Meditation isn’t just a way to relax. It trains three superpowers: concentration, sensory clarity and equanimity. In this short video, Mind & Life Podcast host David Creswell explains each one, guides a brief practice for training it, and shares a study showing why it matters. The three draw on the meditation teacher Shinzen Young’s framework of core mindfulness skills.
Train each superpower
1. Concentration: anchor on the breath
- Breathing Meditation (5 min), UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, free
- Brightmind, a meditation app built in collaboration with Shinzen Young (free download, subscription for the full library)
2. Sensory clarity: open awareness with See, Hear, Feel
- Day 30: See Hear Feel (7 min), Jeff Sinclair on Insight Timer, from his Unified Mindfulness 30-day challenge. A short first try at labeling.
- Noting Practice: Part I (10 min) and Labeling: Part I (10 min), guided by Shinzen Young on Insight Timer
- See, Hear, Feel (27 min), Shinzen Young on Insight Timer. A retreat recording that’s easier to follow after the shorter sessions.
- See Hear Feel: An Introduction, Shinzen Young’s written guide to the technique (PDF)
3. Equanimity: say yes to the body
- Day 1: Just Feel (6 min), Jeff Sinclair on Insight Timer, from his Unified Mindfulness 30-day challenge
- Equa, a science-backed mindfulness training app co-founded by David Creswell, with lessons in concentration, clarity and equanimity, including leaning into discomfort with acceptance
- Working With Physical Discomfort During Meditation, Shinzen Young’s short essay on “suffering = pain × resistance” (PDF)
Make it a Yes practice: In Day 1: Just Feel, follow the guidance and label each body sensation “Feel.” After a few minutes, swap “Feel” for “Yes.” Yes is a reminder to open up to the sensation and lean into it, even when it’s uncomfortable. This Feel-then-Yes sequence is the acceptance training tested in Lindsay et al. (2018), listed below.
Go deeper with Shinzen Young
- shinzen.org: retreats, articles and videos
- Five Ways to Know Yourself, his introduction to basic mindfulness (PDF)
- Unified Mindfulness, the training system built on his approach
The science
- Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932.
- Mrazek, M. D., Franklin, M. S., Phillips, D. T., Baird, B., & Schooler, J. W. (2013). Mindfulness training improves working memory capacity and GRE performance while reducing mind wandering. Psychological Science.
- Farb, N., Desormeau, P., Anderson, A. K., & Segal, Z. (2022). Static and treatment-responsive brain biomarkers of depression relapse vulnerability following prophylactic psychotherapy: Evidence from a randomized control trial. NeuroImage: Clinical.
- Farb, N., & Segal, Z. (2024). Paying attention to sensations can help reset the mind. Scientific American.
- Lindsay, E. K., Young, S., Smyth, J. M., Brown, K. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Acceptance lowers stress reactivity: Dismantling mindfulness training in a randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 87, 63–73.
- Lindsay, E. K., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Mechanisms of mindfulness training: Monitor and Acceptance Theory (MAT). Clinical Psychology Review, 51, 48–59.
