Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.

• Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
• Steven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk

Two words I have said roughly 25,000 times. Most of them on autopilot.

Two words. Probably the most common two words spoken in the English language. Two words I say almost every single morning, and you probably do too. I'm fine. In this episode I work out that I have said it about 25,000 times to my carers over the last 35 years, and almost none of those times did I actually stop and think about it. I want to look at why we say it, what it costs us, and what happens when we don't. There is a Brené Brown quote, an old Zen master story I have always loved, a Thursday afternoon last week where I cried for 20 minutes and then bought a book on Amazon, and a small image about letting go before your hand hurts. You don't have to stop saying I'm fine. You just have to notice when you do.

• 25,000 mornings, two carers, and the most automatic answer in my life
• Why "I'm fine" is armour, and why armour is not always the wrong thing to wear
• The three reasons we wear it (and why "just think positive" is the worst advice in self help)
• The cost of saying it on autopilot, especially to the people who actually want to hear you
• An old Zen story about a master on his deathbed who said the most enlightened thing he could have said
• Brené Brown on numbing emotions, and why you cannot block only the bad weather
• A real Thursday afternoon I sat here and cried for 20 minutes, then immediately bought a book
• The hand metaphor: I let go a little earlier than I used to, before my hand hurts

When Anxiety Visits (IPM101). Five minutes. You sit down, you say hello to whatever is actually here, and you ask it why it came. It is the practical opposite of saying "I'm fine." Available on Insight Timer, Aura, and the Inner Peace Meditations podcast.

If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee at stevenwebb.uk.

Alex, Nina, Zoe, A Ma, Kevin, Katarzyna, Deborah, Christopher, and Ariel for recent coffees and PayPal donations.

Special thanks: MumMik's Cleaning Services for buying a course this week.

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Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.

• Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
• Steven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk

There are eight billion minds in the world, and not one of them was made to fit the same cushion.

This week I want to talk about why meditation works beautifully for some people and barely at all for others, and why no single teacher, book or technique was ever going to be the answer for everybody. I tell the story of my own rock bottom at forty, a Saturday afternoon in town with a broken wheelchair and a security guard who said nothing but meant everything. From there to the slow accidental discovery of meditation through As a Man Thinketh, and what it really means to live with an ADHD mind that refuses to sit still. We're all on our own road. The world wasn't designed for you, or me, or any of us. But you can widen your road, push your boundaries, and stop trying to fit into a shape that was never yours.

• Why one meditation method will never work for eight billion different minds
• The night I hit rock bottom, and the kindness that started everything
• Reading As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, and why ten books saying the same thing is hard to ignore
• Neuroplasticity, and how you can widen your road even if you can't change it
• ADHD, dyslexia and finding ways to meditate when your mind refuses to be quiet
• Why accepting yourself is so much easier than trying to change everyone else

If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee at stevenwebb.uk.

Suzanne, Maria, Michael, Tiffany, Ellen, Kathleen, Edyll, Nicola, Jess, Lynette, Linda, Laura, Yavuz, and a few kind anonymous souls.

Special thanks: Jane, marking one year as a monthly supporter on 15th April 2026.

You keep this podcast advert free.

Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.

• Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
• Steven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk

You've tried meditation. Maybe you dip in and out of it. You feel a little better for a few days, then life gets loud and you forget. Then you snap at someone, or you fire off the email you regret, and you think "I know better than this." This episode is for you, and honestly, it's for me too.

In this back to basics episode, I bust the biggest myths about meditation. I talk about why we don't meditate to clear the mind, why five minutes really is enough, why a wandering mind is not a failed mind, and why the real test of meditation is not how peaceful you feel on the cushion, but how you handle the family barbecue, the doctor's waiting room, and the colleague who winds you up.

If you've ever felt like you're doing meditation wrong, this is your invitation to start again. Simply, honestly, and from wherever you are.

• Why meditation matters in real life, not just on the cushion
• The seven biggest myths about meditation, busted
• The gap between thought and reaction, and why it's the whole game
• Why little and often beats long and rare
• How to know if your meditation practice is actually working

Inner Peace Meditations #99: Peace Right Where You Are. A simple five minute guided meditation to go with this episode. No visualisation, no setup, no special place. Just breath, thoughts, and the peace that's already here.

Sin, Margaret, Annie, Melike, Helen, Laura, Adam, Dominique, and a special welcome to Linda who has just joined as a new monthly supporter. You are the reason this podcast stays advert free.

If this episode meant something to you, please share it with someone who might need it, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or treat me to a coffee at stevenwebb.uk.