The ancient art of meditation has seen a resurgence in the last two decades as the pace of modern life, the overwhelm of information overload and the hyperstimulation of screens have led people to search for new ways to relax, recharge and reconnect.
Scientific research into the health benefits of meditation, yoga, and mindfulness practices has also exploded in recent years. Since the year 2000, there have been thousands of studies showing how a meditation practice can improve your health and well-being.
If you would like to learn more about the science, philosophy and practice of meditation, one of the best ways to inspire your daily practice is by watching documentaries.
Here are my picks for some of the best documentaries about meditation, yoga, and mindfulness.
1. Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds
Of the thousands of documentaries that I’ve watched over the years, Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds is in my top 10.
This documentary film explores the one vibratory field that connects all things in 4 parts: Akasha, The Spiral, The Serpent and the Lotus, and Beyond Thinking.
2. Samadhi
The sequel to Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds — Samadhi is a 3-part documentary series that goes deeper into nonduality and experiences of higher states of consciousness.
This is the kind of documentary film that you may need to watch a couple times to really let everything sink in. The filmmaker Daneil Schmidt has a new series called Awakening Mind that I also highly recommend.
3. Eckhart Tolle: Enjoying Every Moment
This documentary starts with 5 of the most profound words I’ve ever heard… Q: So, you’re able to enjoy every moment? A: Yes, I accept what is. And it just gets better from there!
Eckhart Tolle is not only profound but also really funny and he gets to the root of how to break free from the prison of egotism and overthinking.
4. Awake: The Life of Yogananda (Trailer)
Unique biopic about Yogananda, author of epic book The Autobiography of a Yogi. In the 1920s, he was one of the pivotal figures who brought Vedic spirituality to the West.
This documentary tells the story of his life and influence on yoga, religion, and science, combining re-enactment, interviews, and verité.
5. A Joyful Mind
A Joyful Mind pulls back the curtain on what it means to meditate, what modern science reveals about its benefits, and on how meditation and mindfulness can be used in workplaces and schools.
This groundbreaking documentary film serves to clear up the confusion around meditation perpetuated by the media.
6. A Cloud Never Dies
A new biographical documentary of the late Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh who recently died and was oen of the most prolific author about meditation and mindfulness.
A Cloud Never Dies weaves together original film and photographic archives, telling the story of a humble young Vietnamese monk and poet whose wisdom and compassion were forged in the suffering of war.
7. David Lynch: Meditation, Creativity, Peace
Acclaimed filmmaker David Lynch is a huge proponent of Transcendental Meditation and in this film he tells the story of how meditation can enhance creativity and peace in the world.
In this meditation documentary film, a team of filmmakers followed David Lynch on a sixteen-country tour and documented a series of lectures and intimate interviews on Lynch’s creative process and his relationship to Transcendental Meditation.
8. The Power of Meditation BBC Documentary
This documentary on the power of meditation from the BBC explores a broad variety of practices that includes techniques designed to promote relaxation, build internal energy or life force (qi, ki, prana, etc.), and develop compassion, love, patience, generosity, and forgiveness.
9. Enlightenment
How can we overcome our fears? How do we reconnect with our intuition? What is the power and magic of using your intention? To what extent can we use it to reach the life we truly want?
The documentary Enlightenment explores how to transform our negative subconscious beliefs and resistance through meditation and living mindfully.
10. All Is Self
This documentary unpacks the two stories that dominate the modern world: that we exist as separate selves in an unintelligent world of dead matter and that we were created by God in his image who rules over us.
Learning The Art And Science of Meditation Through Documentaries
I think documentaries are an incredible lifelong learning tool for exploring both the art and science of meditation and spirituality.
I covered these documentaries on meditation, mindfulness and yoga because they are all freely available to stream online but there are many more excellent spirituality documentaries on Netflix and other streaming platforms.
Of all the meditation documentaries on the list, I have been most profoundly impacted by Daniel Schmidt’s documentaries Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds, Samadhi and Awakening Mind. I highly recommend watching these films, they are about as life changing as they come.
I hope these meditation documentaries help you wherever you are on your spiritual journey, whether to deepen your meditation practice or inspire you to start meditating for the first time.
His mission at Mindful Ecotourism is to share mindful awareness, experiential learning and community building practices that can reconnect people with nature.
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