Meditation is a simple way to increase mindfulness and compassion in everyday life.

According to Buddhist teachings, we have three habitual responses to everything we experience:

• We want it. Think about that gut-level desire to eat a delicious cookie.
• We reject it. Imagine swatting at annoying mosquitos.
• We zone out. Have you ever listened to a flight attendant’s safety instructions all the way through? Yeah, right.

Mindfulness gives us a fourth option: we observe without judgment.