or a painter or some
sort of creative to get something out of that book.
(01:14):
The book basically says anything you decide to do in life,
there was instantly going to be resistance. It's going to
be and the resistance is basically coming from your ego,
which is trying to protect you. And the resistance is
always going to show up like fear. I want to
write my book, but I'm afraid I'm going to fail.
(01:34):
What if my book doesn't sell? What if people don't
like my book, what if? What if I'm a bad writer,
and it all just sort of spirals out of control
from there. But the concept that anytime, for me, the
nugget of anytime you decide you want to do something.
You want to lose five pounds, you want to head
(01:57):
to the gym more regularly, I'm going to run a marathon.
Any of those things come with resistance, and the resistance
will meet you at the level of intensity in which
you pursue that thing, which is what this quote is
talking about. You decide you want to lose ten pounds,
I'm going to start on Monday. I got that party
(02:18):
this weekend. I'm going to eat a cheeseburger. And then
a lot of times the resistance, that's all the resistance
has to do, is go, oh, but what's about that
cheeseburger over there? Doesn't that look good? And you're like, oh, yeah,
that cheeseburger looks great. I'm going to eat that thing.
Resistance is a powerful force. It is our ego, it
is our We're doing it to ourselves. The most fascinating
(02:43):
part of the book, though, and it's full chuck full
of information and helpful tips. What I got out of
it is when you're meeting when you're being met with resistance,
and you find yourself being met with resistance over and
over and over again about a certain thing. That resistance
(03:04):
is like a compass that is pointing you specifically in
the direction that you need to go to actually transcend yourself. So,
like always growth success, it never comes easy. You actually
have to head straight into the headwind of resistance to
(03:28):
transcend yourself, to change, to grow, to succeed, because it's
never going to be easy. I highly recommend that book
The War of Art if you have never read it.
So what we're going to do is we're going to
head into our meditation with the specific thought of resistance.
What is your resistance? What is pushing back against you
(03:52):
transcending yourself? And this is a personal, personal decision, so
it's not going to be anything specific for me. I
just want to take a few seconds while you're winding down, relaxing,
getting yourself comfortable, and start thinking about what is it
that's holding me back that I actually need to push
(04:12):
past so that I can get closer to my true self, happiness, success,
any of those things. So let's take a long, slow,
deep breath. Get settled. You can sit down or lie
down for this meditation, doesn't matter. Just get yourself comfortable.
Start deepening your breath. Take a long, slow, deep breath in,
(04:39):
long slow deep breath out. Start thinking about the heaviness,
the weight, the gravity sinking deeper into relaxation each and
(05:01):
the gravity of yourself pushing up against the bed or
the sea that you're sitting in. What does that feel like,
the sensation of pressing up against something. Feel yourself getting
heavier with each exhile another long, slow, deep breath in
(05:23):
and out. For me, when I've noticed resistance as I've
been looking for it recently, as I've sort of been
(05:46):
filtering everything through, Oh well, what is this say about
resistance in my life? I've noticed a pattern with my
own self, and this might be true for you as well.
Is that it comes like excuses. I'm tired today, I'll
(06:09):
start that tomorrow. I don't want to do that thing
because it feels like it's going to be a lot
of time, So I'm going to try to find a
quicker way to do that thing. But there's no shortcut
to success. Sort of excuses I give myself very often,
it shows up like procrastination. I'm definitely going to write
(06:34):
my book. I'm just going to start on Monday. I'm
just not going to do it today. And sometimes those
are valid things. You don't have to do something just
because you've thought about it right now. But how many
times are we letting ourselves off the hook for the
things that we say we want to do that we
(06:54):
know deep down inside would make us happy if we
were to do them, good about ourselves and about things
if we did them, but we put off. Maybe take
a moment and think about is that resistance? Is that
(07:17):
my ego? Is that my fear of failure, success, rejection?
Is that what those procrastinations really are? And head into
the meditation with that in mind, with that intent, maybe
(07:41):
you don't solve the problem in this meditation. We're really
just trying to gain some balance and some perspective here.
But the answers to the questions we seek are always inside.
If we just listen to our intuition, we pay attention
to how our body feels when we think about something,
(08:05):
we know the answers there inside of us. So just
think about that project, that thing, that relationship you want
to fix. Why haven't you this is all part of
the process of life. There's no perfect way of doing
any of this stuff. It's just meditation is helping me
(08:30):
gain some perspective on those things that I've always thought
were a certain way because of a certain thing. But
I'm realizing more and more in my life that it's
a lot of fear stopping me from doing things. It's
(08:51):
take a few more long, slow, deep breaths in and
out and get long, slow deep breath in an out.
(09:21):
We just want to follow our breath in and out,
not just follow it in and out, but feel our
body change as we breathe in and as we breathe out.
Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you
bring that fresh breath in and out, the cleansing breath out,
(09:47):
following our breath in and out. If at some point
you realize your mind has wondered, it's okay. Just patiently, calmly,
without judgment, just bring it back to the breath in
(10:13):
an out. So often our resistance may be coming in
(11:45):
the form of denial, or a procrastination may be coming
in the form of denial. You could tell yourself, oh
this I'm this way because of this this or this
but really, deep down inside, we are pretending not to
know the thing about ourselves or the thing about that
(12:07):
situation that is causing us to be a certain way,
and we're just kind of in denial about it. So
as you deepen your breath in and out, introduce the thought,
what am I pretending not to know? Take along, slowty
(12:33):
breath in an out, in an out, paying close attention
(13:12):
again to the sensations in your body, feeling the weight
of your pressing against the mattress or the seat, the
sensations of the cool breath coming into your body. Where
does the breath feel like it's entering your body? Do
you feel it coming in through your nose when you
follow your breath, Do you feel it coming into your chest? Somehow?
(13:36):
You feel it in your gut? Where do you feel
the breath enter your body? Long, slow, deep breath in
and out and as it exits, where do you feel
(14:02):
it exit the body from? Or maybe you calm yourself
even more by telling the breath where you want it
to go, breathing into your hands, out of your hands.
(14:39):
Maybe you tell your breath to come into your feet,
breathe into your feet out, feeling that breath cleanse your
body as it comes in and out. Take a few
(15:06):
more moments to sit in the quiet, calm and stillness,
feeling your breath in and out, longer, slower, deeper breaths in, longer, slower,
(15:28):
deeper breaths out, our final moments together. Let's take one
(16:01):
more breath together, breathing in and out, and when you're ready,
you can open your eyes and go about your day.
(16:25):
I mistake. That's it for this time on Calm the
Bleep Down. If you like this meditation, please feel free
(16:45):
to send us an email, post a comment, hit us
up on Instagram or TikTok, where we're posting a lot
these days. We'd love to hear from you once again.
I'm Michael Beckamaia reminding you to please calm the bleep Down.
We'll see you again soon. Thank you for meditating with us.
Be well, have fun, and no mistake. Bo
Hello again, and welcome to Mindful Meditations for Calm the
Bleep Down. I'm your host, Michael Beckameier, and this time
we're going to fight the resistance. Let's go ahead and
get started. As always, we have a mindfulness quote to
(00:30):
help get us started, and this time our quote comes
from Stephen Pressfield, who wrote The War of Art. It reads,
the more important a call or action to our soul's evolution,
the more resistance we will feel toward pursuing it. If
(00:54):
you've never read The War of Art, it is kind
of a life changing book, especially if you are some
kind of creative or artist. But I found the concepts
in the ward are to be very universal. You don't
have to be a writer or a painter or some
sort of creative to get something out of that book.
(01:14):
The book basically says anything you decide to do in life,
there was instantly going to be resistance. It's going to
be and the resistance is basically coming from your ego,
which is trying to protect you. And the resistance is
always going to show up like fear. I want to
write my book, but I'm afraid I'm going to fail.
(01:34):
What if my book doesn't sell? What if people don't
like my book, what if? What if I'm a bad writer,
and it all just sort of spirals out of control
from there. But the concept that anytime, for me, the
nugget of anytime you decide you want to do something.
You want to lose five pounds, you want to head
(01:57):
to the gym more regularly, I'm going to run a marathon.
Any of those things come with resistance, and the resistance
will meet you at the level of intensity in which
you pursue that thing, which is what this quote is
talking about. You decide you want to lose ten pounds,
I'm going to start on Monday. I got that party
(02:18):
this weekend. I'm going to eat a cheeseburger. And then
a lot of times the resistance, that's all the resistance
has to do, is go, oh, but what's about that
cheeseburger over there? Doesn't that look good? And you're like, oh, yeah,
that cheeseburger looks great. I'm going to eat that thing.
Resistance is a powerful force. It is our ego, it
is our We're doing it to ourselves. The most fascinating
(02:43):
part of the book, though, and it's full chuck full
of information and helpful tips. What I got out of
it is when you're meeting when you're being met with resistance,
and you find yourself being met with resistance over and
over and over again about a certain thing. That resistance
(03:04):
is like a compass that is pointing you specifically in
the direction that you need to go to actually transcend yourself. So,
like always growth success, it never comes easy. You actually
have to head straight into the headwind of resistance to
(03:28):
transcend yourself, to change, to grow, to succeed, because it's
never going to be easy. I highly recommend that book
The War of Art if you have never read it.
So what we're going to do is we're going to
head into our meditation with the specific thought of resistance.
What is your resistance? What is pushing back against you
(03:52):
transcending yourself? And this is a personal, personal decision, so
it's not going to be anything specific for me. I
just want to take a few seconds while you're winding down, relaxing,
getting yourself comfortable, and start thinking about what is it
that's holding me back that I actually need to push
(04:12):
past so that I can get closer to my true self, happiness, success,
any of those things. So let's take a long, slow,
deep breath. Get settled. You can sit down or lie
down for this meditation, doesn't matter. Just get yourself comfortable.
Start deepening your breath. Take a long, slow, deep breath in,
(04:39):
long slow deep breath out. Start thinking about the heaviness,
the weight, the gravity sinking deeper into relaxation each and
(05:01):
the gravity of yourself pushing up against the bed or
the sea that you're sitting in. What does that feel like,
the sensation of pressing up against something. Feel yourself getting
heavier with each exhile another long, slow, deep breath in
(05:23):
and out. For me, when I've noticed resistance as I've
been looking for it recently, as I've sort of been
(05:46):
filtering everything through, Oh well, what is this say about
resistance in my life? I've noticed a pattern with my
own self, and this might be true for you as well.
Is that it comes like excuses. I'm tired today, I'll
(06:09):
start that tomorrow. I don't want to do that thing
because it feels like it's going to be a lot
of time, So I'm going to try to find a
quicker way to do that thing. But there's no shortcut
to success. Sort of excuses I give myself very often,
it shows up like procrastination. I'm definitely going to write
(06:34):
my book. I'm just going to start on Monday. I'm
just not going to do it today. And sometimes those
are valid things. You don't have to do something just
because you've thought about it right now. But how many
times are we letting ourselves off the hook for the
things that we say we want to do that we
(06:54):
know deep down inside would make us happy if we
were to do them, good about ourselves and about things
if we did them, but we put off. Maybe take
a moment and think about is that resistance? Is that
(07:17):
my ego? Is that my fear of failure, success, rejection?
Is that what those procrastinations really are? And head into
the meditation with that in mind, with that intent, maybe
(07:41):
you don't solve the problem in this meditation. We're really
just trying to gain some balance and some perspective here.
But the answers to the questions we seek are always inside.
If we just listen to our intuition, we pay attention
to how our body feels when we think about something,
(08:05):
we know the answers there inside of us. So just
think about that project, that thing, that relationship you want
to fix. Why haven't you this is all part of
the process of life. There's no perfect way of doing
any of this stuff. It's just meditation is helping me
(08:30):
gain some perspective on those things that I've always thought
were a certain way because of a certain thing. But
I'm realizing more and more in my life that it's
a lot of fear stopping me from doing things. It's
(08:51):
take a few more long, slow, deep breaths in and
out and get long, slow deep breath in an out.
(09:21):
We just want to follow our breath in and out,
not just follow it in and out, but feel our
body change as we breathe in and as we breathe out.
Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you
bring that fresh breath in and out, the cleansing breath out,
(09:47):
following our breath in and out. If at some point
you realize your mind has wondered, it's okay. Just patiently, calmly,
without judgment, just bring it back to the breath in
(10:13):
an out. So often our resistance may be coming in
(11:45):
the form of denial, or a procrastination may be coming
in the form of denial. You could tell yourself, oh
this I'm this way because of this this or this
but really, deep down inside, we are pretending not to
know the thing about ourselves or the thing about that
(12:07):
situation that is causing us to be a certain way,
and we're just kind of in denial about it. So
as you deepen your breath in and out, introduce the thought,
what am I pretending not to know? Take along, slowty
(12:33):
breath in an out, in an out, paying close attention
(13:12):
again to the sensations in your body, feeling the weight
of your pressing against the mattress or the seat, the
sensations of the cool breath coming into your body. Where
does the breath feel like it's entering your body? Do
you feel it coming in through your nose when you
follow your breath, Do you feel it coming into your chest? Somehow?
(13:36):
You feel it in your gut? Where do you feel
the breath enter your body? Long, slow, deep breath in
and out and as it exits, where do you feel
(14:02):
it exit the body from? Or maybe you calm yourself
even more by telling the breath where you want it
to go, breathing into your hands, out of your hands.
(14:39):
Maybe you tell your breath to come into your feet,
breathe into your feet out, feeling that breath cleanse your
body as it comes in and out. Take a few
(15:06):
more moments to sit in the quiet, calm and stillness,
feeling your breath in and out, longer, slower, deeper breaths in, longer, slower,
(15:28):
deeper breaths out, our final moments together. Let's take one
(16:01):
more breath together, breathing in and out, and when you're ready,
you can open your eyes and go about your day.
(16:25):
I mistake. That's it for this time on Calm the
Bleep Down. If you like this meditation, please feel free
(16:45):
to send us an email, post a comment, hit us
up on Instagram or TikTok, where we're posting a lot
these days. We'd love to hear from you once again.
I'm Michael Beckamaia reminding you to please calm the bleep Down.
We'll see you again soon. Thank you for meditating with us.
Be well, have fun, and no mistake. Bo
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