**This class will be the last podcast episode of 2023 for The Mindful Minute. I’ll be taking a break over the winter months to rest, to practice, to study, and feel through what 2024 will ask of all of us as meditation practitioners. I’ll be back in early 2024 with a new year of meditation classes tied to the natural world and centered on well-being for the Earth, humans, and the more-than-humans that make up this universe. I look forward to practicing with you again soon. I have been teaching Monday Night Meditation for 8 years, and airing it on The Mindful Minute podcast for 7 years. It has been my greatest joy to share my own meditative journey and to witness yours as we have practiced together. My own practice has evolved profoundly in the 13 years I have been sitting on a meditation cushion. I began as a Tantric practitioner, settled into Mindfulness for years, and returned to Tantric traditions as my own awareness continues to awaken. For the

What does witchcraft have to do with meditation? SO much more than you might have originally thought, dear listeners. Which is why I am so excited to share a conversation with Jamie Della today.Jamie Della is a witch, an ordained Priestess, and the author of ten books, including her newest book, A Box of Magick, as well as The Book of Spells: The Magick of Witchcraft and The Wicca Cookbook. She has a writer’s spirit and a faery soul, and she loves to teach, create, throw pottery, and get out in nature.Jamie shares that her new book A Box of Magick is an invitation to a magickal life with herbs, rituals, and spells--through the guidance of two priestesses, one here on Earth and one from beyond the veil…Jamie and I talk about the origin story of this book, and we spend a lot of time unpacking the witch archetype in this episode. We also talk about:Elemental magicDivination and synchronicitiesAncestorsEarth-based spirituality 

To allow an emotion to be simply means to let the feelings come and go without needing to DO anything about them. Simple to understand; much much more difficult to put into practice. In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we use myth as a pathway to understanding the practice of allowance. Rather than trapping an emotion - giving it a label, a meaning, and box to live in - what if we track the experience? What happens if we stay open to sensation and story? To image and insight? In the last installment of our Big Emotions series, we put together the practice of Soften, Soothe, Allow so that we are able to rest into the experience of attending &amp; befriending our emotions.Join me for a short talk and 20-minute guided meditation.Sign up for my newsletter at<a href="http://eepurl.com/dBYEUL" style="bac

Oh friends, I am sure, like mine, your heart is broken over the horrors we are witnessing between Israel and Palestine, as well as the hate crimes we are seeing in response to this crisis.In a moment of pure serendipity, I had an interview that was scheduled months ago with poet James Crews to chat about his new book, The Wonder of Small Things; Poems of Peace &amp; Renewal. I originally planned to air this conversation as a Winter Solstice offering, but his book feels like the perfect balm for the pain of this moment. So, I am releasing this episode as quickly as possible in hopes that it offers you a tiny salve for your heart, a spark of okay-ness, as you continue to engage and bear witness to what is happening in the world. James Crews is the editor of several bestselling anthologies, including The Path to Kindness: Poems of Connection and Joy and How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope, which has over 100,000 cop

*While this series was recorded several months ago, it continues to feel incredibly timely as we bear witness to the horrors unfolding in Israel and Palestine, as well as the hate crimes happening in response to this crisis.May we stay steady, may we stay awake, may we soothe our hearts so that we can continue to engage. A Lifeboat in Turbulent Times:When emotion overwhelms our system, it is called 'flooding', and in today’s episode, we are going to learn to build our lifeboat. We will explore soothing techniques to support the overwhelming emotions of the moment.Last week, we talked about softening the body - this is a form of physical compassion. ⁠⁠Today, we explore soothing, an emotional compassion, which allows us to tolerate big emotions and perhaps move towards allowance.Join me for today’s talk and 20-minute guided meditation practice - an experience of soothing.<a href="http://e

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with emotion and empathy expert, Karla McLaren, about her new book, The Language of Emotions. In it, she shares a powerful definition of emotion from sociologist Dr. Arlie Hochschild“Emotion, I suggest, is a biologically given sense, and our most important one. Like other senses - hearing, touch, and smell - it is a means by which we know our relation to the world, and is therefore crucial to the survival of human beings in group life. Emotion is unique among the senses, however, because it is related not only to an orientation toward action, but also to an orientation toward cognition.”What changes when you think of your emotions as a ‘sense’ rather than as a problem to be fixed? In the same way that we use our eyes, ears and fingers to take in information, we use our emotions to do the same. In order to fully access this sense, this tool of cognition, we must learn to soften in the presence of big em

I have noticed the prevalence of two difficult emotions both in my own life as well as in my conversations with others - grief &amp; anxiety. Difficult emotions to be sure. Over the next four episodes, I want to explore working with difficult emotions in our meditation practice. It can appear, at least on the surface, that there is no place for big emotion within our meditation practice - as if, somehow, meditation precludes us from experiencing heartbreak, fear or anger. This couldn’t be further from the truth. What meditation offers us isn’t exemption from emotion but rather comfort and trust in the wisdom of our emotions. Almost always amidst big emotion we are having a dual experience. We are Experiencing our feelings in the moment. Experiencing the thoughts, stories and beliefs we are having about our feelings.One is real; the other is very often untrue. Can you guess which? Join me for today’s episode

"What if your discomfort was a portal to a rebirth, a remembering, an attunement to your true Self?"   - Tracee StanleyTracee Stanley is the founder of Empowered Life Circle, a sacred community and portal of practices, rituals, and Tantric teachings inspired by more than 20 years of study in Sri Vidya Tantra and the teachings of the Himalayan Masters. As a post-lineage teacher, Tracee is devoted to sharing the wisdom of yoga nidra, rest, meditation, self-inquiry, nature as a teacher, and ancestor reverence. Tracee is gifted in illuminating the magic and power found in liminal space and weaving devotion and practice into daily life. Today, Tracee joins The Mindful Minute to talk about her new book, The Luminous Self, and share some of the profound practices included within.The Luminous Self  is a book that answers the questions on how to inquire into our suffering and past conditioning, empowering ourselves to turn towards truth and power. It

In this series, I named three things that regularly inspire awe for me -BirdsBooksMeditationAll 3 regularly stop me in my tracks, and they make my jaw drop. They make me smile, wonder, and listen. They weave their way into my conversations and my dreams. In short, they inspire awe within me. “Awe experiences are what psychologists call self-transcendent: they shift our attention away from ourselves, make us feel like we are part of something greater than ourselves, change our perception of time, and even make us more generous toward others.” - templeton.orgDacher Keltner - one of the foremost awe researchers - has written about taking ‘awe-walks’. Nature is an easy place to find awe, and he encourages us to go out with the intention of seeking awe. I’ve found that the more I do this, the more easily I experience it. We can also do this in our meditation practice. We can go on an awe-wal

I adore a good book, and I’ve noticed that often I feel a sense of energy or connection between what I’m reading and my meditation practice. Sometimes it inspires a question, a curiosity or even just a feeling.It isn’t something that can easily be named or explained, which is exactly what this series is about… The unknown, the mystery, the awe of an experience. In meditation, often we want to discuss what happens. We try to explain. But so often it feels incomplete, doesn’t it? You can’t capture the depth, the richness, the aliveness through a word that is in itself limiting.Our practice, like ourselves, is boundless. Limits are useless here. And often so is language.Books have their place. They point us to something.But experience is the only path forward… The only knowing. In this class, we explore books, language, signs and symbols as a way to relate to our practice and to accept its ambiguity. Jo

This year, I have fallen in love with birds. I know, I know - it's an odd entry to a meditation class, but stay with me - We added a few bird feeders and a bird bath to our backyard garden at the start of the year, and the bird population has absolutely exploded. And, since I sit outside to meditate everyday, I have a front row seat to the show.At first, I found the constant birdsong a distraction to my practice, but I QUICKLY found that it became a soundtrack of upliftment and positive feelings. It is only natural then that I began to ask.. Why? Here is where it gets interesting - much like with any aspect of nature, while science can show that it DOES have a positive impact on physical and emotional health, it struggles to show WHY…And so I started to ask myself, could the feeling alone be enough?Could my own internal experience be enough?This appreciation of birds - would it change if I could iden

What if emotions weren't a problem? What if you didn’t need to fix or change your emotions? What if they were actually not only helpful but vital to our survival? Today, I am delighted to share a conversation with author and researcher Karla McLaren. M.Ed. Karla is an emotions and empathy expert, and she's recently revised and updated one of her books, The Language of Emotions. In this conversation, Karla and I talk aboutEmotions as a sense rather than a problemAnxiety, panic and how to work with themBoundariesThe danger of spiritual bypassing in yoga &amp; meditation communitiesWhy judgment isn’t a bad thingChildren and big emotions4 keys to emotional geniusThis conversation is rich with helpful tools for embodying and embracing our emotional life. Be sure to listen all the way to the end - Karla shares a practice that is simple and powerfully effective for ident

It is an unbelievably beautiful gift to be alive and awake. The world will break our hearts both through its cruelty and its beauty. Our job is not to fix that paradox, but to learn how to live within it with resiliency and reciprocity.We grieve, we give thanks, and we act in some personal way in response to the gift of being alive.This last class in the Resilience &amp; Reciprocity series will ask us to shift from an independent to an intra-dependent point of view of ourselves, others, and the natural world. All 3 ask for our grief, our gratitude and our reciprocal action. And, all 3 are uplifted and clarified through our meditation practice. Emergence Labs writes of intra-dependency - Intra-dependency on the other hand signifies how something is the outcome of another thing. One thing is “of” another. {...} The ‘whole’ is making us (even as we can identify ourselves as separate).The whole is making us. We cannot

Do you know the refrain in Amazing Grace?Amazing grace how sweet the soundThat saved a wretch like meI once was lost, but now I'm foundWas blind but now I seeThis refrain has been running through my head as I created this month’s meditation series - “but now I see.”Last week, we talked about really ‘seeing’ the earth, and today, we will talk about really ‘seeing’ others, people that are different from ourselves in some way. One of the premises in this series is that comfort equals loneliness. If everyone around me looks like me and thinks like me, well that might feel pretty easy at first. I don’t have to stretch too hard to make anyone feel included. I don’t have to worry that my needs will be overlooked. I don’t have to risk discomfort in conversation, in activity, in food, in anything… But, the more I close off to anyone different, the scarier it is “out there”; the smaller my world becomes “in here”; an

In this mindfulness series, we are exploring resilience &amp; reciprocity as skills we build when we bring mindfulness to our relationships with the earth, with others, and with ourselves. In today’s class, we bring the lens of mindfulness to our fractured relationship with nature. Diagnosis like plant blindness and nature deficit disorder, not to mention climate crisis, highlight how removed we are from nature. At the same time, there are writers, poets, artists, and scientists all screaming for us to go outside, to remember ourselves in nature. Yet, for the most part, we don’t.We don’t go outside because we are busy, because we don’t know where to go, or because we don’t like being hot, or cold, or the bugs. We don’t go outside because our culture has taught us to value comfort over all else. We don’t go outside because we might be uncomfortable.In the Apache language, the root of the word for land is the same root as the word for mind… an

Hello dear ones. Today, we step into a new series that stems from some of my recent reading. Every spring, I re-read "Braiding Sweetgrass" by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and I also just read a new book from the Foxfire organization titled "The Foxfire Book of Appalachian Women".While these books are about different peoples, different times, and different landscapes, I see so many threads of similarity carried between the narratives - Threads of hardship, hard work &amp; happiness. Threads of lack and abundance.Threads of fear and grief for a changing landscape.In this new meditation series, I want to follow a few of these threads through our lived experiences, and the ways they show up and can be worked with on the meditation cushion.If I had to choose one word synopses for these two books, I would choose:Resilience &amp; ReciprocitySo, we will begin our series here. Join me as we journ

Are you a Sage? A Huntress? A Lover? A Queen?The answer is yes to all of the above, and author Mara Branscombe joins us in today’s episode to explain why with her new book: Sage, Huntress, Lover, Queen.Mara Branscombe is a mother, writer, yogi, artist, teacher, mindfulness leader, ceremonialist and spiritual coach. Mara is passionate about weaving the art of mindfulness, self-care, creativity, mind–body practices, and earth-based rituals into her life and work, and she has been leading community ceremony since 2000.This is her second visit to The Mindful Minute, and this conversation does not disappoint! Mara and I chat about:Archetypes: what they are and why they matterThe light and the shadow of our inner experienceThe creative process and the wisdom hidden in creative actsSimple sacred practices to embody each of these archetypesThe archetypes we are resonating with most right now</li

This meditation class was recorded in the aftermath of a mass shooting in my hometown of Atlanta, GA and after a day of supporting a friend through a mental health crisis.I like to think of meditation as a lifestyle; when we treat this practice as a rich and full aspect of daily lives it quickly begins to offer the benefits that are so lauded when one reads about the practice of meditation. However, there are also times when meditation can serve as a band-aid. It can be an SOS practice that immediately helps to calm your nervous system and to settle you back into your body after a stressful situation. In this class, we explore three quick and simple practices that you can do when you are feeling high levels of stress, fear and anxiety. Each of these practices can be done on their own in less than 30-seconds, and each practice has measurable, positive impacts on your nervous system. Join me for today’s talk and 15-minute guided meditation pra

Let me tell you a little secret… I dislike the word manifestation so much. It isn’t because I don’t believe that manifestation is possible, but it is because I find far too often it is over simplified and used as an easy excuse to side-step doing deep work. So, when I met Sara Rae Hoaglund and heard her talk about the contradictions, the work and the mindfulness that is required for manifestation, I knew she was the person to bring this discussion to The Mindful Minute.In this episode, Sara Rae and I chat about:What manifestation is and is notWorking with your energetic blueprintShadow workThe law of attraction, the law of detachment, and the hidden contradiction thereinHow mindfulness and manifestation support each otherThe difference between goal-setting and manifestationWhat happens when you work with a manifestation coachAt the end, Sara Rae guides a short cleansing

Whew y’all. Are you ready to go deep today? Like really deep? Because today, we are jumping into the deep end with Buddhist meditation teacher Andrew Holecek. Andrew is a teacher and author on meditation, lucid dreaming, non-dualism, and preparingto die from a buddhist perspective. And today we are talking about his new book, Reverse Meditation, how to use your pain and most difficult emotions as the doorway to inner freedom. This is a rich conversation, particularly for those of you wanting to go deeper in your meditation practice. Andrew talks us through 3 stages of meditation practice and expounds on the how and the why of working with our discomfort, uncertainty, and pain. Andrew also answers a profound question that comes up so often: Meditation practitioners frequently comment that they feel MORE. They feel their own feelings and the feelings of the world so much more. And the inevitable next question is, “but what do I do with

I have wanted to bring this conversation to The Mindful Minute podcast for a long time now, and today I am delighted to share a conversation with Lillian Charles about our clothes, our bodies, and our mindfulness practice.Lillian created STYLE THERAPY in 2011 as a way to help women remove mental, emotional and physical barriers to living fully expressed lives. She combines traditional Personal Styling with Energy Healing, Intuitive Consulting and scientifically backed Life Coaching methods such as EFT, TIME techniques and neurolinguistic programming to achieve optimal results with each client.Lillian has served as a three term lululemon ambassador, has been named one of Atlanta's top wellness influencers and thought leaders by the City of Atlanta, was dubbed one of Atlanta's 2021 Wonder Women by Best Self Magazine and the number one wardrobe specialist by Atlanta Magazine two years in a row. She works virtually with women around the globe and celebrated t

Combining meditation and the work you do with a therapist can significantly improve your mental health. Today, I am sharing a conversation with one of my meditation teacher training graduates, Robyn Minefee, who combines meditation teaching and her work as a licensed counselor.Robyn Minefee is a licensed professional counselor and yoga instructor in the state of Georgia. In her virtual private practice she considers herself a holistic practitioner meaning she utilizes movement as a big part of therapy - which can include physical movement or moving energy in your body with breath work. She is a registered yoga instructor, certified in EMDR, and Hypnotherapy, as well as a Reiki practitioner. Robyn identifies her greatest achievements as her two adult children, being a grandmother (soon to be of two),  and her four legged fur baby named Zen.Together we talk about:Meditation and Therapy: How Robyn brings meditation to her private clients</

I have been leading meditation teacher trainings since 2017, and as I launch my 2023 training, I thought it would be fun to share a few conversations with graduates about their experiences in MTT.Today, I am delighted to share a behind the scenes chat with a former student, Johanna Olivas. Johanna is a registered yoga teacher, Reiki master, sound healing practitioner, and since 2022, a certified meditation teacher. In this episode, we talk about:Confidence and connection: teaching that first meditationExpanding creative skillsDiscovering authenticity in voice and in space holdingThe secret sauce of journalingTune into The Mindful Minute today to hear about Johanna’s experience with meditation teacher training, and how she is using this knowledge in her business today. To

I have something a bit different for you today! I was recently interviewed by Sara Rae Hoaglund for her podcast, Spiritually Inspired. I thought you guys might enjoy hearing a bit about my early experiences with meditation, how I defined meditation, and how to deepen your meditation practice when you are ready for more than just 10-minutes a day! This conversation was such a blast. Be sure to check out Sara Rae’s other interviews on Spiritually Inspired and be on the lookout for her interview on The Mindful Minute next month when we talk all about… MANIFESTING.You can find this interview and so much more on Sara Rae’s website: https://www.spirituallyinspired.co/Sign up for my newsletter at<a href="http://eepurl

“I have been meditating for nearly thirty years and practicing asana, the physical practice, for over twenty and I can say without a doubt that the most advanced yoga I have ever done is raising children.” - Sarah EzrinWhen I read this quote from author, yoga teacher, and mama Sarah Ezrin, I knew we would be fast friends because this has absolutely been the truth of my experience as well!In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we wrap up our ‘Stress Free Summer’ series with an interview with Sarah Ezrin. Sarah has written a new book, “The Yoga of Parenting” and in it Sarah offers 34 practices to find more presence, patience and acceptance - with your child and with yourself.Together, we share our experiences of being yogis and meditators before children and afterWhat a typical practice looks like during the school year and when the kids are out for summerYoga poses that support our parenting Wh

This meditation is both an expression of greeting and of gratitude, and it is a beautiful way to start your day. As we share this practice, remember that the universe outside also exists inside. In so many wisdom traditions, we find writings and teachings that connect the natural world inside of us. When we greet and celebrate the components of the cosmos, we greet and celebrate the components of ourselves.Take a seat outside or near a window if you can. Have one headphone in your ear to hear the recording and one headphone out of your ear so that you can hear the sounds of the natural world surrounding you. Let’s begin.Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dBYEUL to receive free mini meditations each month, creative musings, and more.Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live class

Here in Georgia, we are stepping into the summer season. The kids will be out of school shortly, and I’m struck with the oh-so-familiar feeling (for me at least) of partial excitement -Yay! It’s summer. No schedule. Going to the pool! Going camping! FunAnd - Ohhhhhh it’s summer. No schedule. No routine or rhythm to anchor our days. Yikes.I thrive on routine and while I appreciate short breaks,  I am also well aware that all too quickly that freedom turns into a source of stress for me. And so, I thought it would be valuable and fun to share a bit of a creative project I’ve been playing with this year.As you know, I almost exclusively meditate outside. My connection to nature deepens my connection to self and stimulates my creativity. It provides a larger rhythm to my days based on when the hyacinth blooms, the hummingbirds return, and the bees swarm that one particular bush that I can never remember

“We are all continually asked to learn how to ask for what we need, only to practice accepting what we’re given.” - Mark NepoOh, surrender, what a complex equation you are.So many of us understand surrender to be a passive state or an act of giving up. After all, the very definition of surrender is “to stop resisting”.Yet, with each of these teachings that we have explored in the Mindful Living series comes a deep paradox that we are asked to embrace. Surrender is both strength and softness. Surrender is fully letting go of the fight we constantly wage with our lives, and it is taking full responsibility for the vision we have for ourselves. Within today’s class, we willTease apart the difference between letting go and giving upLook at examples of the action of surrenderEngage with the “trustful” aspect of surrenderDiscuss how the weaving together of discipline, self-s

Recently, my four-year-old daughter asked me, “who were you before you were a mom?”After a little conversation, I realized she was asking me - ‘what was your job before you were a mom’...At four, she already identifies a job as who you are. This week’s mindful living tenet is Self-Study, and this teaching also asks us “who are you?”Who are you without a job?Without a plan?Without a diagnosis? Without a gender? Without any of your conditioning?In this week’s episode of The Mindful Minute podcast, we talk through the practice of self-study and engaging our curiosity muscle. We explore both how this tenet was taught originally and several ways we can incorporate it into our daily lives. And, most importantly, we talk about why this is not ‘fixing’ yourself. Join me for today’s talk and guided meditation practice. <a href="http://eepurl.com/dBYEUL" style="background-color:tran

Today’s Mindful Living tenet is self-discipline, or more literally, the fire of transformation. This teaching reminds us that meditation and mindful living is not meant to be synonymous with sunshine and rainbows or with joy 100% of the time. Mindfulness grows from burning away non-supportive habits in order to actualize who we really are. Self-discipline is the teaching that focuses attention so that attention becomes intention.We can see a direct example of self-discipline in cultivating a daily meditation practice. I’m sure you can think of a thousand other things that you could do with this time, but as meditation practitioners, we forsake some momentary pleasurable distraction because we’ve named what we are practicing for -  some insight, comfort, transformation or knowing… We show up and we do the work because we know why we are practicing. How we show up for the work also matters.We can be ha

“Of course we can always imagine more perfect conditions, how it should be ideally, how everyone else should behave. But it’s not our task to create an ideal. It’s our task to see how it is, and to learn from the world as it is. For the awakening of the heart, conditions are always good enough.” ~Ajahn Sumedo“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming about some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses blooming under our window.” - Dale CarnegieThe Moment is CompleteThere is no where to go and nothing getThe way isn’t difficult for those who are unattached to their preferencesEach of these quotes point towards a fundamental teaching - maybe the most taught about tenet in mindfulness and yet the hardest to grasp -  Contentment. I think of contentment as developing a profound ok-ness with my life, and y

In the last five episodes, I’ve shared the ethical teachings of meditation. Traditionally, after learning these ethical teachings, often taught as ‘restraints’, we would then learn five more teachings known as ‘observances’. These next five teachings, known in Sanskrit as Niyamas, are principles that we observe within ourselves to develop a mindful way of moving through the world. These are in essence the guidance to Mindful Living.We start with one that feels very tricky to me… it is most often translated as purity. Personally, I have a very strong aversion to the word purity. I feel like all manner of dangerous judgments, othering, and oppression happens under the guise of purity. I also believe that it is far too easy to become extreme in our quest to become ‘pure’ (especially in the spiritual world) which hinders rather than helps us. However, when we dive into the teachings of this tenet, what we learn is that this teachin

When someone says to me, “would you like to have a conversation about nature, culture and the sacred?” - the answer is always YES, which is how this interview came to be. Today, I get to share a conversation with the dynamic author, leader and organizer, Nina Simons.Nina is the Co-founder and Chief Relationship Officer at Bioneers. Throughout her career spanning the nonprofit, social entrepreneurship, corporate, and philanthropic sectors, Nina has worked with nearly a thousand diverse women leaders across disciplines, race, class, age and orientation to create conditions for mutual learning, trust and leadership development. ​She authored Nature, Culture, and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership

“Behind violence, dishonesty, stealing &amp; indulgence lies one clear objective: gaining greater control over the objects of our desire and eliminating those with the potential to stand in our way. This phenomenon can be described in one word: possessiveness. We want to have enough to fulfill our desires and our desire knows no limit.” - Pandit Rajmani TigunaitThe final teaching in our ethics series is the tenet of non-possessiveness - also referred to as non-attachment or non-clinging in many teachings. This tenet is all about uncovering our desires so that our desires don’t become obsessions and our obsessions don’t possess us. Desires usually fall into one of 3 categories:FamilyMaterial wealthPower &amp; fame Left unchecked, our desires keep us stuck. We can’t see other options, we can’t try something new, and we can’t enjoy life because we are too busy obsessing over what we can’t have or didn’t get.

This is a big one, y’all. Non-excess is likely the ethical tenet that I teach most often {even if I don’t specifically say ‘non-excess’}... Often this teaching gets translated as abstinence or celibacy, and in certain monastic orders, it is indeed practiced in this way. Yet, when we look at the original teachings of this tenet, we discover non-excess is about establishing vitality and balancing the mind, body and energy. Author Deborah Adele translates the teachings of non-excess as meaning ‘to walk with god’ - to experience the sacred in the everyday. And, we quickly see that we cannot experience sanctity or vitality if we are overwhelmed in excess.Excess can show up in our food, our work, our entertainment, our possessions, even our spirituality.We are a people of excess. For many of us, we can get almost anything, usually delivered to our door the next day. And in many countries, we can throw it in a trash can and pay to hav

The ethical tenet of non-stealing goes so much further than simply avoiding the physical act of theft. It prompts us to move fully into living a life of integrity and reciprocity. In this episode of The Mindful Minute, we delve into the myriad of ways we have absorbed the habit of stealing. We will reflect on how we steal from OthersThe EarthThe FutureOurselvesThe primary invitation of non-stealing is to shift our focus from others to ourselves. What an odd sentence to write... no, I didn't make a mistake. I really mean this - the invitation is to turn our attention towards ourselves and our actions. I love this focus because it is so counterintuitive to what we are taught to believe at a young age.  We are taught to put others first {but be the best}; stop focusing on yourself {but make sure you fit in}; don’t be selfish {but you can and should have it all}…As we explore the teachin

Carl Jung once wrote - “A lie would make no sense unless the truth was felt to be dangerous.”Within the traditions of meditation, there are five ethical teachings taught to all initiates as they begin their contemplative path. The first teaching {see the previous episode} is the tenet of non-violence, and we learned that violence is always accompanied by fear.The second tenet is truthfulness, and as Jung reminds us, the truth is often felt to be very scary. So the practice of truthfulness must be accompanied by the practice of non-violence. In today’s episode, we explore truthfulness by looking at:The little white lies that feel “nice” rather than real.How a sense of “should” and “should not” impacts our self-expressionWhat happens when we grow past the inherent boundaries of our groupsIn many ways, I find that meditation is an exercise in learning to tolerate the truth o

With this episode, we begin a new journey together. We will spend the next 5 weeks exploring the Ethics of Meditation.I find it profoundly poignant that the ethical foundation of meditation is always taught first in Eastern practices and yet is so often saved for 'later' in Western teachings. I confess that I usually assume the ethical teachings are inherent within the practice and have not explicitly taught them in a class setting. Until now.This is a mistake on my part, and one I look forward to rectifying immediately! My hope is that this will be an insightful series that prompts reflection and curiosity about how these ethical teachings play out in your own life. The very first ethical foundation is non-violence. I believe there is no more immediate crisis in our lives than the crisis of violence. It is one that requires our unwavering attention and intention. As author Deborah Adele writes, “Non-violence asks

Over the last several years, Chanti Tacoronte Perez has taught me so much about exploring and relating to my dreams, and today, I get to share a conversation with Chanti all about dreams, the dark and the wisdom waiting for us there.Chanti is a Cuban-American creatrix, ritualist, and author; and she believes that images speak a profound language. Her life’s work is as a translator of the unseen and advocate for the imaginal. She holds a Masters in Engaged Humanities, a Masters in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Chanti is currently working on her doctoral dissertation in Jungian Depth Psychology and Archetypal Studies program at the same institution. Her passion is to inspire you to rediscover your creative self by weaving the blessings with the wounds while honoring the land and the ancestors.In this episode, Chanti and I talk about:The difference between a symbol &amp; a signWhat it means to dream journal<

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings, and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. ~Wendell BerryI have a question for you - Do you equate peace with effort? Does it feel as though you must work to attain peacefulness? I think for many of us, it does feel this way - as though we are trying to get somewhere or attain something within this practice.The idea of enlightenment can easily feel as ‘trying to attain’ if we aren’t mindful. Let’s look at the story of the Buddha as an example - he tried EVERYTHING… All the practices, the harshest asceticism, but ultimately, what is it that worked?He sat all night under the Bodhi tree - open and receptive to all that Mara, the

In this meditation series, we are exploring the Dark. Winter is, by its very nature, the darkest time of the year, and our meditation practice, so often taught as an opportunity to chase enlightenment, can also be an invitation to linger in and celebrate endarkenment (as Deborah Eden Tull has phrased it).The dark so often is associated with something scary, and yet it is really simply something quiet.The quiet is only scary when you think you might hear something you don’t want to hear.Stillness is uncomfortable because you might have to feel something you’ve been trying to ignore.I’ve come to think that meditation is only perceived as difficult because we are so hellbent on chasing the light. The moment we let go of that control, the moment we open up to the mysterious darkness is the moment our practice becomes easeful. The dark is not logical, linear or binary. It is all things messy, chaotic and unknown. The dark say

I love the winter. I find a surprising sense of energy and creative spark that comes with the darkest, coldest months. The cold makes me feel alive; soups and stews, fires in the fireplace, and rich oils for skin make me feel nourished and cared for; and the dark… well, the dark is where I feel most awake. I don’t mean that I'm a night owl… quite the opposite actually. I'm an in-bed-at-9-and-up-at-5 kinda gal. But those quiet, dark hours - when I’m in the liminal space of physical wakefulness and subconscious wakefulness… Those hours are my most insightful. This meditation series, The Dark Side of Meditation, is a nod to meditation teacher Deborah Eden Tull and her book, Luminous Darkness. Her teachings and my own experience have guided me to pay deeper attention to the dark; and so, we will use some of our winter months to stop chasing the light and learn how to savor the dark.Did you know that humans lived on earth for more than 600,000 ye

Friends, today I get to share a conversation with one of my personal favorite meditation teachers, Diana Winston! Diana is the Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA, the author of several incredible books about meditation and a former Buddhist nun.Together, we talk about the second edition release of her book, Fully Present, as well as my personal favorite book, The Little Book of Being.Diana shares some insights on how the field of mindfulness meditation has evolved over the last ten years. In this episode, we talk about The ethics missing from most meditation teachingsThe science of kindness {hint: meditators are kinder than non-meditators!}How the practice is evolving from me-centric to community-centric Mindful parentingNatural awareness and the pleasure to glimpse practicesGrab a cup of tea, pop-in your headphones and join Diana and me for this conversation and a short gui

How to make your practice so lovely, so vital that you won’t skip a day:Make your practice beautiful. Don’t cram it in; savor it.Ask for what you most need. Name your intention, your purpose, your hope for this practice.Dedicate the merit.Our practice is never just about ourselves. Friend, fellow teacher and former Mindful Minute guest Caverly Morgan in The Heart of Who We Are:“The longer we cling to the notion that there’s a separate self who awakens, the more arduous our path will be. We realize freedom together.”Patience, Presence, Kindness is my intention. It is for my interactions and sense of wakefulness in the world, and it is for the collective. We could all use more of these qualities, couldn’t we? Meditation is a practice of collective empowerment. It is for us, not me alone. So, at the end of the practice, let us offer up the merit. May this practice benefit all

This month’s meditation series is a foundational challenge to help you build up to a 20-minute/day nourishing meditation practice. I want to get away from the ‘check-it-off-the-to-do-list’ mentality and instead build a practice that feels so vital and lovely that you wouldn’t skip a day no matter what happens. A piece of this nourishing practice comes when we specifically name what we most want or need from the meditation practice. Some of you will resonate with naming an intention; some of you might resonate with requesting a blessing; or naming a desire; or a goal… My personal practice has been built with the intention of cultivating patience, presence and kindness. When we name for ourselves why we are practicing, there is more encouragement to show up to the cushion each day, and there is more mindful energy carried throughout our day. Because we aren’t really practicing for those 10-minutes on the meditation cushion; we are practicing for the other 2

Happy New Year! Every January, I see an influx of people who are ready to try a meditation practice, and every February, I see most of those people fall away once again. And so this year, I thought - “what can I do to help people immediately reap the benefits of meditation?”Normally, in January, I do an introductory series that lays out the foundations of a practice, and I stress that starting with even 5 minutes/day is enough. But I wonder if it is really enough to keep you practicing. Because, at least for me, if I try to cram a 5-minute rushed practice between my last meeting and carpool, well… I’m still pretty stressed. It doesn’t feel great, and I’m very likely to forget to do it again the next day. So this year, I’m offering something different. I’m offering an introductory series into the depth and beauty of the practice. In the next 3 weeks, you will go from meditating 10 minutes/day to 20 minutes/day, and my hope is that you’ll discover the beaut

This meditation series has been an exploration of time. For most of us, time appears to be as steady as a stone - something that is always here, guiding us along - reminding us where we are supposed to be by what time it is. But, things aren’t quite as they appear when it comes to time or to stones. Time is both flexible and relative. It moves at different speeds depending on where you are and if you are moving or not. The phrase ‘now’ has no meaning outside of your direct personal experience. Now is only now for you right now. It is an ever-expanding edge rather than a static point.And, that ever-moving edge reminds us that the universe is made up of events not things. Even things we think of as things, like stones, are actually just long events.So, over the course of the first two classes in this series, rather than time being like the steadiness of stones, we’ve really discovered time is more like the unsteadin

Let’s start with two scientific facts:When we are in motion, time contracts.The universe is made up of events, not things. In my exploration of time, I came across a sentence from physicist Carlo Rovelli that stopped me in my tracks. He wrote - “Now means nothing.”Now means nothing. Nothing?! What have I been teaching for the last decade if the truth of the present moment has been disproven by science? What are we meditating for, and what are we experiencing? The more I reflect on scientific facts above and the dissolution of the present moment, the more I find an invitation to stop thinking of ourselves as something to fix and our meditation practice as something to get right. This isn’t a static moment in time and we are not a thing to improve upon. We are an event, a becoming, and when we sit still time expands. We are shifting from contraction to expansion and witnessing the ever-changing dynamism of our

“I don’t have enough time”“Take your time”“You have all the time in the world”Common enough phrases; each signaling something about our interaction with the experience of time. Phrases hinting that we should move faster, or slower, that we should do something, or not. And all of which create a cascading story of beliefs for each of us.Time is such a funny thing. It feels fast and slow {sometimes all at once}. It feels like a separate entity 'out there' that we have no control over and which has enormous control over us... and yet…There is no universal, objective time. It isn't out there on its own. It is only HERE; in relation with a where and a who. Time is inextricably bound to where and to who. It is personal, flexible, and relative. In this all new 3-part meditation series, we will explore our relationship with time: how our experience of time impacts our meditation pr

Today, on The Mindful Minute, I am sharing a conversation with meditation teacher and author Caverly Morgan about her new book, The Heart of Who We Are: Realizing Freedom Together.Caverly is a meditation teacher, author, speaker, and nonprofit founder. She is the founder and Lead Contemplative of Peace in Schools—a nonprofit which created the nation's first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. She is also the founder of Presence Collective, a community of cross-cultural contemplatives committed to personal and collective transformation.In this episode, Caverly and I really hone in on the phrase “realizing freedom together” and explore what this means in relation to our meditation practice, which far too easily can feel singular and isolated when we aren’t practicing in community. We talk about book clubs vs. book collectives; about freedom, community and privilege; and what it means to stop imagining that liberation comes onl

There is nothing I love more than responding to student questions about meditation, and recently I was asked two really good questions that I thought would be useful to the greater Mindful Minute community. At the end of our Political Resilience series, I was asked about what to do if you want to forge connections, to return to the table, but everyone else is hostile?And, I was asked a crucial and common question about what to do on days when you are too busy or stressed or overwhelmed to meditate… my answer might surprise you.Join me for a short Q&amp;A session followed by a 20-minute guided meditation. Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community: https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-community If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a

Our meditation practice is the practice of The Middle Way. Meaning the practice isn’t about perfection, a goal or an end-game. The practice IS the practice. A student once asked his teacher, “is there anything I can do to become enlightened more quickly?”And, the teacher responded, “as little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.”“Well, what good are these practices you prescribe?” asked the student.“To make sure you are awake when the sun starts to rise.” replied the teacher. Let’s make sure we are awake today. If you want to skip right to the meditation, start at 4:45.Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community: https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-community If you enjoyed today’s episode, pleas

This meditation series has asked some really big questions of us. Can we start to let go of binary thinking? Can we believe that two seemingly opposite things can both exist as true in the same moment? That right and wrong are not the only two choices?In a very small way, this reminds me of starting a meditation practice. Do you remember that feeling? The feeling of believing that a meditation practice would be a good thing, and yet when you sat down to practice it was hard, uncomfortable and definitely not magical? We had to do this dance between what we believed and what we experienced even though it didn’t quite line up. New futures are scary. The only thing we can do is commit to our vision, to build the rhythms and routines that support us, and to stay engaged and curious.This is true for a meditation practice AND this is true for building political resilience. We commit to our vision. We build

This series is one of the more challenging undertakings I’ve shared on this podcast. Talking about democracy in a time of toxic polarization feels daunting and more than a little bit overwhelming.I’m not here to fix it, and I definitely don’t have the ‘answers’ but I believe deeply in naming the things that cause us pain and turning towards them rather than away. So here we are. Democracy is hard. In part 1 of this series, we explored the term ‘gaslighting’ and the implications that come when we start to ask ourselves “am I crazy?” after hearing the day’s political news.In part 2 of this series, we follow the natural train of thought, “if I’m not crazy, then I’m RIGHT!”. And here is where things get messy… because the answer isn’t quite so straightforward. Luckily, The Fetzer Institute is doing some profound research in the area of toxic polarity and heart-centered solutions, and they recently shared

Not Left, Not Right, but Deep - The Fetzer Institute.With the midterm elections surrounding us, I’ve been reflecting on the challenges I feel when it comes to engaging with democracy in this country right now. Sometimes I am all moral outrage and calling my representatives and going to rallys. Sometimes, I am overwhelmed, exhausted and scared so I shut down completely. I ignore it all. In that extreme vasciliation, I find myself often thinking, “am I crazy???” And that, my friends, is the number one sign that you are being gaslit.The term originated from the 1938 play and subsequent film Gaslight, where the protagonist’s husband slowly manipulated her into believing she’s going mad. Throughout the film, the main character sees the gaslights dimming and brightening for no apparent reason. Her husband convinces her that it's all in her head, but in reality, he was switching the attic lights on and off to create the gaslight flickers. </

Today, I am sharing a conversation with a friend, colleague and teacher - Shonali Banerjee.Many years ago, Shonali led a Mantra Circle that I was a part of, and in it, I learned so much about the power of sound and voice. To this day, one of my strongest memories is chanting the Gayatri mantra along the banks of the Ganges river on a trip to India. And even now, I warm up my voice and set my intention through mantra before teaching live classes.Shonali is a yoga teacher, singer, ritualist, death doula, and all around Wise Woman. Together we talk about mantra meditation and the power of reclaiming our voices, walking labyrinths, political resilience, the cycle of death and birth, and so much more.At the end, Shonali guides in a powerful practice of chant and reflection. She shares - "To The Surface"I adapted this version of the song from the original, written by an unknown author, honoring Pachamama, the Earth Goddess. Th

We started this meditation series, The Stagnation Layer, with the connective idea that the human body is a microcosm of the universe; that we can view the universe as a mirror image of what goes on inside.And, we looked to the Voyager space expeditation, in particular the experience of Voyager 1 in the Stagnation Layer of the cosmos, as a metaphor for how we might engage with moments of ‘stuckness’ or stagnation.Today, 45 years after its launch and 14.6 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 and 2 have now spent 10 years in interstellar space. Interestingly, Voyager 1 went through the Stagnation Layer, and Voyager 2 did not. Yet, 10 years later, these two spacecraft are in the same place, both doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing, and both wildly, improbably successful. I think there are 3 vital lessons for us within this statement - Community is vitally important for our movement through Stagnation.It is

Part 1 of this meditation series introduced the Stagnation Layer of the cosmos and the periods of stagnation we experience as individuals both as naturally occurring phenomena. Part of the description NASA shares for the Stagnation Layer says - There is a doubling in the intensity of the magnetic field in the stagnation region. Like cars piling up at a clogged freeway off-ramp, the increased intensity of the magnetic field shows that inward pressure from interstellar space is compacting it. Higher-energy particles from inside our solar system appear to be leaking out into interstellar spaceAs a personal experience, when we stagnate we likely feel an increased pressure to DO something, to figure it out, or to move. And, all our creative mojo feels like it is draining away. We find ourselves both anxious to move and possibly frozen in place. This is a tricky combination.Luckily, in these moments, there are ancient an

Well friends, after 5 years of creating bi-weekly episodes of The Mindful Minute I am making a shift… As of today, all new mini meditation episodes can be found exclusively within awakenedheart.community.All of the existing mini meditations will continue to be here on the podcast, but I’m moving all future minis to my community for a number of reasons: I am able to provide you these meditations as downloadable files, so you can keep your favorites and access anytime! These files will be ad and commentary free to better support your meditation practice.After 2.5 years of teaching exclusively online, I am deeply invested in building reciprocal relationships and vibrant communities. Teaching to blank screens and empty closets is hard, y’all. I miss people. I miss faces, feedback, and engagement around these practices. My hope is that, if you enjoy meditating with me, you’ll join me in the Awakened Heart community. E

When you read poetry of the mystics, when you study ancient tantric &amp; buddhist texts, not to mention so many indigneous cultures across the world, we learn of the universe as a metaphor for the internal experiences of consciousness.The macrocosm and the microcosm… As goes the outside, so goes the inside…And the more time I spend connecting my meditation practice with the natural world, the more I experience the wisdom of this truth, perhaps never more so than as I reflect on The Stagnation Layer.Devoted listeners won’t be surprised to hear me bring up the Voyager space expedition yet again - it is one of my favorite stories and something that continues to capture my fascination - In 1977 two spacecrafts were launched with the mission of leaving our solar system and exploring interstellar space. In 2012, Voyager 1 achieved this goal, but not before spending a year in the transitional realm of space deemed by scientists as “T

Deborah Eden Tull guides through a short practice from her new book, Luminous Darkness. This practice is an opportunity to connect with the mystery, with the unknown, and to both offer and receive lovingkindness from this endarkened teacher. While doing this practice, I was immediately reminded of Rilke’s famous words - “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue…”You can learn more about Eden here: https://www.deborahedentull.com/And, you can find Luminous Darkness here: https://www.deborahedentull.com/luminous-darknessThese mini meditations are meant t

“I believe it is time to let go of our current obsession with enlightenment and include the teachings of endarkenment. That is, it is time to commit to turning toward rather than away from darkness and to learn to perceive with the heart.” The words above are included in the introduction to a new book, Luminous Darkness - An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown, written by Deborah Eden Tull.Eden is a dharma teacher, author and spiritual activist. She trained for 7 and a half years as a Buddhist monk at a silent Zen monastery and has taught engaged dharma for over 20 years, and the conversation we share in this episode might be one of my favorite interviews of the year!I was moved to tears as we talked about endarkenment and wandering off-trail. We explore the realm of dreams, of spiritual bypassing, of the intersection of meditation, nature &amp; social justice, of moral imagination and of rage.Eden reminds us tha

In this mini meditation episode, I am sharing some big news - my upcoming meditation challenge: Building Political Resilience! And, then we will share in this week’s mini meditation:One of the biggest stumbling blocks in our meditation practice is when we find ourselves either falling asleep or daydreaming our way through practice. Conversely some of us might discover meditation is the time we have huge insights, brilliant ideas or vibrant surges of energy. Either way, laxity or elation both cause us to stumble when it comes to deepening our meditation practice.Join me for today’s mini meditation as we address this oh-so-common obstacle.These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community: <a href="https://www.merylarnett.com/awaken

This month, as kids are transitioning back to school in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought it would be fun if all of us meditators also ‘go back to school’ and revisit some of the key teachings {and primary obstacles!} that help us recommit to and deepen our meditation practice. Within this meditation series, we have been dissecting 3 of the most common stumbling blocks when it comes to a meditation practice. Already, we have talked about the 3 primary forms of laziness {part 1}, the sneaky ways we forget the foundational instructions {part 2}, and today, we are going to explore laxity &amp; elation. Discovering the antidote to this particular obstacle was a huge step forward in my own practice. I hope it is for you as well! Join me for today’s meditation class as we explore falling asleep, being too excited, and everything in between! We will finish with a 20-minute guided meditation.Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditati

In this mini meditation, you will hear me talk about what it takes to make safe spaces both in our practice and within communities like my new Awakened Heart Meditation Community. The meditation today guides us through a primary practice and reminds us of the vital instructions for a deep meditative experience: What do we do with our bodies? With our breath? With our minds?This practice is a great option if you are looking for basic guidance, feeling a bit lackluster in your meditations lately, or if you are just starting out!Join me. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community:

This month, as kids are transitioning back to school in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought it would be fun if all of us meditators also ‘go back to school’ and revisit some of the key teachings {and primary obstacles!} that help us recommit to and deepen our meditation practice. This week’s obstacle is far too important to ignore: Forgetting the InstructionsI know you know the basics of how to meditate. We talk about them all the time and I mention them in every guided meditation. But the truth is, that is part of the problem. The instructions become so familiar that they go in one ear and out the other, and soon we find ourselves sitting for an entire meditation practice and writing a grocery list in our heads the whole time. Whoops!Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we review and refresh the primary instructions for how to meditate and then put it into practice as we sit together for a 20-minute guided meditation. 

This meditation is focused on connection to self and others as a source of support in tough times. I shared it as part of the launch of my new meditation community: Awakened Heart. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community: https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-community If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in. Donate here:<a hre

Today, I am going to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart, but first let me start with some truths:These last several years have been incredibly tough. Being a parent during a pandemic challenged me in ways far deeper and more complicated than I could have ever guessed.The political landscape in this country creates a constant state of deep fear in my body.The eco-crisis has my anxiety at an all-time high.The loss of body autonomy for women in the United States had me spiraling in hopelessness.And, the knowledge that what I am feeling and experiencing as a white woman in this country is just a SLIVER of what my black and brown friends are experiencing is enough to bring me to my knees. All of these feelings left me with one big question…Does. meditation. work?Do the practices that I do and teach on a daily basis actually help? In this very re

Today’s mini episode is a practice dedicated to helping you discover the sneaky ways that laziness shows up in our meditation practice and helps us listen for the antidote that we need in order to move deeper into our practice.Join me for this guided meditation.These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community: https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-community If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small b

Summer is often a season of fluid, flexible schedules. There might be camps for the kids, vacations, dealing with other people’s vacation schedules…Every week feels a little different and when that is the case, I notice that my meditation practice shifts. The time of day that I practice is a little less consistent. Sometimes I practice for shorter periods. I practice indoors more with the extreme heat.And now... The kids are going back to school. I saw pumpkin flavored goodies at the grocery store.The promise of fall is in the air, and I thought we would ride that back to school energy in our meditation practice with a re-commitment and a deepening of our practice.In general, there are 3 basic categories of obstacles that stand in the way of a deep meditation practice:LazinessForgetting the InstructionsLaxity or ElationIn this meditation series, we will explore these three obstacles alo

Today’s mini meditation, led by Mara Branscombe, is a practice of connecting with the energy of the elements as a way to reset and shift our energy. This is a short, powerful practice. Don’t miss it!You can learn more about Mara at https://marabranscombe.com/ And you can find her new book at https://www.ritualasremedy.com/ These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartbreaking Times Here: merylarnett.comLearn more about my:<

Today’s episode of The Mindful Minute is a conversation with Mara Branscombe about the power and simplicity of everyday rituals as a form of soul care. Mara is a mother, writer, yogi, artist, teacher, mindfulness leader, ceremonialist and spiritual coach. She is the author of a new book “Ritual As Remedy: Embodied Practices For Soul Care.” Mara is passionate about weaving the art of mindfulness, self-care, creativity, mind–body practices, and earth-based rituals into her life and work, and she has been leading community ceremony since 2000. Together, we chat about what ritual is and why it matters now more than ever. Mara explains how to begin a daily ritual, and why she chose the elements and the Wheel of the Year as the framework for her book. My personal favorite part of the conversation was our discussion of how and why our personal practices might change over the course of a season - why we might lean into an element or practice more he

In today’s class, we stop trying to fix what we feel. The grief, the fear, the rage, the numbness - all the things we ‘shouldn’t’ feel but wow, do we ever feel. Loudly. Insistently. And importantly.These aren’t feelings to be ignored, sugar-coated, covered up or silenced. Our meditation practice enables us to feel with courage and compassion, and when our meditation practice ends, we have the strength and clarity to take the next right step. Join me for today’s mini meditation.These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartbreaking Times Here: merylarnett.comLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visi

This class was recorded just after the Supreme Court’s official overturn of Roe v. Wade in the United States. In the aftermath, women across the country are dealing with the heartbreaking loss of autonomy over our own bodies. It is incredibly poignant to be teaching the final installment of the ‘When We Suffer’ meditation series. In the previous 2 classes, we discussed how to acknowledge what we feel, and how to stop being afraid of what we feel.In today’s class, we stop trying to fix what we feel. The grief, the fear, the rage, the numbness - all the things we ‘shouldn’t’ feel but wow, do we ever feel. Loudly. Insistently. And importantly.These aren’t feelings to be ignored, sugar-coated, covered up or silenced. Our meditation practice enables us to feel with courage and compassion, and when our meditation practice ends, we have the strength and clarity to take the next right step. I hope you will join me for today’s talk and

It is quite common to be inexperienced at allowing our difficult feelings to be as they are.When we are scared, often we run.When we are angry, often we fight.When we are sad, often we numb.Our meditation practice allows us the opportunity to return to the present moment, to acknowledge what it is that we are truly feeling, and then to ask ourselves - “Can I be with this?”The answer to this question guides our next response.Join me for a mini meditation designed to help us stop being afraid of what we feel. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartbreaking Times Here: merylarnett.comLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*L

When we suffer, when we struggle with big emotions, step one is to consciously acknowledge what you feel. Step two is to stop being afraid of what you feel. This fear of feelings might show up as:I can’t bear thisIt will always feel this wayI SHOULDN’T feel this wayThis SHOULDN’T be this wayThese thoughts are often cues that we have left the present moment, and that we have left our mindfulness practice and it is time to return. Our meditation practice allows us the opportunity to return to the present moment, to acknowledge what it is that we are truly feeling, and then to ask ourselves - “Can I be with this?”The answer to this question guides our next response.Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute for a discussion and guided meditation designed to help us stop being afraid of what we feel. Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices

Meditation can’t make you feel better about school shootings.Meditation can’t make you feel better about hate-based violence being perpetuated over and over again.Meditation can’t make you feel better about political decisions you disagree with.What meditation can do is help us acknowledge and allow how we feel, and in a way, this does make us feel a bit “better”.Meditation is an invitation to Acknowledge what you feel Stop being afraid of what you feel Release the need to fix what you feelJoin me for a mini meditation meant to help you embody and acknowledge what you are feeling in a way that is safe and supportive. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartb

Do you know what Ontological Anxiety is? Ontological Anxiety is what we feel when our state of being or our existence feels unsafe and/or threatened. Over the last several years, I’ve noticed that my meditation practice, which started out as a way to help me feel less stressed at work, has really morphed into a practice that helps me mitigate my own ontological anxiety.Every new crisis - pandemics, mass shootings, environmental, political - creates the exact same feelings in my body. Equal parts heartbreak and terror. This isn’t new or exclusive to one generation. These aren’t the only fraught times, scary or unknown times…This has been true for all of human existence. In Buddhism, the very first of the 4 Noble Truths is that suffering is an innate part of human existence. In a myriad of spiritual texts, we find commentary on the fact that the universe itself contains good and bad, positive and negat

I’m doing something a little bit scary this month… I am taking off the entire month of July.For the last six months or so, I’ve been wondering - how does someone who is self-employed take a sabbatical? And what I finally realized is no one else is going to give me permission. I’m the only one who can make that choice. And so {gulp} I am doing it. For the next 6 weeks, there will be no live classes, no new podcast episodes, no creating of any kind. My intention is that instead, this time will be spent savoring space, quiet, rest, and dreaming.I have so many ideas, and before I create anything new I must rest a bit. I hope you will consider joining me. Slow down this month. Linger over tea, conversations, or moments of quiet. Meditate a bit more. Rush a bit less.While the podcast is quiet, here are 2 ways you can stay connected:Sign up for my newsletter: <a href="http://eepurl.com/dBYEUL" style="b

Often, we are scared to fully enter time because we operate from a place of deficit. Somewhere, someway, we were sold the belief that there isn’t enough time and that we are not in control of what little time we do have…The secret truth is that time is ours to play with. The time we dedicate to eating, sleeping, making money, and caring for others - this time is sacrosanct and given priority. But prayer, meditation, study, pleasure - these are fit in only in stolen seconds. The truth is, you do have time, so join me now for today’s mini meditation. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.c

In this 2-part series, we are looking at meditation as the nexus of space, time, and body-soul.Last week, we explored how we might fully enter space, the heartbeat of the earth and our resonance when we fully connect in this way. This week, we tackle the concept of time. Perhaps the most frequent refrain I hear as a meditation teacher is…. “But, I don’t have time?!”.Often, we are scared to fully enter time because we operate from a place of deficit. Somewhere, someway, we were sold the belief that there isn’t enough time and that we are not in control of what little time we do have…The secret truth is that time is ours to play with. The time we dedicate to eating, sleeping, making money, and caring for others - this time is sacrosanct and given priority. But prayer, meditation, study, pleasure - these are fit in only in stolen seconds. The truth is, you do have time, you might just choose to spend it

In today’s mini meditation, we investigate what it means to be fully connected to space. If meditation is the nexus of space, time and soul - how do we step into our space completely and mindfully?  In electromagnetic fields, a form of space, there is attraction, repulsion, movement, holding together, and transformation from one type of energy to another.Join me for a mini meditation inviting you to explore your relationship with space. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Learn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classe

Recently, I was having a discussion regarding the nexus of space, time, and soul - a meeting point I think of as the practice of meditation - when someone suggested that this exploration was a form of Spiritual Physics.If you’ve listened to this podcast for any length of time you know I often pull in theories, quotes and ideas from physicists so this term feels spot on for the work we do in meditation. The definition of physics is -Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. Physics is one of the most fundamental scientific disciplines, with its main goal being to understand how the universe behaves. My proposed definition of Spiritual Physics -  … is the psycho-spiritual science that studies the inner workings of the human experience, its fundamental constituents, its motion and beha

Today’s mini meditation is a special self-care practice. You will hear poet James Crews read his poem, Self-Care, and then I will share his invitation for reflective journaling. Grab a notebook, a pen, and a cup of tea. Settle into a comfortable seat and join us!You can find this poem and reflection {and many others!} in James’ new book, The Path to Kindness. You can find The Path to Kindness at your local, independent bookstore, and you can learn more about James at jamescrews.netBig thank you to today’s sponsor: Ungloo!Ungloo creates products to allow you to meditate comfortably anywhere you want to go. Check out the Ungloo Box, a portable meditation chair, at ungloo.com and be sure to use code Mindful10 to save 10% on your order!Th

For quite awhile now, I have wanted to bring a conversation about poetry to The Mindful Minute. Over the years, I’ve found more and more a connection between reading poetry and my meditation practice, and today, I get to finally explore this connection with poet James Crews!James Crews’ work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Sun Magazine, Ploughshares, and The New Republic, as well as on Ted Kooser’s American Life in Poetry newspaper column. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a PhD in Writing &amp; Literature from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is the author of four collections of award-winning poetry, including The Book of What Stays (Prairie Schooner Prize and Foreword Book of the Year Citation, 2011), Telling My Father (Cowles Prize, 2017), Bluebird, and Every Waking Moment. He is also the editor of several anthologies of poetry: Healing the Divide: Poems of Kindness and Connection; and How to Lov

Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neurotheologist, shares a short practice with us of defining our innermost values and making sure that our actions support those values. You can listen to his full interview on the 5.19.22 episode - Spirituality and Meditation. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Learn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.If you enjoyed to

Dr. Andrew Newberg, one of my favorite former guests, is back with us today to talk about mindfulness, spirituality and our mental well-being. I’ve just wrapped a meditation series, Can Meditation Unite Us, that has reflected on the overlap of several spiritual traditions, and I thought it would be interesting to talk to Dr. Newberg about what happens in our minds and our bodies as we engage with spiritual practices.Dr. Newberg is a neuroscientist and a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as “neurotheology.” His research includes taking brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, in an attempt to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and attitudes.In this episode of The Mindful Minute, we talk about religion as well as non-religious activities like meditation, time in nature, and creative pursuits. We talk about ways to explore unity even with thos

2+ years into a pandemic, when we’ve been enforcing various levels of separation in our daily lives, we are mentally and emotionally unwell. And we find ourselves in this moment with time, space and nature all reminding us that to heal is to connect. Yet, this is really hard at this moment because we’ve created neural pathways of separation. Luckily, we know that meditation is a practice of creating NEW neural pathways, and not only that - meditation is a practice of being present, non-judgmental and compassionate with ourselves and with ALL other beings. Meditation is a practice of expansion and connection. A practice of healing. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we invite in a sense of unity. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community he

Within this series, we are exploring the concept of unity through our meditation practice. So often, we look at our meditation practice through the lens of its 3 tenets: presence, non-judgment, and compassion. Most of the time, I break these tenets down into their individual practices so that we can explore them each in a deeper way - BUT, this can create the mistaken belief that we can ONLY focus on one tenet at a time, or that if we tried to do it all we would have to meditate for an hour.The truth is these elements are inseparable. They are entangled within our meditation practice as a complete whole. In a recent conversation with Neuro-theologist Dr. Andrew Newberg, he explained that in his research it is clear that we are healthier - mentally and emotionally - when we feel unity and a connectedness to all beings. Religions or spiritual practices that teach a domination of others, an elitism, racism, sexism, etc. have adverse health effects. The pract

Being a mom; trying to become a mother; or not becoming a mother is likely one of the most difficult experiences of your life. We love our children, we worry endlessly, and we often experience the vast extremes of emotions with them or with our own seeming successes or failures.One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves in relation to the word ‘mom’ is a practice that refills and strengthens our emotional reserves. Join me in this practice of lovingkindess just for the mama-hearts out there… no matter how tough the day, we always deserve our own love and compassion.*The practice is also available in my meditation app Roots*These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: <a href="https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/" sty

*This episode originally ran in 2018, and I am delighted to replay it for you this week as we celebrate the mamas. Happy Mother’s Day, mamas! This short meditation is a chance to sit and be with it all. Being a mother is its own complex mess of emotions, feelings and thoughts. And, we are here for it. All of it. Celebrating the joys, the sorrows, the triumphs and the defeats. Celebrating the mundane and the magnificent. We are here for it. We are here for each other. Happy Mother’s Day.If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.Donate here: https://www.merylar

We are so entrenched in our sides, our tribes, our ideological beliefs, that it feels almost impossible to comprehend how someone could feel or believe differently. Take any political issue, and my guess is that you can’t even believe how someone on the other side could think their choice is a good one, and yet - Even in this inability to comprehend, we know that ‘they’ are thinking the exact same thing about ‘our’ beliefs and choices. It blows the mind, doesn’t it? How is resolution or unity possible?And, then I sit and I meditate, and remember what is most important. That remembrance settles me into the type of knowing that allows me to face the unknown and the discord and have faith in our capacity for goodness.I don’t have the answers, but I do have faith in our connection.Join me for today’s mini meditation as we cultivate faith in our capacity for goodness. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily

This month, we are paying attention to the overlap of Easter, Passover, and Ramadan, and the way the universe seems to be reminding us of what is most important - Our connection to each other and to the planet. In our meditation practice, we can also explore our sense of unity. One of the tenets of a mindful meditation practice is non-judgment. We talk about this idea of not judging ourselves, our thoughts or our emotions quite often, but what about our judgment of others.We are so entrenched in our sides, our tribes, our ideological beliefs, that it feels almost impossible to comprehend how someone could feel or believe differently. Take any political issue, and my guess is that you can’t even believe how someone on the other side could think their choice is a good one, and yet - Even in this inability to comprehend, we know that ‘they’ are thinking the exact same thing about ‘our’ beliefs and choices. It blows the mind, doesn

In our meditation practice, we are invited into the present moment. But the cool thing is that the present moment isn’t a static place. In fact, the present moment is more like a precipice, an edge…The present moment is a continually expanding experience of what is NOW. I think of it as a verison of the universe itself. Scientists know that the universe is continually expanding - and it feels like the present moment is a microcosm of the universe as a whole. A multitude of experiences are contained within the present, and it is always changing. Both are true. So in every moment that we sit and breathe in meditation, we are what we are in this moment AND we are becoming something new. Generating new cells, new thought patterns, new awarenesses. As part of our practice we celebrate our continual renewal. It is our chance to see ourselves exactly as we are and as we are becoming. Join me for today’s mini meditation celebrating our

April 2022 is a powerful month this year. For the first time in 31 years, the sacred holidays of Passover, Easter &amp; Ramadan all overlap in the same month. These holidays respectively celebrate themes of liberation and expansion, rebirth and renewal, and forgiveness and self-restraint.Unrelated, I went on a foraging hike this weekend in the North Georgia mountains. I learned about some of the medicinal plants that are in abundance right now like violets, dead nettle, and yellow root. So many of these plants offer medicine that is deeply needed in this moment - respiratory health, vibrancy, and healing. In a talk given by a fellow meditation teacher, she marveled at the fact that the earth is producing exactly what we most need right now.In the same way, we see time responding to our needs. The overlap of lunar and solar calendars doesn’t happen often, and at a moment when divisiveness feels ever-present - when we are seeing a dramatic ramp up in exclus

In the last episode, Rhizomatic Meditation, I created and shared this term - ‘Rhizomatic Meditation’ which is really just another way to describe the process of becoming a meditator, in my opinion.A rhizome is “a continuously growing horizontal underground stem which puts out lateral shoots and adventitious roots at intervals” like ginger or iris plants.I think this is an interesting lens to view our meditation practice through as well. Rather than a clear end goal that we are systematically working towards, accomplishing one study unit and then the next; instead we grow horizontally along our path underground.It isn’t always clear. It definitely isn’t linear. Nor are we always fully aware of the process happening underground.So, we continue to meditate, we journal, and we share or discuss with our community to help us uncover/discover what is happening as we grow underground. Join me for today’s mini meditation a

I recently attended a forum titled ‘Democracy Under Siege: Authoritarianism and the Psyche’. It was fascinating; just in case you were wondering exactly how nerdy I am…During the panel discussion a comment was made that democracy asks us to embrace rhizomatic thinking or rhizomatic imagination. This phrase immediately jumped out at me because I had just taught the last ‘Way of Roots’ meditation class and I knew this was tied to that topic, but how?A rhizome is “a continuously growing horizontal underground stem which puts out lateral shoots and adventitious roots at intervals” like ginger or iris plants.If you look at rhizomatic learning, you will see the work of Inna Semetsky. She writes, “a rhizome does not consist of units, but of dimensions and directions.”I think this is an interesting lens to view our meditation practice through as well. Rather than a clear end goal that we are systematically working towards, accomplishin

In physics, entanglement refers to particles that “have correlated attributes such that they act not as individual particles but as an inseparable whole.”Within our meditation practice, I think we see entanglement on two levels:First, our practice becomes entangled with our lived experience. Initially perhaps, our practice feels like this thing we do on our meditation cushion and then we go live our lives the other 23 hours and 50 minutes of the day. But slowly, slowly this practice tangles with our waking, walking moments and we feel more and more consciousness throughout our days.Second, our meditation practice is entangled with other meditators across place and time. When we connect with other meditators, our practice becomes more enlivened. We receive the same support, warnings, and care as the mother trees share with the younger members of the forest. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we explore our own sense of entan

Within this meditation series, we have discussed how rootedness is innate to us {part 1}, and how paths carved by our rootedness lead us to a rewilding of the spirit {part 2}, and now in the last part of the Roots meditation series we discuss entanglement. In physics, entanglement refers to particles that “have correlated attributes such that they act not as individual particles but as an inseparable whole.”In forests, tree roots entangled with the mycorrhizae of the soil create an inseparable community that rely on one another for well-being. Within our meditation practice, I think we see entanglement on two levels:First, our practice becomes entangled with our lived experience. Initially perhaps, our practice feels like this thing we do on our meditation cushion and then we go live our lives the other 23 hours and 50 minutes of the day. But slowly, slowly this practice tangles with our waking, walking moments and we feel more

If we look at ancient meditation teachings as roots, they allow us to understand the path that has been carved by practitioners of the past. And then crucially, the teachings always invite us to explore for ourselves. To question. To advance. We don’t have to accept without experiencing for ourselves.We use wisdom teachings - through books, through teachers or classes or podcasts -  to help guide us. To give us the lay of the land and the sense of what’s possible. And then we return to our practice.Join me for today’s mini meditation practice as we explore the path carved. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with

This meditation series, The Way of Roots, began with an exploration of our own rootedness - our own ability to be present and awake to the moment as it is. Now, we add a bit to our understanding of Roots. Roots travel in search of nutrients, water, and community with other trees. One of the first things I think about is the big oak on the side of my house, near the road. It has been there a long time, and its roots have traveled past the boundary of the yard, under the paved road where they have made these huge, self-created speed bumps in the road.The tree doesn’t heed to suburban ideas of lawn. Roots don’t heed to where development has said ‘stop’. In fact, re-wilding has shown that even in the face of huge infrastructure and development - if left alone, roots move back in and take back the territory that was once theirs.This makes me think of the wisdom teachings from great meditators of the past. These ancient

Roots, in botany, are the part of a vascular plant normally underground. Its primary functions are To anchor of the plant To aid in the absorption of water and mineralsTo store a reserve of food.Our practice serves much the same purpose. It anchors us to the present moment, it allows us to absorb the benefits of being present, non-judgmental and compassionate, and it prepares us to face difficult times with equanimity.And, here is the vital element - we can access this wisdom just as we are. We are born with roots. Rootedness is innate to us.Join me for today’s mini meditation as we practice accessing our roots. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: <a href="https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co

Often, when we talk about simplifying, getting back to basics or our foundation, we say “getting back to our roots”...  and my offering this month is exactly that - It is an invitation to get back to our roots in the most literal way possible. To explore our rootedness and how this relates to our meditation practice. When I think about the roots of a plant, I see this as something innate, something forged, and something woven. Over the next 3 classes, we will look at each of these ideas in turn.Roots are innate. They are the first thing to grow from a seed; a seed is ‘born’ with roots so to speak. They are something we too are born with. This early and automatic ability to present. To be HERE. We are just part of the earth, the family, the moment without question. Roots, in botany, are the part of a vascular plant normally underground. Its primary functions are To anchor of the plant To aid in the absorptio

Today’s mini meditation is offered with the reminder that community is a valuable part of any meditation practice. It is what helps us to explore meditation off the cushion and to put our practice into everyday use.Join me!These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Special thanks to today’s sponsor: Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. As an avid journaler, I use and love their guided meditation journal, dream journal and their basic Confidant notebooks! Get one for yourself at baronfi

One of my intentions for 2022 is to truly pay attention to and foster community both in my work and my personal life. This is a value I hold so dear, and I’ve felt the impact of the last 2.5 years as it has asked us all to reimagine community connection.I’ve recently introduced a monthly community discussion class in my live Monday night meditation class as one way to foster this sense of connection, and I thought, even though you won’t get to hear the actual community chatter in this episode {I’ve kept that private to maintain safe, sacred space within my live class}, it is valuable to hear my thoughts on why community matters so much to us as meditators.You’ll hear some short thoughts from me, and we will share in a 20-minute guided meditation as usual. Please know, if you are searching for your own meditation community - you are, of course, welcome to join my live classes if the timing works for you, but you could also join my free meditation community

Mini Meditation: Elemental Awakening to FireIn today’s mini meditation, I’m sharing another elemental practice with you in celebration of my upcoming program Elemental Awakening!We have explored two different wind-based practices recently and now we will revisit an old favorite - fire. Today’s meditation is one of my original offerings in Roots - my nature-based meditation app. In this practice, you hear the embers of a campfire crackling as it burns in Little Yosemite Valley. This soundscape was recorded by Gordon Hempton and the meditation was written from my direct experience of sitting in front of decades worth of campfires.Don’t forget registration for Elemental Awakening closes TOMORROW, March 15 at Midnight. There are just a few spots left and I would love for YOU to join me in this intimate exploration of the elements, ourselves, and our relationship to mindfulness. Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Ba

Show Notes: Astronomical Mindfulness with Sarah Scoles“Back when humans lived in communal caves and tribal encampments, we told stories about the stars. When we started sailing, we used these same pinpricks of light to estimate our own location. When we began planting, we relied on the constellations and the Sun to plant and sustain crops. Yet today, most modern humans have lost this deep connection to the cosmos that was once central to our daily lives.”The new book, ASTRONOMICAL MINDFULNESS, is a unique guidebook written by astronomy professor, Chris De Pree, and science journalist, Sarah Scoles, and in today’s episode of The Mindful Minute I chat with Sarah about all things astronomical. We talk about the power of the sun, moon, stars, and planets to offer engaging exercises that deepen your knowledge of the solar system, help you take necessary pauses every day, and foster a renewed sense of presence in the universe.Sarah S

Mini Meditation: Delight, Sorrow and What Lies BetweenWhen we reflect on opposing forces such as good &amp; evil or joy &amp; sorrow, it is easy to see them as existing on a scale with one force on each side - thesis and antithesis. But, what happens when we introduce a third force? Thesis. Antithesis. Synthesis. Fire. Water. Air. Rabbi Jill Hammer writes, “ when we come to presence, we are able to hold multiple truths without straining.”Join me for today’s mini meditation as we practice holding multiple truths and bringing synthesis to the moment.  Today’s meditation is inspired by the guided visualization Higher than Delight, Deeper than Sorrow written by Rabbi Jill Hammer.You can learn more about Elemental Awakening here: merylarnett.com/elemental-awakening-2022Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided jo

You’ll remember that this month’s meditation series is a series about the ever-changing wind and the play of opposite forces in our daily lives. Good &amp; evil, praise &amp; blame, joy &amp; sorrow, etc.Last week {part 2} we looked through the lens of Buddhist teachings on the 8 Worldly Winds, and that we never know when the wind will change directions. We were offered a solution of learning how to live in the ‘middle’ or with equanimity. Now, I love learning how these same ideas permeate time, location and culture. Lately, I’ve been reading an ancient Jewish mystical text known as the Sefer Yetzirah. The interpretation I’m reading is written by Rabbi Jill Hammer - it is a story about creation, the elements, the cosmos and God.  As the text explores opposing forces such as delight and suffering, merit and guilt, even fire and water, Rabbi Hammer writes, “even things so diverse as pleasure and pain are still made up of the same building bloc

Mini Meditation: Elemental Awakening to WindMy newest program, Elemental Awakening, is an exploration of the elements and their corresponding sacred practices. It runs from the Spring Equinox to the Fall Equinox, and it is a chance for 12 of you to study in-depth with me over the course of the next 7 months. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be releasing a few mini meditations that correspond with each element as a way to explore Elemental Awakening for yourself.Today’s mini meditation invites you to meditate with the idea and experience of wind.This experience invites us into equanimity as sometimes we resonate with the sensation of being blown around. Chaotic, uncontrolled. Other times, we resonate with the sensation of our feet solidly on the ground, a steady anchor as the wind whips around us. You can learn more about Elemental Awakening here: merylarnett.com/elemental-awakening-2022Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig -

This is a series about wind, about good and bad, about our struggles with the state of the world; but mostly, this is a series about wind. I love wind. Sometimes, I resonate with the sensation of being blown around. Chaotic, uncontrolled.Other times, I resonate with the sensation of my feet on the ground. My body, a steady anchor as the wind whips around me. It is a both/and situation, and it asks us to acknowledge paradox. It teaches us equanimity. In Buddhist teachings, there is a teaching known as the 8 Worldly Winds. These winds are:-Praise/Blame-Gain/Loss-Success/Failure-Joy/SorrowThe gist of the teaching is that we never know when the wind will change directions.We are also reminded that one doesn’t exist without the other. We can’t only have praise. Or success. Or Joy. And in fact, we know through psychological research that if you refuse to experience

You guys. I have something BIG to share with you today!I have just released my newest offering into the world. This is something that has been incubating in my meditations, my dreams and my daily walks for a full year, and I am so delighted to finally share this with you! ⁠Elemental Awakening is an exploration of the elements and 6 corresponding sacred practices. This program will run from the Spring Equinox to the Fall Equinox, and it is a chance for 12 of you to study in-depth with me over the course of the next 7 months. This is not a workshop, a training or an intensive. This is an invitation. An invitation to go deeper with me; to gather in an engaged, curious community; to explore together; and to weave a tapestry of our own magic.I’m so excited to share a bit about this opportunity with you guys, AND I’m releasing one of my newest meditations from my newly redesigned nature-based meditation app - Roots. This pract

I spend a lot of time reflecting on the teachings of meditation and their intersection with the specific moment we are living in. For most of us, I believe this feels like a scary time, as if there are two sides battling out for domination with no chance of reason or clarity being heard. As I dance with the anxiety of mid-term elections this year, and continued reports of rising extremism, I remind myself that we have been here before. Some of the details might be new to this moment, but the vast majority of this experience is a cycle we have experienced over and over again throughout history. Battles of right and wrong, left and right, good and evil are not new. They are not unique to us living in 2022. There are teachings in ancient Buddhist texts of the 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows. The ever changing winds that blow.There are teachings in ancient jewish texts that talk about delight and sorrow,

Why do we love Encanto so much? Why has “We don’t talk about Bruno” taken over the charts in such an unexpected way? Perhaps it is that the music and the lyrics remind us we are not alone in what we feel, what we struggle with… and I think it is so important to make this connection alongside our meditation practice.It is far too easy to mistakenly believe that meditation is an isolating practice. We often practice alone. We close the door; we tell others to be quiet and not interrupt us. We finish and we likely don’t speak about our experience within meditation to anyone. Yet, the truth is our practice is a deep reminder of our connection to everyone, to all beings.Let’s meditate together today in connection with Bruno and all beings everywhere &lt;3Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much

I am obsessed with Encanto. Are you? We have watched the movie several times, and basically listen to the soundtrack on repeat these days…The song “We don’t talk about Bruno” has taken over the charts beating out the previously unbeatable “Let it Go”...The spin class I recently took that was themed to the Encanto soundtrack had three times more people in it than any other class at that moment in time.Why do we love this story and this music so much? This is a story among so many things of magic, of intergenerational trauma, of perfectionism, of expectations, of not wanting to look at the cracks in the foundation.Lin-Manuel Miranda has given us a story that encompasses so much of what we are experiencing on literal and metaphorical levels right now. This is a myth that allows us to process, to digest our own experiences without thinking too hard about it.The music and the lyrics remind us we are not a

My friends, if you read only one book this year, let it bePause, Rest, Be: Stillness Practices for Courage in Time of ChangeMy dear friend, Octavia Raheem has released her second book into the world and it is the balm we have all been waiting for. In her introduction, Octavia writes,“I created Pause, Rest, Be to meet you in the places that shape, redefine, and sometimes undo us: endings, liminal space, and beginnings. The places of falling aparts and mergings. Of letting go and coming together. Union. This book contains my personal reflections on endings, the place in between, and beginnings. It is also a book of inquiry and practice. Each section ends with a prayer that crosses faiths to reach all hearts.”And also - “You are not lost. You are here to reorient your way to the path that is truly yours to walk.” I am so delighted to share this conversation amongst friends. We talk through closing our s

As the light of the moon diminishes, and our meditation practice nears the end, we are reminded one last time to return to presence. If we have drifted off this is the moment to catch that last thought, daydream, or feeling, and to remember the wisdom of our practice before moving on with our day.Join me for today’s mini meditation in honor of the waning moon. Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. As an avid journaler, I use and love their guided meditation journal, dream journal and their basic Confidant notebooks! Get one for yourself here: https://baronfig.com/These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are releas

She wanes. The moon gradually continues her cycle with diminishing light night after night until we return to the dark moon and start over again.This phase of waning light reminds us that we set an intention to turn our attention inward. The premise of this series has walked us through the cycles of the moon and their representations in our meditation practice. The new moon, waxing moon, full moon &amp; now waning.As the light diminishes, we are reminded in the last moments of our meditation practice to return to presence if we have drifted off; to catch that last thought, daydream, or feeling; and to remember the wisdom of our practice before moving on with our day.Join me as we discuss how to remember the wisdom, how to complete a meditation practice, and then we will share in a 20-minute guided meditation together. Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” inclu

This week is the week of the January full moon. Many indigenious groups have specific names for each of the 13 full moons of the year. January’s moon, by northern and eastern tribes, was often called the wolf moon.So called because this is a time, deep in winter, when the wolves are hungry and howling frequently.Interestingly, the full moon is also the time when we are believed to be the most magnetic, articulate, receptive and collaborative. The light of the moon and ourselves is bright and reflecting outward.So, in this receptive moment, how do we address the hungry wolf? Join me in this mini meditation encompassing the 3 components of a mindful meditation practice and satiating the hungry wolf within. Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. As an avid journaler, I us

This week is the week of the January full moon. Many indigenous groups have specific names for each of the 13 full moons of the year. January’s moon, by northern and eastern tribes, was often called the wolf moon.So called because this is a time, deep in winter, when the wolves are hungry and howling frequently.For us too, January has evolved to be a hungry month. For many people throughout the world, this is a literal hunger, and for those of us who are fortunate enough to have enough to eat in this moment, metaphorically we’ve been trained to focus on hunger this month too - What do I WANT for the coming year?What will I accomplish? What will make me feel like enough?Hunger. Interestingly, the full moon is also the time when we are believed to be the most magnetic, articulate, receptive and collaborative. The light of the moon and ourselves is bright and reflecting outward.So, in this recept

We add light and awareness to our meditation practice, when we relinquish all judgment. What happens when we stop telling ourselves we are wrong?That we are something to fix?What happens when we are curious instead?When we stop saying no; when we soften the armour around what we can’t feel or won’t feel, is it possible that there is wisdom waiting for us?Join me for today’s mini-meditation as we relish the added light of non-judgment. Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. As an avid journaler, I use and love their guided meditation journal, dream journal and their basic Confidant notebooks! Get one for yourself here: https://baronfig.com/These mini meditations

This week, the moon is waxing. She is adding a sliver of light every night. We also see this experience mirrored in our meditation practice.We begin by simply settling into the present moment, and then, we add more light and deeper awareness by incorporating non-judgment into our practice. In our daily lives, the waxing moon is typically an ideal time to brainstorm, to plant seeds of creation, and to initiate new projects. Without doubt, one of the most vital elements of the creation process is the ability to suspend judgment. In a brainstorm, everything is allowed. No idea is bad. We explore all the possibilities.So too with our meditation practice. Thoughts, feelings, daydreams arise, and rather than push them away or argue with them, we simply say, “welcome.”Or better yet - “This is what is happening right now. I wonder what will happen next?”When we stop saying no; when we soften the armour aroun

The new moon happens each lunar cycle; it is the time when the moon is completely dark. The new moon reminds us that the moon itself doesn’t possess any light. The light we so love and celebrate is a reflection, an illumination from a perpetually radiant source of light- the sun. This is quite true of our meditation practice as well. It isn’t “meditation” - the type, style, name or duration - that is the magic. Rather, the practice simply reflects or illuminates our innermost, perpetually radiant self. The practice of meditation allows us to witness the inner workings of our own minds. We start this illumination by simply landing here. Now. By learning how to be present. Join me for today’s mini meditation practice.Special thanks to today’s sponsor:Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. A

I am most decidedly NOT a night owl. I’ve always been early to bed, early to rise - hence teaching 6 a.m. yoga for more than a decade ;-) And yet, over the last year, I found myself taking walks at night. Nothing fancy; just short strolls through my neighborhood - the same route I would walk with my kids during the daytime, and yet, I found it was completely altered at night. As I’ve tracked the cycles of the moon in this most visible, tangible way I’ve noticed how the lunar phases show up in our meditation practice just as they do on the tides, our bodily rhythms and the seasons themselves. Honoring the cycles in our lives can be a potent way to connect more deeply to our stillness practices. This first meditation series of 2022 is a refresher course on the basics of meditation tied to the phases of the moon. Perfect for those of us that need a little boost, a little depth, or just a breath of fresh air in our practice!In this

In today’s mini meditation we explore and honor the Mystery. The unknown forces that cause some moments to feel particularly chaotic or overwhelming and the unknown forces that tip us back into periods of calm. We can look to the Winter Solstice as an example - In ancient times, this was a moment when it appeared that the sun had stopped moving in the sky. The light had disappeared. Our ancestors didn’t know that the earth orbited the sun or that its axis was tilted. They didn’t know why the sun ‘stopped’ moving or if the light would return. So they did little things to create comfort - they lit fires and made offerings; they created ritual as a way to acknowledge the mystery and the chaos as well as to calm some of the fear that arises in the face of the unknown.Join me for today’s mini meditation as we honor the mystery  and calm the chaos. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice

Happy Winter Solstice to my friends in the Northern hemisphere and happy Summer Solstice to those in the south! Today’s episode is the final installment of the Chaos to Calm series as well as my final episode of 2021. In today’s class we explore and honor the Mystery. The unknown forces that cause some moments to feel particularly chaotic or overwhelming and the unknown forces that tip us back into periods of calm. We can look to the Winter Solstice as an example - In ancient times, this was a moment when it appeared that the sun had stopped moving in the sky. The light had disappeared. Our ancestors didn’t know that the earth orbited the sun or that its axis was tilted. They didn’t know why the sun ‘stopped’ moving or if the light would return. So they did little things to create comfort - they lit fires and made offerings; they created ritual as a way to acknowledge the mystery and the chaos as well as to calm some of the fea

Spiral fractals can be seen in shells, fiddlehead ferns, hurricanes, spiral galaxies, and the motion of fluid.And, isn’t this exactly what we are doing in our practice? We are spiraling inwards, learning to listen to our deepest selves.... but here is what I’ve learned about spiraling inward: It isn’t as clear-cut as it first seems. It seems like we should always feel like we are getting closer to the center, shouldn’t it? As if every practice should feel deeper and quieter?And yet, anyone with a regular meditation practice will tell you, it doesn’t feel like that. In my experience, it feels more labyrinthine - you can never quite tell where you are in the journey while you are in the middle of it. Just when you feel furthest away, you suddenly find yourself right at the center. Join me for today’s mini meditation as a practice in the deep listening required to spiral inwards.These mini medita

In last week’s episode, From Chaos to Calm part 1, I kicked off this series with the idea of doing the deep work of noticing our own internal fractals. Remember, a fractal is a never-ending pattern that is created by repeating a simple process over and over.Last week, we looked at fractals that branch - trees, blood vessels, and rivers as examples, but there is another kind of fractal… a spiral. Spiral fractals can be seen in shells, fiddlehead ferns, hurricanes, spiral galaxies, and the motion of fluid.And, isn’t this exactly what we are doing in our practice? We are spiraling inwards, learning to listen to our deepest selves.... but here is what I’ve learned about spiraling inward: It isn’t as clear-cut as it first seems. It seems like we should always feel like we are getting closer to the center, shouldn’t it? As if every practice should feel deeper and quieter?And yet, anyone with a regular meditation practic

I look at the calendar. I look at my to-do list. I look at my bank account. I look at my inbox. I repeat. This time of year more than any other, I feel the pull of the outer world rub distinctly against my desire to slow down, stay inside, and savor this dark, cozy season. As I reflect on the familiar feelings of chaos, I realize that what I am seeing is a fractal. A fractal is a never-ending pattern that occurs in nature. While the fractal itself, the pattern, is quite simple, the picture it displays can be one of chaos. But now that we know where to look, the movement from chaos to calm is simpler than ever. Join me for this mini meditation inviting us to pull back and see the simplicity behind the chaos. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.You can learn more ab

I look at the calendar. I look at my to-do list. I look at my bank account. I look at my inbox. I repeat. This time of year more than any other, I feel the pull of the outer world rub distinctly against my desire to slow down, stay inside, and savor this dark, cozy season. As I reflect on the familiar feelings of chaos, I realize that what I am seeing is a fractal. A fractal is a never-ending pattern that occurs in nature. While the fractal itself, the pattern, is quite simple, the picture it displays can be one of chaos. “A fractal tells a story of the processes that created it.” - FractalFoundation.orgThese fractals appear everywhere. In nature, in mathematics, even in Jackson Pollock's paint splatters… and if this is true, if they really are everywhere, might they also be present in the intangible, invisible aspects of our lives? Might they be present in our actions and our feelings?If we can do the deep work of tracing back

Today, I am so delighted to share a conversation with Day Schildkret - an artist in pursuit of impermanent beauty - about his upcoming book Hello, Goodbye: 75 Rituals for Times of Loss, Celebration and Change, which will be published on January 25, 2022.Day is internationally known for his work Morning Altars in which he creates impermanent art through found objects in nature. In this conversation we dive deep into the importance of ritual, what it is, how we create our own rituals and more.As we creep up on the Winter Solstice and the New Year, this is a perfect conversation to spark your creativity, and perhaps nudge you to create your own rituals…Be sure to check out Day’s work here: https://www.morningaltars.com/And, please consider pre-ordering his upcoming book Hello, Goodbye at your favorite local bookstore. </p

Today’s mini meditation is a sneak peek of some new content soon to be released in Shoreline meditation app. This is a 10-minute guided walking meditation that you can do anywhere - your backyard, a sidewalk, a park, a hiking trail.... A mindful walk is a beautiful and valuable practice; it invites us to cultivate the qualities of meditation: presence, non-judgment and compassion, in our everyday, active lives. Not just on the meditation cushion.You’ll begin at the start of the path you have chosen. You might choose to only go a short distance {10 - 20 feet} and then turn around, tracing your steps over and over again, or you can choose to go on a meandering walk. Following a path, road or trail for as long as feels comfortable to you. Please make sure you know your surroundings or are following a marked trail if you intend to meander.These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practic

Happy Thanksgiving. As we acknowledge this holiday in our own chosen ways this year there is much to celebrate. There is also much to grieve. And, there is much to remember about the truth of our relationship with the indigenious people of this land. As we each work to sort out our understanding, feelings and plans for the holiday, I thought we could practice today with the gift of contentment. Contentment is understanding that the moment is complete. It doesn’t mean the moment is perfect. It doesn’t mean you are 100% happy. It simply means that we are willing to show up for this moment exactly as it is. We are willing as Swami Rama said to “fall in love with our lives”.If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding t

“Thinking only of the negative aspect doesn’t help to find solutions and it destroys peace of mind,” he writes. “I love smiles, and my wish is to see more smiles, real smiles. … If we want those smiles, we must create the reasons that make them appear.”  - The Dalai LamaIn our practice, a bit of humor can be a mechanism for going deeper. Rather than doubt, judge or over-analyze, what happens if we simply smile, shake our heads at the wildness of it all and trust our inner experiences?We tip the scales towards kindnessWe balance the ocean of our bodies, And, we remind ourselves that we simply can’t see or know the whole story.Join me for today’s mini meditation practice and be sure to listen to the full story in last week’s episode “Lying on the Forest Floor part 3.These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full ep

This meditation series was crafted in response to a simple and mind-blowing statement that ‘humus, human and humor’ all share the same root word.In part 1, we explored the concept that we are earth come to consciousness {humus}. In part 2, we looked at what it means to be human; to be as boundless as the ocean {human}. And now, in part 3 we look at humor in life and our meditation practice. The term humor is actually derived from ‘humoral medicine’ of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body controlled human health and emotion. {Thank you Wikipedia!}.With humor, we invite balance. This is such a valuable sentiment to explore because so much of life feels like it is screaming at us to FIX ALL THE PROBLEMS.Humor is the reminder that our brains simply can’t see the whole picture and it is ok that we don’t have all the answers. Humor is the invitation to not be totally consumed by the drama.

The classic text, the Ashtavakra Gita, is a dialogue on the nature of Self. Within it, we as human beings, are described as a boundless ocean. So much more than a single thought, a single mind, or a single body. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we tap into our true expansive nature. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.You can learn more about my:*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training - only 10 spots left in my 2022 training!*Shoreline: my new meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to

From Humus to Human Being Today’s talk is an exploration of what it is to be human. To be earth come to consciousness. In many languages, cultures and depth practices, there is a word or phrase that means something along the lines of “I am that I am”.In Sanskrit, So Ham means “I am that I am”. In Hebrew, Hineni means “I am here”. These words &amp; phrases point to something vast and boundless. Something bigger than just ‘me’. These words, phrases and ideas are pointing to something that is easily overlooked by the brilliance of our own minds. Our minds tend to create a little movie that stars me and only me. We get so caught up in this unfolding drama that we miss the simplistic beauty of BEING. Here I am. I am that I am.It can feel like we are our minds. Our thoughts. But our mind actually has a multiplicity of layers.Our minds are capable of comprehending:The object of cognition: I think a thought.</

In a recent meditation, the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr wrote: “Being human means acknowledging that we're made from the earth and will return to the earth. We are earth that has come to consciousness.In all the ancient teachings, we read that the body is a microcosm of the universe. There is both poetry and science in these statements. When we acknowledge the truth of this connection between earth and body, it is as if we are entering a deep forest. We must have both the courage to enter the forest as well as the willingness to feed the intuitive senses that will carry us safely through.Join me for a short guided meditation that reflects on this connection to earth herself. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.You can learn more about my:*Shor

Recently, I listened to an interview with Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.She talks so beautifully about how forests are wired for wisdom and how trees that we previously thought were drowning out young saplings are actually helping them to thrive, much like a grandmother-mother-child relationship.Within this interview, a comment was made that Humus, Human and Humor all share the same root word, and I can’t stop thinking about the truths hidden in this simple fact. The root ‘Hum’ in Latin means ‘ground’. ‘Humus’ means earth or ground.In a recent meditation, the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr wrote: “Being human means acknowledging that we're made from the earth and will return to the earth. We are earth that has come to consciousness.In all the ancient teachings, we read that the body is a microcosm of the universe. There is both poetry and science

Since 2006, I have been pulling at the threads of meditation. The threads of mindfulness, of Shamatha, of Vipassana, of Tantra, of Sri Vidya... ⁠⁠While styles, words, and texts may differ, there are some threads that run through all of these practices. ⁠Threads of Truth, I call them. ⁠⁠In the creation of my Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training, I wove these threads together. ⁠⁠The word "Sutra"&nbsp; {as in The Yoga Sutra} means to stitch together, and this training is built upon what I've crafted and named as the Awakened Heart Sutra.⁠⁠This sutra contains the fundamental elements that anchor a meditation practice in ancient wisdom, and offer enough expanse from which you can begin to weave your own meditative magic. ⁠⁠Join me for today’s special episode as I share a bit about the ideas and principles behind this training.You can learn more about my:*Awakened Heart Me

Two of the most common questions I receive from meditation students:How do I know meditation is actually helping me?Will meditation help with my depression/anxiety/PTSD?Today, I am bringing you a fascinating conversation with one of the world’s experts on what meditation actually does for your brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg, and he is going to help me answer these very questions!Dr. Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is board certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine, but what is most interesting to me is that he is a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as “neurotheology.” His research includes taking brain scans of people in prayer, meditati

Today’s mini meditation is from my exclusive content from Shoreline meditation app. This meditation is accompanied by a custom soundscape from Gordon Hempton. Use headphones for the best possible experience.There is a reason so many fairy tales take place in a forest. There is something magical that happens here. It is a little dark, a little scary, a bit light, and a bit life-affirming. The forest holds it all. When we meditate in the forest, we invite in the spectrum of experience and we approach it all with childlike wonder and curiosity.The forest we hear in this meditation is Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in the Southern Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. This is one of the last virgin hardwood forests on the east coast. The cathedral-like arches and vaulted ceilings of these hardwood branches form a forest with wonderful acoustics; home to the eastern winter wren and many other beautiful singers.Members of the Cherokee Indian Trib

Y’all know I am a voracious reader, right? So much so that I considered calling my donation page a “buy me a book” page. Books inspire me, provoke questions, and uplift me. I am releasing a series of interviews with authors of some new books that I have just read and love deeply!&nbsp;You know the other thing that I love and do daily {aside from meditate}? I journal. Journaling is such an important practice for me that I even included it as an important part of meditation teacher training! And, today’s guest wrote an entire book inspired by the profound impact of journaling.Marc Champagne unpacks the mental fitness practices and reflective questions shaping the lives of some of the most successful and brilliant thinkers in the world. He is the host of the top 50 ranked podcast, Behind The Human, and co-founded the journaling app (KYO) which ended up reaching over 86 million people without any paid advertising, all within the first two years of launch. He

What an important conversation I am sharing with you guys today. I recently had the tremendous honor of having a conversation with Dr. Traci Baxley, the author of Social Justice Parenting: How to raise compassionate, anti-racist, justice-minded kids in an unjust world.&nbsp;Dr. Baxley’s work introduces clear, do-able and specific steps for families to take to engage in the social justice activism that today’s society needs most. She specifically addresses why “raising good kids” and “protecting my little kids from the problems of the world” are false narratives that white parents {myself included} must continue to push back against.And, best of all, Dr. Baxley presents this important conversation in an open-hearted, shame-free way. When I read her book, I felt clear and empowered to introduce important narratives to my children and to engage them in ways our family can take supportive actions.I told her before we started recording that I fel

In a recent meditation, the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr wrote: “Being human means acknowledging that we're made from the earth and will return to the earth. We are earth that has come to consciousness.In all the ancient teachings, we read that the body is a microcosm of the universe. There is both poetry and science in these statements. When we acknowledge the truth of this connection between earth and body, it is as if we are entering a deep forest. We must have both the courage to enter the forest as well as the willingness to feed the intuitive senses that will carry us safely through.Join me for a short guided meditation that reflects on this connection to earth herself.&nbsp;These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.You can learn more about my:

Recently, I listened to an interview with Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.She talks so beautifully about how forests are wired for wisdom and how trees that we previously thought were drowning out young saplings are actually helping them to thrive, much like a grandmother-mother-child relationship.Within this interview, a comment was made that Humus, Human and Humor all share the same root word, and I can’t stop thinking about the truths hidden in this simple fact.&nbsp;The root ‘Hum’ in Latin means ‘ground’. ‘Humus’ means earth or ground.In a recent meditation, the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr wrote: “Being human means acknowledging that we're made from the earth and will return to the earth. We are earth that has come to consciousness.In all the ancient teachings, we read that the body is a microcosm of the universe. There is both poetry and sc

As our Living in a Divided World meditation series comes to end, I wanted to wrap up the month with a discussion with one of the amazing creative souls that has provided me with a sense of connection and hope during the pandemic - my cousin!Uli Beutter Cohen is a New York City–based documentarian, artist, and the creator of Subway Book Review. She explores belonging to a time and place through writing and photography. Uli is a sought-after speaker and panelist. Her work has been featured on TV, in print and online by New York magazine, Esquire, Vogue, Forbes, Oprah Magazine, Glamour, the BBC, and The Guardian, among others.For nearly a decade, Uli has ridden the subway through New York City to observe, interview, and photograph some of its most imaginative people: the readers of books. Between The Lines: Stories from the Underground, Uli’s first book, is the remarkable result—a collection of conversations that beautifully illuminate who we are and where w

In this mini meditation, we dig into the four qualities that all beings possess in immeasurable quantities. Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy &amp; Equanimity. This guided meditation will walk us through all four qualities, allowing us to foster and grow what we need most for the days that lie ahead.These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.In celebration of my 5-year podcast anniversary {!!!}, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in. Plus you’ll get goodies in the mail from me!Donate here: <a href="https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute" rel="noopener n

This meditation series, Living in a Divided World, is a series about truly acknowledging the level of divisiveness in our society and in ourselves at this particular moment in time. It is a series exploring how we might find a sense of balance or even peace within the fractures.Part 1 invited us to courageously stop and notice that we stand at a crossroad. A crossroad between aversion {all that we disagree with} and attachment {all that we believe to be true and just}. A crossroad where all opposites meet.&nbsp;Part 2 offered the chance to lean in softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear. It was a reminder that much of our practice hinges on the ability to listen.&nbsp;And now, in part 3, we dig into the four qualities that all beings possess in immeasurable quantities. Compassion is one of them, to be sure, but compassion alone isn’t enough to get us through this moment. Join me for today’s dharma talk and guided meditation

As we explore living in a divided world, as we struggle with the myriad of problems that face us in this moment, it can be hard to understand the teaching of The Middle Way. The invitation to rest in the middle of tension, paradox or discord without needing to resolve it, can feel uncomfortable to say the least.&nbsp;As I work through this teaching in my own practice, I often find myself reflecting on the words of Rilke -&nbsp;“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue.”Join me for today’s mini meditation as we learn to love the questions themselves.&nbsp;These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.In celebration of my 5-year podc

“Of course we can always imagine more perfect conditions, how it should be ideally, how everyone else should behave. But it’s not our task to create an ideal. It’s our task to see how it is, and to learn from the world as it is. For the awakening of the heart, conditions are always good enough.” ~Ajahn SumedoAs we talk about facing the divisiveness that plagues our every moment, the never-ending list of crises that need solving, we are exploring a path within meditation known as “The Middle Way”.The Middle Way lies between aversion and attachment; it lies within the meeting point of opposites.&nbsp;This teaching feels like something like a koan to me. A koan in an unanswerable question, riddle or poem that invites us to a state of awakening. We can’t explain it but somehow, when we hear it, we understand the truth that lies within it.&nbsp;There is a part of us that feels called to stand up for what we believe is right, to stan

As we explore the paradox of the deep divides of our world today and the teachings of connectedness that have existed throughout time, we use practices like this meditation to help us land right here in the present moment. Meditation is always inviting us into the reality of the present, where all opposites exist at once. "The still point of the turning world" as T.S. Eliot calls it. We can choose to battle out right/left politics, and all the other ways of division, but the truth is we are the same. We, all beings, Are. The. Same. We share 99.9% of our genetic material with every other human on this earth. We are all scared of dying and of being alone. We all biologically need to belong and feel ‘correct’ in some way. And yet, the more we entrench ourselves in our own correctness, the more we ensure our fears become true. We feel more alone. We

Today’s episode kicks off a new series for me, and I've been turning this over in my mind for months {maybe years?}... exploring how our meditation practice invites us to engage with a world that feels more divided than ever. This month, on The Mindful Minute we are going to *Deal with Divisiveness* - I struggle as much as the next person with fear, outrage, frustration and exhaustion. And yet, I do believe there is a way forward, and I believe that our meditation practice always shows us the next right step when we are willing to listen. ⁠ ⁠ Meditation is always inviting us into the reality of the present, where all opposites exist at once. "The still point of the turning world" as T.S. Eliot calls it... but once we land here, what do we do?⁠ ⁠ Join me for today’s discussi

BIG news, y’all! This month I am celebrating 5 YEARS of podcasting?! 5 years of creating, writing and sharing meditations with you. And, this little podcast has grown to over 40,000 listeners each month! Wow. And, thank you! Thank you for listening and being a part of this community. I’ve got some big goals and some fun giveaways to help celebrate this milestone. Tune into today’s episode to learn more and then to meditate with a beautiful practice from my app: Shoreline. Today’s 10-minute meditation is a sound meditation that includes an ancient practice from the zen tradition known as a koan. A koan is a type of teaching that is offered as a phrase, question, short poem that feels both completely cryptic and deeply understood in the same moment. <p dir=

What a fun show I have in store for you today! As I very often do these days, I got an email a few months ago suggesting that I consider artist Kyle Webster as a guest for The Mindful Minute. Now, I get a lot of these emails and 99% of the time, I say ‘no thank you,’ because this show is not primarily about interviews, but occasionally one feels like a really good fit. And this one??? Well, it was suggested we talk about meditation {my favorite subject}, creativity {my second favorite subject}, and beautifully designed notebooks {ummmm, hi. Obsessed.} so this was an absolute yes for me. And, I’m delighted to say that the conversation was just as good as I hoped it would be. Kyle T Webster is an international award-winning illustrator, living in North Carolina, who has drawn for The New Yorker, TIME, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The

This class originally aired in July 2020: According to the Yoga Sutra, meditation connects us to our inner luminosity &amp; sorrowless joy. In modern day terms, when we talk about meditation as a tool for emotional resiliency, we are really talking about tapping into this inner luminosity. ⁠ ⁠ We won't avoid hardship and pain in our lives just because we meditate, but we will be able to maintain connection to that inner luminosity and sorrowless joy to help us move through with more grace. Join me for today’s mini episode of The Mindful Minute as we work with a specific meditation practice to help us build awareness of that inner light. Special thanks to today’s sponsors: Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instrumen

This class originally aired in July 2020 and is just as fitting today as it was then: This month, my meditation series has been focused on building emotional resilience. We are learning how to use the tools of meditation to help us not only survive tough times but more so to thrive in our daily lives. Today’s episode, the final installment of this series, is my personal favorite because I think it is the game-changing practice. It is the practice of cultivating compassion to take back power. Yep. Compassion equals power. Let me explain. When we are stuck in the tough feelings created by traumatic experiences {fear, shame, anxiety, uncertainty, anger} we are also stuck in what is called our “reptilian” mind. This part of our brain is not evolved or complex in any way. When we are here, we are mostly stuck here, j

This class originally aired in July 2020: If you’ve discovered each time you sit to meditate lately, you are overcome with feelings of discomfort {too many thoughts, too much tension or anxiety in the body, too busy, etc.} then this is the class for you. Over the last few months, as I’ve sat to meditate, I’ve noticed a literal feeling of “tangle” in my chest. A tight, anxious, moving feeling that immediately makes me want squash it. ⁠ Don’t feel that. ⁠ Stop it. ⁠ Ignore it. ⁠ ⁠ I’ve tried it all, and the truth is, no matter how temporarily successful I might be, there that d*mn feeling is again the next time I sit… At some point, in the midst of this feeling and the war of thoughts it inspires, I heard so clearly, “love the tangle.”⁠ <

As pandemics and humanitarian crises abound, I am re-releasing my July 2020 series on emotional resilience. This particular class couldn’t have come at a better time. When our hearts are breaking, our fear is overwhelming, and we feel helpless to offer help or answers, we must lean into our own discomfort without needing to fix it. We must love the tangle. Keep practicing. Keep Going. I’m with you &amp; I love you. This class originally aired in July 2020: This month’s meditation series is exploring how a meditation practice bolsters our emotional resiliency. Basically, meditation is one tool that helps us ensure we will make it through tough times with more grace. We started the series {part 1} with a look at the 24-hour, global news cycle

This class originally aired in July 2020: We can all apply specific mindfulness techniques to help us navigate these emotionally tricky times with as much emotional resiliency as possible. The goal is not to avoid hard times, but to know without doubt that you can survive these times. When we are feeling the impact of traumatic stress, one of the primary feelings is one of powerlessness. Therefore, the antidote is to begin to regain a sense of power during our days.  We can start by bringing our minds right back here to the present moment. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we use presence to calm ourselves and reclaim our peace of mind. Special thanks to today’s sponsors: Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided jou

Well my loves, school has started here and already we are getting covid exposure emails, the news is filled with fourth wave worries, and I’m feeling much of the familiar worry, frustration and fear that I felt last year at this time. So I’ve decided to pause some of the upcoming interviews I have planned, and instead, I’m going to re-run the series I created in July 2020 - Meditation &amp; Emotional Resilience. Can’t hurt to remind our minds and soothe our hearts as we ride the waves of fall 2021. This class originally aired in July 2020: Oh, loves. It has been a year thus far, hasn’t it?! Murder hornets, pandemics, and long-overdue demands for social justice have asked much of our emotional resiliency. As I’ve worked with students to navigate these times, I’ve realized that I’m relying on much of my experience in teaching mindfulness for PTSD {

Today’s mini meditation is one of the most popular meditations on my app - Shoreline. Take 5 minutes to try it now! “Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.” ⁠ ~Robert Louis Stevenson⁠ ⁠ There is something about the imagery of a clock in a thunderstorm - a steady, safe consistency that invokes the feeling of meditation.⁠ ⁠ Meditation isn’t a promise that there will be no loud noises, disruptions or heartaches. The practice is simply a tool that provides a steady, safe consistency from which we can respond to any given moment and any given situation. ⁠ ⁠ You can listen to a longer version of "Like A Clock in a Thunderstorm" guided meditation on Shoreline {available in the

Well y'all... I was SO excited to host this conversation with my Teacher, Tracee Stanley, that I forgot to switch to my podcast microphone for recording.... So the audio might sound a bit different, but I promise the conversation is 100% worth listening to! Without doubt, if you listen to one of my episodes from 4 years ago and one today, you will hear quite a difference in my teaching. Much of this evolution is due to the guidance and practices offered by Tracee over the years. Tracee Stanley, founder of Empowered Life Circle shares teachings that are inspired by more than 20 years of study in the traditions of the Himalayan Masters and Sri Vidya Tantra. The focus of her teaching honours life as a ritual and she is devoted to yoga nidra, meditation, self-inquiry, nature as a teacher, and ancestor reverence. She is the creatrix of the Empowered Life Self-Inquiry Oracle Deck and host of Radiant Rest Podcast which celeb

This week’s mini meditation is a self-compassion break guided by Dr. Kristen Neff. It is a powerful practice that offers you the chance to access exactly what you need in this moment - tender or fierce self-compassion. You can listen to the full interview with Dr. Neff in the previous episode titled Fierce Self-Compassion. You can learn more about Dr. Neff’s work here: https://self-compassion.org/ Thanks to this week’s sponsor, Baronfig. Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. As an avid journal, I use and love their guided meditation journal and their basic Confidant notebooks! By using our code MINDFULMINUTE21, you'll receive 20% off your first purchase. <a

I am thrilled to share today’s episode with y’all - I am talking with Dr. Kristen Neff. Kristin Neff received her doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, and is currently an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. During Kristin’s last year of graduate school she became interested in Buddhism and has been practicing meditation in the Insight Meditation tradition ever since. While doing her post-doctoral work she decided to conduct research on self-compassion – a central construct in Buddhist psychology and one that had not yet been examined empirically. Kristin is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, creating a scale to measure the construct almost 20 years years ago. In addition to writing numerous academic articles and book chapters on the topic, she is author of the b

“It is only when you go too far that you discover the boundary.” This was the insight from a recent conversation I had with my partner in Shoreline meditation app, Gordon Hempton. He was applying this thought to recording sounds, and I believe it equally applies to our life experiences. What if we shifted our internal narrative from one of shaming to one of appreciation for the times we misstep, overstep or go too far past our own boundaries? Thanks to our sponsor, Mindful and Modern. They make the most beautiful meditation cushions, chairs, candles, and more. Be sure to visit https://www.mindfulandmodern.com/ and use code MindfulMinute10 to save 10% on your entire order. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home pr

A while back, I was having a conversation with Gordon Hempton, one of my partners in the Shoreline meditation app, about one of his soundscapes titled Dunes. In Dunes, Gordon moves among the dunes of Cape Cod recording the sounds of the surf and the nighttime insects, and as he is describing this soundscape to me, he says, “it is only when you go too far that you realize the boundary for the perfect sound within the dunes.” Lightbulb moment. It is only when you go too far that you discover the boundary. Typically, I think many of us would think, “Shame on me. I messed up. I should have known better.” What if instead we were able to look at that same overstepping with gratitude or tenderness? Today’s episode of The Mindful Minute is the final installment of the Boundary Setting

Within meditation, non-judgment is the idea that whatever comes up within practice - thoughts, feelings, distractions - we simply allow it to be part of our present-moment experience without assigning a good/bad, like/dislike label to it. Within boundary-setting, this same skill is the ability to separate the threads between ‘this is the boundary I need to set’ and ‘this is how I feel about setting the boundary.’ Without the skill to separate these threads, it is very easy to get lost in the emotional tangle of - I want to say no but I also want to be liked/loved/approved of/kind/etc… - and that contradiction often makes boundary setting feel difficult or even impossible for some of us. Today’s mini meditation practice puts into practice the skill of non-judgment, so that ultimately, you too are able to say “no.” as a full sentence without any s

No. I have a problem with that. I don’t want to. I’ve decided not to. I feel uncomfortable about…. All of these are phrases we can use to set a boundary, and depending on how you were raised, your conditioning, gender expectations, etc., they can be incredibly hard to say. I understand that I can say, “no.” as a full sentence, but I also feel a way about saying no without an explanation or an excuse tied to it… This is where the meditative skill of non-judgment comes into play. Within meditation, non-judgment is the idea that whatever comes up within practice - thoughts, feelings, distractions - we simply allow it to be part of our present-mo

Today’s meditation practice is a practice in awakening to the physical boundaries of your body and the energetic boundaries of your being. This might sound so obvious or simple, but as we talk about often in meditation, many of us live slightly removed from our bodies. We aren’t conscious of our feelings or our embodied experience. This is why the first step of meditation is to get into the present moment, and to get into the body. This first step allows us to become embodied and conscious of our feelings and our boundaries. So, we find our physical edges. Additionally, you know how sometimes you can be with someone and you feel energized, inspired, uplifted, or maybe just really seen? And, sometimes you feel drained, anxious, or even angry? This is because our being doesn’t on

In so many of my dharma talks and conversations lately, boundaries have come up. Boundaries showed up in our meditation series on Passion &amp; Paychecks with Tiffany Johnson. Boundaries showed up in our discussions on worry and on fierce self-compassion. Boundaries also show up for me perpetually in relationships, and are something I spend a good bit of time thinking about and working on. Now, I am NOT a boundary expert. Sometimes I find I have very clear, easily expressed boundaries, and sometimes I struggle. Sometimes I don’t even notice, much less express that I’m not upholding a boundary of mine until I am way past it and spiraling into an emotional tornado…. {sigh.}. Lucky for us, we have a meditation practice to help us wake up to the skill of setting boundaries. For what is meditation, if not a tool to help us awaken to that we were once

There are 3 guiding principles I incorporate into my meditation practice to help guide me in the ongoing balance of making tender choices and tough choices to best support my ultimate intentions: Listening: "To listen is to continually give up all expectations and to give our attention, completely and freshly, to what is before us, not really knowing what we will hear or what that will mean. In the practice of our days, to listen is to lean in, softly, with a willingness to be changed by what we hear." {from Mark Nepo}⁠ Courage: In one of its earliest forms, the word courage meant "To speak one's mind by telling all one's heart."  {from Brene Brown}⁠ FIERCE Compassion: What is the action that moves me in the direction of my ultimate intention? {from Dr. Kristen Neff} Join me for

There is a conversation that I have a lot with students; it goes something like this - Me: How is your meditation practice going? Student: Wellllllll, it hasn’t been very consistent lately. I’ve been super stressed lately about XYZ, and I just need to get through this tough period and then I’ll be able to recommit to my practice…. Sound familiar? Yep, I struggle with this exact same issue. And, as a teacher, in all honesty, I struggle with how to respond to this… On the one hand, I gently want to push {and truthfully I usually do}, because it is so easy to let the cultural beliefs around doing/achievement/success to overrule what we know to be true - that creating space and silence in our lives is crucial to our well-being, creativity and ultimate success.

When we worry, it is only because we care deeply about someone or something, and there is something that feels threatening or unsafe to the person or thing we care so much about. Worry has its roots in fear, and that overwhelming, suffocating feeling often comes from trying to ignore what it is we fear most in this situation… So our first step in moments of worry, is to create and nurture a sense of safety for ourselves. I know some of you are thinking, “but that sounds a little selfish to put myself first when someone else might be struggling or suffering…” I know we’ve been taught this is the case. We should be helping! Doing something! Staring at the phone anxiously awaiting an update! If/and/but, I am doing all that while spiraling out of control on the inside, I can’t actually be there to help when or if it is needed. I ca

Worry is such an interesting paradox isn’t it? It feels truly terrible when we are in the throes of it. Our bodies, our hearts, and minds can feel overwhelmed or suffocated by worry. And yet, worry only happens because we care deeply about someone or something; it feels like something that we must accept as an unavoidable experience in life. Our meditation practice can offer an alternative to this seemingly unavoidable paradox. Certainly with deep, sustained practice we might arrive in a place where we are able to be equanimous in all moments and unphased by the seemingly stressful or worrisome moments in life, but what about right now? What about those of us that are meditating but still get swept up in worry or fear? Let’s start with rule number one: stop saying “Don’t Worry.” Seriously. Does that phrase even

**This episode is a replay of the 2020 Summer Solstice. Enjoy!** {From 2020} June 20th was the Summer Solstice, and it is the first solstice in many years that I didn’t teach a special meditation event. I usually host something extra special to harness the power of these reflective times, and yet, this year, even though I had already mapped up what I wanted to share and reflect on, I just kept delaying until the day was upon us and it was too late… The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year; the most light we see in a 24 hour period. When we meditate, we are in essence harnessing the light of awareness and shining it inside. This light allows us to look deeper inside, to see more, to clear out the cobwebs. Turning on the lights is brave. It is powerful. It is enlivening.

**Don’t forget THIS Sunday {June 20} is the Summer Solstice and it is my last live, virtual mini retreat for 2021. I’d love for you to join me! You can learn more at https://www.merylarnett.com/events** Today’s episode is a special interview with Thomas Moore, author of one of my favorite books - Care of the Soul. He is here today to talk about his new book, Soul Therapy. I found myself reflecting that meditation is indeed one form of Soul Therapy for ourselves. This conversation invites us to reflect on the art and craft of caring conversations - with our friends, our families, our colleagues and the world at large. You’ll hear us talk about myth, archetype, dreams and so much more as we discuss his latest book. He makes some really powerful and poignant commen

Led by Dr. Ashanté M. Reese, this beautiful meditation is a playful exploration of what it means to belong to one’s self. Our practice can not and should not be exclusively about our individual selves. Our inner realizations are only worth how we reflect them out into the world. How we belong to ourselves reflects how deeply we belong to each other.   Let’s practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: *Shoreline: my new meditation app *Live, virtual meditation classes with me *Upcoming events All by visiting <a href="ht

This has been a tough 18 months, hasn’t it? Somedays, even with the light of vaccines and seeing friends, I still feel unsure I can handle all that feels broken in the world. The amount of divisiveness feels unsurmountable. Political parties, masks, vaccines, racial injustice, voter rights. It feels like everyday we hear of decisions being made, and I assume, like me, you make a snap judgment of good or completely wrong and unacceptable. With this level of judgment and division comes a sense of deep worry and even hopelessness. It feels unimaginably huge to ask how we will repair this divide. How will we come together? Because we belong together. We belong to each other. As I’ve struggled with this, I’ve also noticed when I’ve seen glimmers of hope: <l

This week’s mini meditation is a special offering from my meditation app, Shoreline. ⁠ In this meditation, The Call of the Lizard, you'll hear the sounds of Kalahari desert in South Africa in the evening. You can hear the winds blowing and the quiet call of the barking gecko. Within this meditation, we reflect on the energy of both the desert and the lizard. The lizard is known for its sensitivity to the subtle; its keen sensory awareness, and its ability to be perfectly still as it takes it all in. ⁠ This is one to repeat several times and journal afterwards each time. Notice how lizard energy shows up for you. ⁠ Shoreline: Meditate to Nature is available in the US, Canada &amp; Australia on iOS. Additional locations and an android version are coming soon. This custom sou

Now, I know y’all know that I am a deep lover of oracle cards, and the first episode I did on working with oracle cards is still one of my most popular episodes! So, today, I am THRILLED to share an interview with Tarot &amp; Oracle card creator MJ Cullinane. MJ has created numerous magical and beautiful decks. The two I currently own are the Urban Crow Oracle and the ROAR Oracle. Both are stunning, wise and a delight to use. In this episode, MJ and I talk about the difference between oracle and tarot decks, her creative process, and her favorite way to work with her decks. This was such a fun interview and I know you are going to enjoy it as much as I did! Here is a little more about MJ: Margaux Jones (AKA MJ) is an award-winning Seattle-base

Who do you invite into your meditation practice and why do you do it? Today’s mini meditation is an opportunity to explore what support, connections or wisdom you might connect to within your meditation practice. This is a snippet of my personal meditation practice at this time and I am excited to share it with you. Let’s practice! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: *Shoreline: my new meditation app *Live, virtual meditation classes with me *Upcoming events All by visiting merylarnett.com</

I mentioned in last week’s class that within my personal practice, I often start by honoring the ancestors of the place I live {the Muscogee/Creek Nation} as well as my own familial ancestors. Afterwards, a student mentioned that she struggles with inviting her ancestors into her meditation practice because she doesn’t think her ancestors were particularly good people. Another friend mentioned that she struggles with inviting her ancestors into her meditations because she doesn’t know much about her family stories. These questions and struggles are so common so I thought it worthwhile to explore. I've spent the last week writing and reflecting on these questions along with my own experiences of ancestral-relating. Today’s meditation class will be devoted to the how/what/why of ancestry within meditation.⁠ <

One of the many texts we can look to for ancient meditation teachings is The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali. Written 2200 years ago, the great sage Patanjali gathered the essence of yoga philosophy and practice and distilled it into 196 concise sentences - called sutras. For many of us, one of the ultimate sutras is 3.34: “By meditating on the heart, one gains complete knowledge of one’s mind.” Today’s meditation practice is one of the guideposts that points us on our way to gaining complete knowledge of the mind. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: </b

The final step in our journey to the magic of meditation lies within The Way. Many of you have been practicing with me for quite awhile and know my teaching methods well. I most often offer my teachings through the lens of mindfulness meditation, but the truth is that mindfulness is really a distilled {and brilliant} version of the ancient meditation teachings. Teachings from lineages of Tantra Sri Vidya Buddhism Kashmir Shaivism So I thought, if we are going to talk about the way today, we might as well talk about The Way. One of the many texts we can look to for these more ancient teachings is The Yoga Sutra by Patanjali. Written 2200 years ago, the great sage Patanjali gathered the essence of yoga philosophy and practice a

This is a special, bonus episode of The Mindful Minute to introduce my 2021 Clear Mind, Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training. I wanted to be able to talk to you about my hopes, thoughts and plans for this training; the ideas behind it; and why I am so beyond proud of this offering. In my 10+ years of teaching meditation, the #1 piece of feedback I receive from students is that I make meditation feel accessible. Some of the comments that make my heart sing: "I FINALLY get it." "I thought I couldn't meditate before I met you..." "I'm home." And, let me be clear - this isn't some magic unique to me. No, this is simply the magic of years to study, practice and experience. This is the magic of bringing forth

This meditation series is loosely inspired by Alix E. Harrow’s beautiful novel, The Once &amp; Future Witches. Within this magical novel, she writes of 3 things needed to perform a spell - The Words. The Will. &amp; The Way. We will look at these same elements as tools for our meditation practice. Today’s episode is dedicated to the very peculiar kind of will needed for meditation practice. In the book, this will was a “you’ve got to want it enough” kind of feeling. An inner strength. This same strength is needed to get you to cushion, especially, in the beginning. Your will to meditate is the drive to show up day in and day out, even when it is slow, silly, or boring. We keep showing up and practicing because we trust in what is offered. AND

Today’s mini meditation is a practice to help you listen and hear your own highest truth. To hear your Sankalpa. ‘Kalpa’ means vow or more literally, “the rule that follows”, and ‘San’ means truth. So, Sankalpa can be translated to be “the rule that follows truth” or a vow that supports your highest truth. This practice helps us discover the magical words we need to remind ourselves of to reach our own highest potential. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: *Shoreline: my new meditation app *Live, virtual meditation classes with me *Upcoming events

It is May, and with the new month comes a new meditation series! This series was loosely inspired by Alix E. Harrow’s beautiful novel, The Once &amp; Future Witches. This book, according to the NPR.org book review: Once upon a time, Alix Harrow wrote about three sisters. Also, suffragists, witching, folklore, flawed alliances, an alternate America, and women's work. She gave this second novel many gifts: charm, grace, and gorgeousness; feral wonder, clear vision, an ardent heart. She gave it history, awareness of injustice and will to survive it. And so it went into the world to seek its fortune, inviting readers to settle in; to sigh with the pleasure of finding a not too this, not too that, just right story. Within this magical novel, she writes of 3 things needed to perform a spell - The Words. The Will. &a

How do you judge when your workday is done? When have you done enough, and where does your wiggle room lie? As more and more of us are working from home, we are discovering perhaps more than ever how important it is to have a clear transition from work to home. Some of us have lost the ding of the elevator that marks the end of a work day, for some the car ride home, and for some it is simply the loss of expectation that we won’t respond to emails or hold Zoom calls after hours… However your work life looks, one thing is clear - it is the establishing of boundaries, creating space and honoring our own sense of Enough that allows us to feel whole and balanced when it comes to work. Use this meditation as a transition in your day - the start of work, a midday break or at the end of your day - to tap into the space

With this episode, the Passions &amp; Paychecks series comes to a close; and whew, y’all… this episode…. In the live class, the comments in the chat were coming in fast and furious - it is VERY clear that we are missing the transitions between home and work, that our boundaries have vanished, and that for most of us, we have no idea what “enough” feels like when it comes to work.   All month, we’ve been talking through our work lives as a function of relating - of being in relationship with ourselves, with our co-workers, and with our organizations. As we look at these relationships through the lens of mindfulness, it becomes clear that The meeting point of passion and paychecks is the sense of enoughness within ourselves.   Without the belief that we are enough and do enough, how can we possibly allow any wiggle room to be anything less than perfect, to occasionally drop the ball, or simply be avera

This meditation practice is an opportunity to cultivate non-judgment as we begin to express ourselves more authentically. It can be easy to second guess these truer parts of ourselves, to feel embarrassed, wrong or uncomfortable after putting yourself out there in a vulnerable and real way.   Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts reminds us that, “The freedom to be average is also the grace granted for imperfect works-in-progress."   Shall we be average together for a bit? My colleague Tiffany Johnson leads this practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: *Shoreline

This week, Tiffany Johnson and I continue to explore authenticity as a journey thanks to the research of Dr. Laura Morgan Roberts.   Roberts also writes -   “The spotlight is brighter, employment insecurity and economic insecurity looms larger, and the demands of working, caregiving, and merely surviving have grown exponentially. Who has the wiggle room under these circumstances to drop the ball, to deliver less-than-their-best, to express a bit less patience and a bit more frustratio

Today’s mini meditation invites us to experience authenticity not as a static endpoint but as a journey. A perpetually evolving place that invites us to take the next best step even when we can’t see the full picture. Join me for today’s practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: *Shoreline: my new meditation app *Live, virtual meditation classes with me *Upcoming events All by visiting merylarnett.com. You can also grab my<a href="https://mailchi.mp/

You guys!!! I finally get to see the magic words… my new app, Shoreline, is LIVE and ready to be downloaded! You can find Shoreline by visiting merylarnett.com. It is available in the App store for iPhone users. The android version will be released a bit later. You’ve heard me talk a ton about the app in earlier episodes so all I will say here is please. Go check it out. Download it. Try the free offerings. And please please please, will you leave me a review in the app store? Reviews are everything when it comes to showing up in searches and growing. There is so much goodness in this app. There are meditations that you know and love from the podcast, there is a ton of completely new content and I’m releasing a new meditation every single day on the app. Every. Day. Y’all. We have so much more we are excited to

Join my friend and colleague, Tiffany Johnson, as she guides us through a meditation designed to wake us up to our true Self and how we relate to ourselves both on the cushion and at work. This meditation is an excerpt from our April Meditation Series: Passion &amp; Paychecks. The full class airs each Thursday on this podcast. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Learn more about Tiffany Johnson: http://tiffanydawnjohnson.com/about/yoga-meditation-with-tiffany/ You can learn more about my: *Shoreline: my new

Whew, y’all…. This meditation series is ALL THINGS WORK RELATED! This series developed out of a conversation with my regular Monday night crew - we were talking about some of the everyday struggles that come up at work, the tug to do something different, even feeling creatively stifled...⁠ ⁠ And so, this series was born... Even more exciting, I’m co-teaching this series alongside a friend/student/colleague - Tiffany Johnson.   Tiffany, aside from being a brilliant meditation teacher {and regular Monday night practitioner}, is a work and equity scholar, writer, and teacher. She is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior and she does research related to work(places), equity, and well-being.⁠ ⁠ Together, we will bring a unique exploration to the field of the workplace {and the inner self, naturally} over the next four episodes. Exploring what it means to 'wor

Today’s mini meditation is the Elemental Purification practice we did throughout last month’s meditation series: Our Elemental Nature. You can do this practice anytime you want to feel more connected to Earth, Nature and her elements. It is especially potent to do this practice outside, if you have the opportunity. Enjoy! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn more about my: *Shoreline: my new meditation app *Live, virtual meditation classes with me *Upcoming events All by visiting merylarnett.com. <p

Y’all... I have been waiting for almost a full year to share this episode with you! It has felt like the biggest, most exciting secret, and now I can finally share this joy with you! As you know by now, I have been working tirelessly on a new meditation app called Shoreline, and one of my creative partners in this endeavour is acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. For months now, Gordon and I have had weekly virtual conversations to sit together and listen and discuss the sounds of the natural world around us. I think perhaps the thing I love most about these conversations is that when I listen to Gordon talk about his experiences of listening to nature, he uses the same words, the same feeling tones that I use as I talk about meditation. It is two different pathways to the exact same place - a place of awakening to the immense love of being alive. <p d

There is a trail near my house; it cuts through the woods, follows along a creek, and makes its way back to an old textile mill from the 1800s. The mill changed hands a few times and ultimately ended up being run by a woman. This woman also worked to create the first settlement for Eastern European Jewish immigrants in this area. My ancestors are Eastern European Jews. Even before that, before mills and immigrants, the indigenous people first on this land were here. There are carvings in the rocks along this very river from these First People that we can still see today. So, a few times a week, I walk this trail. I step over a heart-shaped rock embedded in the ground, and I reach a spot just before the mill... a sandy little nook along the shoreline. There is a rock that overha

Today’s mini meditation is another sneak peak of the upcoming meditation app Shoreline. Today’s practice works with one of my favorite Zen koans from John Tarrant Roshi: The coin that is lost in the river is found in the river. Curious? Join me for today’s 10 minute meditation; the river soundscape you hear in the background was recorded by acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. You’ll be able to access more meditations and soundscapes like this in my new app Shoreline; click the link below to find out when it will be available for download! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can learn m

Water. An essential ingredient of life; we know it in many forms - rivers and oceans, rainfall and mist, trickles, streams and tears. Water is perpetually seeking a goal it will never achieve: to reach the center of the earth. Instead of achievement, water teaches us the importance of the journey. Water is always moving, concerned with nothing other than its own flow and following a path of least resistance. Each of us was held in water for roughly 9 months; perhaps it is even correct to say this is the first element we know. Water allows for birth; not just of human life, but also of ideas, of creativity, and of vitality. Water allows us to be reborn again and again. In working with the elements inside of our meditation practice, we’ve swept ourselves clean and dried ourselves

Happy Monday y’all! Today’s mini meditation is another sneak peek within my soon-to-be-released meditation app: Shoreline! I’ll be releasing a longer episode later this month with all the details and background stories of this app, but in the meantime... This meditation practice is drawing on an innately meditative experience - that of staring at a campfire. Any camper will tell you that something quiet and reflective occurs as the sun sets and the campfire burns. Perhaps it is the yellow orange flames that lick or the crackle of burning wood, but something of this experience calls us inward. Fire calls to us on an elemental level as well - for the elements show up within us just as they do outside of us. Fire calls forth experiences of transformation, of lighting the path ahead and of creating the warmth of safety and the clearing away of what is no longer needed. This meditation uses the s

Fire is perhaps the most often referenced element within sacred practices from around the world. In cultures near and far, the belly is seen as the home of our life force, our passion, our drive, our digestion {of food, thought and feeling}. Robert Louis Stevenson wrote of the “fire in the belly” to describe a person’s drive back in 1882, and today, science continues to prove the deep relationship between our gut and our brain. When we work with the element of fire in our meditation practice, it is useful to reflect on the element of fire in the external world as well. In reading about controlled burns of forest, two of the most often cited benefits are: Fire reduces the risk of destructive wildfires. In the same way, when we intentionally work with the fire element in meditation, we are preventing the wild flare-ups that are all too commo

Y’all! I am so thrilled to share with you a sneak peek into my labor of love: a new meditation app called Shoreline. I'm delighted to offer my listeners and students something straight from my heart. You likely know how much I love meditating in nature, and now, I am able to bring you my very favorite meditative experiences combined with stunning soundscapes created by Emmy-award winning acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. Together, we will use the elements, unique geographical locations and the call of many wild animals to enhance our meditation practices. I can't wait to share this with you. The app won’t be available for download for a few more weeks; in the meantime, every Monday, I will release a sneak peek meditation from the app starting with today’s practice: Swept Away By The Wind. Sign-up to be notified when Shoreline goes live here: <a href="https://mailchi.mp/merylarnett/shoreline-a

When we pull up a map, we do it because we are trying to figure out how to get somewhere we want to be. We see developed land represented as one color and forest as another. We see water represented in blue and roads in a myriad of colors indicating the type of road. What we see are symbols that can help guide us on a journey. The ancient meditation practitioners also left us maps. They left us markers from their journey to help us on ours… The map of the interior journey is often described via a map known as the chakras. Depending on the school of thought, there might be differing numbers of chakras, differing locations, colors or symbols; just as different mapmakers vary their symbols. Regardless of what the map may look like, we can read it because certain threads are maintain

In my experience on the meditation cushion, the web of indebtedness is exactly what we innately become aware of as our meditation practice moves into deeper cycles. It begins as we enter into a reciprocal relationship with our meditation practice.   We give our time, energy and attention to our practice, and it responds to us with greater awareness, insight and warmth… The practice becomes sweeter because we give ourselves to it.   And eventually, this spills over into our everyday actions. Join me for today’s mini meditation practice and notice how it feels to consciously ‘give’ to your meditation practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I

This month, we have been exploring the cycle of awakening in this 4 part series - ‘What’s Love Got To Do With It?’ And, with today’s episode, we reach the pinnacle of this cycle. Reciprocity. This cycle moves from paying attention, to noticing the gifts, to an outpouring of gratitude, and finally to reciprocity. Reciprocity is the literal answer to “what does love have to do with it?” Reciprocity is the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit; cultural anthropologists support this idea in what they call the "web of indebtedness". In my experience, this web of indebtedness is exactly what we innately become aware of as our meditation practice moves into deeper cycles. It begins as we enter into a reciprocal relationship with our meditation practice.   We gi

Today’s mini meditation is a practice inspired by the words of Maya Angelou - “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” A practice of gratefulness and wakefulness without the requisite “3 things you are grateful for…” cliche. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you g

I can imagine many of you, like me, feel something between a yawn and an eye roll when you hear the word 'gratitude' these days - it has become such an overused, misunderstood word... I must have taught a dozen different gratitude classes over the years, but I've noticed a significant shift in my practice and understanding of gratefulness in the time of COVID. This shift got me thinking… when excess is stripped away, is it possible we feel more abundant?⁠ In the past, if I practiced gratitude, I did my diligence to write down 3 things I was grateful for - the issue was I tended to take the “things” part of that phrase too literally. I would be grateful for my coffee {and let’s be clear, I still am. Every. Single. Day.}, but living gratefully really isn’t about the things. Or the shoulds. A gratefulness that feel

Today’s mini meditation practice is a practice in recognizing the gifts that your time and attention bestow on you. Every breath, every thought, every feeling is a gift from your soul to your ego-self. Will you waste these gifts obsessing about your next to-do, or will you witness that obsessive thought with a smile and a “thank you” as you honor the gift of wisdom that just landed in your lap? And because this is a practice in receiving gifts, we will bring in a few extra elements meant to infuse your practice with a sense of sacredness and reverence. Join me for this short practice, and be sure to tune into the episode titled What’s Love Got To Do With It {part 2} for a deeper explanation of the gifts we receive from meditation. These mini meditations are meant to support a da

Gifts. ⁠ ⁠ Last week, on my birthday, I received so many gifts. Gifts of time, attention, tea &amp; cookies... By the end of the end of day, my heart was so full of gratitude it felt like it might burst, and the question floating around in my head was - ⁠ ⁠ What if we felt in our bones that all of our life experiences contain gifts? ⁠ The good. The bad. The boring.⁠ When our meditation practice shifts from simply paying attention to the acknowledgement of gifts, well now, we have taken the first step in deepening our meditation practice to something beyond our small ego-based selves… What a gift meditation practice is, a luxury of time, breath and relating to yourself with curiosity and kindness. And here is the interesting

I’m currently reading Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. In it, the author writes of providing an antidote to what she calls “plant blindness” - the learned ignoring of the plant life around us. This blindness “impedes the recognition of the green world as a garden of gifts.” Kimmerer offers an antidote via a cycle of experience- Attention Gift Gratitude Reciprocity I recognize this cycle as also being the cycle of waking up. This is the cycle of an ever-deepening meditation practice. And it begins with paying attention. Let’s try it together in today’s mini meditation. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are releas

What’s love got to do with it? ⁠ Well... Everything, it turns out.⁠ ⁠ So many of us come to a meditation practice searching for some version of “peace” - less stress, more happiness, some form of contentment. And yet, far too easily, we can get stuck with one foot off the meditation cushion, not realizing we haven’t let ourselves go all in.⁠ ⁠ As practitioners, it is important that we remember that meditation doesn’t end with the mind. We don’t simply meditate, get to know our own thoughts and then stop. We follow an ever-deepening spiral of awareness that both broadens our understanding of the world around us and deepens our understanding of ourselves as awakened beings.⁠ ⁠ My February meditation series lays out a map that moves us through this deepening cycle from a mindful mind to an awakened heart with plenty of practice time so you can feel for

Sunset is the time when the masculine energy of the day {the heat, fire, planning and passion} is met with the feminine energy of the moon {the cooling, nourishing, restorative and creative}. In some cultures, this time of day is seen as a portal - A time to descend into the netherworld to collect fuel, firewood or the creative spark. A time to close out the cycle of the day, to honor birth and death, conscious and unconscious… Meditating at sunset is an invitation to honor the ritual of cycles in our lives and the wholeness that comes when we don’t miss any of the steps in the cycle. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we learn how to meditate at sunset and cultivate the quality of compassion as part of this practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home

Our January meditation series comes to a close with a reflection of sunset and the practices that are asked of us at this time. Sunset is the time when the masculine energy of the day {the heat, fire, planning and passion} is met with the feminine energy of the moon {the cooling, nourishing, restorative and creative}. In some cultures, this time of day is seen as a portal - A time to descend into the netherworld to collect fuel, firewood or the creative spark. A time to close out the cycle of the day, to honor birth and death, conscious and unconscious… Sadly, as with so many things, modern culture has taught us to bulldoze right through this transition with no notice or pause. I’m as guilty of this as the next person. From 5 - 7 p.m. it feels like a full out sprint in my house. Dinner. Baths. Bedtimes. Clean-u

Today’s mini meditation includes 3 special steps that we can use to infuse our meditation practice with a bit more sacredness. It’s an upleveling, if you will, for times when we really need our meditation practice to support big emotions and important moments in our lives. This practices is inspired by this reminder from Martin Luther King Jr. - “Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.” These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation

Today’s episode of The Mindful Minute is a special offering in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the painful struggles our country is wading through in this moment of time.  Two weeks ago, on Wednesday, January 6, we watched as a group of Americans stormed our Capitol during a joint session of Congress. We watched and heard hatred spew for so many of the cultural, ethnical, racial, sexual divides that make up our population. And amidst this heartbreaking and terrifying display of hatred, our own {my own} values of non-hate/ non-violence have been tested. Today, I am holding close this reminder from Martin Luther King Jr. - “Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can only be done by projecting the ethic of love to the center of our lives.” <p dir

Lunchtime is the time of day when we need an added dose of focus and energy to carry us through the rest of the day. It is a natural point of low energy, and often it is also a time when we start to think about how much we haven’t gotten done yet. We start planning tomorrow’s to-do list while still working through today. This tension between low-energy and high-demands actually diminishes our ability to get things done in a creative and timely manner. A mid-day meditation practice is benefited from bringing in the mindfulness tenant of non-judgment. Non-judgment asks us to release our obsession with ‘good job/bad job’. It asks us to let go of ‘I like it/I don’t like it’. And instead, it asks us to simply sit with what is… The simple flow of breath and quieting of the mind is restful and restoring for the body an

For years, lunchtime was my meditation time. It was an easy time for me to be consistent; I knew I was going to eat lunch at some point every day, I knew I could take 10 minutes before that first bite to tune-in, and I could sync it with my kids naps! This is also the time of day when we need an added dose of focus and energy to carry us through the rest of the day. It is a natural point of low energy, and often it is also a time when we start to think about how much we haven’t gotten done yet. We start planning tomorrow’s to-do list while still working through today. This tension between low-energy and high-demands actually diminishes our ability to get things done in a creative, not to mention timely, manner. A mid-day meditation practice is benefited from bringing in the mindfulness tenant of non-judgment. No

This mini-meditation is a sunrise {or morning} meditation practice that is designed to help you start your day with a wakeful and calm presence. Practicing first thing in the morning is a great way to get in touch with the quiet of your mind, to establish yourself within your intentions and to move into your day with a quiet grace. I can’t guarantee that your kids, pets and colleagues will cooperate, but I can guarantee that at least you’ll have a head start on a peaceful day ;-) Join me! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class i

Every time of day has a particular energy and a particular need: a need for energy rising, a need for balance, or a need for relaxation. As we kick off 2021, I thought it would be valuable to explore meditating at different times of day - sunrise, midday and sunset - and the practices and energies that accompany these times of day. Although it can be ideal to commit to a particular time of day for your meditation practice, I’ve found tremendous benefit in altering my time of practice based on the needs of the day. If you are committing or re-committing to your meditation practice this year, this series will be an ideal kickstarter. We will be reviewing the primary components of a mindfulness meditation practice and syncing them to different times of day and different meditation practices. Perhaps you’ll find just the practice you need to start the new year right! </b

As we enter into the New Year, it is so easy to get sucked into the “new year, new you” mentality - the goals, the aspirations, the improvements… However, I want to invite in a different idea: Perhaps the return of the light isn’t asking for new and improved, but rather like its own return - it is asking us to return home to ourselves. This mini practice is a special meditation designed to guide you to discover your own personal talisman, meant to hold you steady on your own unique path. What is it? Only you can know… Join me for today’s episode of #TheMindfulMinute and let’s discover it together. Happy New Year. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deep

This month’s meditation series has been a collection of archetypal tools that we can use to carry us through the winter months. We started this series with the knife {the ability to learn new ways}, then we found the candlestick {the tenacity to ride a rough road}, and now we add our final and most personal tool - the talisman. A talisman is often an object that is thought to have magic powers and to bring good luck. It can connect us to the strength of the spirit world, to our own mystical knowledge and healing repertoire, and, most directly, it is something that connects us to our deepest intention, our deepest selves. As we enter into the New Year, it is so easy to get sucked into the “new year, new you” mentality - the goals, the aspirations, the improvements… However, I want to invite in a different idea: Perhaps the return

Today’s practice is a practice known as Bhavana. It is a steeping of our souls just as we would steep a cup of tea. A tea bag full of herbs is placed in warm water and as it soaks, the water takes on the qualities of the herbs. In this same way, as we call in what is most needed for our future during meditation, our warm bodies take on these qualities. Ready to try it? Let’s practice. Learn more about my New Year’s Day virtual meditation retreat here: https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. ***Did you know I have a<a href="https://m

Before humans understood how the earth moves around the sun, the time of the Winter Solstice was a scary one. It appeared as if the sun had stopped moving, and what if it never rose again? What if light and warmth didn’t return? In these times of unknown, our ancestors created celebrations and rituals to call the sun back. They celebrated what they were grateful for and they honored what they most wanted - the light. This is so relevant for us today. We are in an incredible time of transition with so much unknown. So many pandemics that need to be addressed with little in the way of a clear path forward. It is like we have forgotten that the earth rotates around the sun. So, let us do as our ancestors did. Let us celebrate what we are grateful for and call out what we most want. We do this through the attention

Much like our ancestors in the season of the Winter Solstice, we too can find solace during times of transition with rituals and practices that warm our hearts, stoke the fires of hope and rekindle the flames of connection. This meditation series began last week with the introduction of the first of three archetypal tools that will support our meditation practice and ourselves during the winter. We began with The Knife. Psychologically, the knife represents: Carving out a life for yourself A tool for cutting through obscurity and seeing into hidden things Cut away what is no longer needed and carving out new beginnings <p r

Today’s mini meditation is a practice that calls forth the first ancient tool needed to help us move through the transition of 2020 to 2021: The knife. Psychologically, a knife can represent Carving out a life for yourself A tool for cutting through obscurity and seeing into hidden things Cut away what is no longer needed and carving out new beginnings An ability to learn new ways When we acknowledge the metaphorical knife in hand {and heart} we are opening ourselves up to a willingness to learn new ways and reimagine our futures. Have a journal handy after t

December is a month of transition, a month of closure and a month of expectation. Ancient lore tells us that within this month, there is a period of time when it appears that the sun has stopped moving across the sky. These days of little light, known now as the Winter Solstice, was originally a time of worry. What if the sun didn’t resume its journey across the sky? What if the light didn’t return? I find a lot of similarity and comfort in these stories as we face the long winter months of the COVID pandemic, the country’s divisiveness, and the multitude of massive issues that need to be addressed. It can feel as if the sun has stopped moving, can’t it? Like nothing will change and we might never find ourselves on the other side? Much like our ancestors, we too can find solace in rituals and practices that warm our hearts, stoke the fires of ho

Often when we meditate, a central image, feeling or idea will emerge during our practice. These images can be viewed through an archetypal lens to help us gain deeper insight into ourselves and our present moment. Archetypal energy can be thought of as an initial and eternal energy that exists across continents, cultures and time itself. When we tap into this understanding our practice comes into sharper focus. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we explore what energy is present for you today! Learn more about my live, virtual Winter Solstice meditation and my New Year’s Day virtual mini retreat here: https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every

When I was a young yoga teacher, one of my students gifted me a set of animal spirit oracle cards after a bird repeatedly flew into the studio while I was teaching. This small gift set me on a 10+ year journey of using oracle cards as part of my personal meditation practice. What I’ve learned through using a myriad of oracle cards {animal medicine, tarot, archetypes, yantras, etc.} are lessons in Trusting in my own inner wisdom Connecting to forces unseen and the divine feminine Understanding and working with archetypal energy In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we will talk about different decks, how to incorporate an oracle deck

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.” ~Dale Carnegie Join me for a short meditation focused on cultivating contentment for the moment just as it is. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/org

Somehow, the holidays are upon us... and, for many of us, this year's holidays won't look quite the same. Perhaps they will be smaller, more intentional, or quieter.⁠ Some of us will appreciate this smaller, quieter time. Some of us will ache for what we wish we could do. Likely, we will all experience a mix of the two. As we approach the holidays in the time of Corona, I thought it worthwhile to spend some time reflecting on contentment. ⁠ Discontentment is the illusion that there can be something else in the moment. Something is missing and if I just had THAT then I could be happy… Contentment is understanding that the moment is complete. Just as it is. This can be difficult to believe when the moment isn't 100% comfortab

It is time to gather our courage, to gather our ferocity to stay awake and engaged even though we may be tired in this leg of our journey. A fierce courage to keep going when the going is tough. A fierce love when we’d rather judge, discriminate or ignore. A fierce engagement with both our meditation practice and with our actions in the world. In essence, our fierceness is the reclaiming and wise application of our intuition. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we cultivate and gather ferocious love! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can prac

A few months ago, for several weeks, every single night I dreamed about spiders. Sometimes the dream was about the spider itself, sometimes the spider was just chilling in the background, sometimes I was doing spider-like things like weaving…  Then, I remembered reading “The Spider’s Prayer” from Kim Krans’ graphic memoir, Blossoms and Bones:  Tangled or Tattered,  Precise or Perfect, Here I am in the web of my life. I am not trapped by it. I am the maker of it. And, when the morning wind has its way, My task will be to weave again. This meditation series started right before the US election with an exploration of resting within the unknown {part 1}. Then, we spent some time immediately after the election nourishing ourselves {part 2}. And now, it is time to gather our courage, to gather our ferocity to stay awake and engaged even though we may be tired in this leg of our journey. A fierce courage to keep going when the going is tough. A fierce love

This special meditation is a practice designed to nurture and soothe your soul. When weary, downtrodden, or fretful, this rich meditation is offered to fill you up and remind you of your own loveliness.  As poet Lynn Ungar says: Imagine setting it all down— papers, plans, appointments, everything— leaving only a note: “Gone to the fields to be lovely. Be back when I’m through with blooming.” These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it

I intended to talk about “fierceness” in the second installment of my Election Month meditation series. I look forward to talking about the intersection of ferocity and mindfulness {and I will soon!}, and yet... In the days since last week, which feels like last year it lasted so long, I have felt such an intense exhaustion, a level of weariness, that I knew today was not the day for fierce-ness. Tomorrow perhaps.  Next week, definitely.  But today, today's a day for nourishment. Today is a day for filling up rather than draining. For remembering our loveliness. Before we can come together and unite, we must remember the fullness of ourselves. If we show up half-dragging and mostly drained, we don’t have much capacity to move forward.  We can use our meditation practice as a tool for clearer thinking, wise action, and getting through our days in an engaged way, and we can also use our meditation practice as a way to remember our loveliness. It can be a practice to refill ou

If you aren’t sure how you’ll keep going this month, if staying in bed and pulling the covers over your head is tempting, then this particular meditation is for you. In a safe, accessible way, we are pulling up our big kid pants, and stepping out in each moment of our life with eyes wide open and hearts blazing. Join me for this brief mini-meditation and keep going - Tender, Messy, Awake. We got this! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to meryl

As we muddle through this long-awaited election, we are tangling with some fierce emotions, and while I could teach some lovely, feel-the-peace type meditations {and I’m sure I will} it feels to me crucial that we use this time to engage with the fierce and the not-so-beautiful side of the human experience.  In this month’s meditation series, we are going to examine the beauty of the unknown, the beauty of fierceness, and the beauty of the not-so-beautiful. This series will offer up some tools for making friends with the most difficult moments in our lives, for embracing rather than fearing the perpetual paradox of being human, and connecting back to the wildness of our roots. If you aren’t sure how you’ll keep going this month, if staying in bed and pulling the covers over your head is tempting, then this particular meditation series is for you. In a safe, accessible way, we are pulling up our big kid pants, and stepping out in each moment of our life with eyes wide open and hea

Within our meditation practice, there are times when we feel quite deep and internal, and there are times when we feel more ‘on the surface’ and external. This flow from depth to surface and back again is a normal and healthy part of our practice. Mark Nepo refers to this ever-moving flow as “persistent drift”.  Join me for today’s mini meditation as we honor whatever cycle we may find ourselves in during meditation.  These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about cycles. Cycles within our own lives, our relationships and within our meditation practice. Have you noticed that your meditation practice ebbs and flows? Sometimes in consistency, yes. But more so, what I mean here is in the times you feel depth, and the times you feel surface.  The times when you are listening externally, and the times when you are listening internally.  The times when it feels quiet and restful, and the times of profound insight and inspiration. These cycles occur innately within our meditation practice. Just as you might find in your relationships, there are times of ease and times of difficulty. Our practice is to learn to both listen and value the cycles we are in rather than rush to “fix” our experience. Mark Nepo calls this flow from depth to surface and back again “persistent drift”. This drift is both cleansing and feeding for our soul. As we wrap up our exploration of grace this month, I believe it is the let

In many meditation teaching traditions, there is an unbroken lineage of teachers. This means that each teacher can trace back to the teacher before her all the way back to the original Guru of the lineage. And, within this unbroken lineage there is a power of transmission. The Guru energy is carried through each teacher in the lineage in its own way and passed through to its students. In essence, this means you have direct contact with Guru energy assuming you study within an unbroken lineage.  I am a lineage holder in 2 unbroken lineages, and with this, we can call on this unbroken line of teachers to help quicken and deepen the energy of our meditation. Invoking this kind of grace is not placing your power somewhere else. It is actually calling out the power we have concealed inside.  Join me for today’s mini meditation as we experience for ourselves what the grace of the guru can do to enliven our meditation practices. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily hom

Today’s episode of The Mindful Minute explores inviting the grace of a “Guru” into your meditation practice. Now, there is a lot of misconception out there about what a Guru is or isn’t so we will explore what this actually means and how it can help your meditation practice.  A Guru is a teacher who is fully enlightened, realized or awakened and has the capacity to awaken you to your own enlightenment. Not many of us will have the good fortune to study with an in-the-flesh enlightened master.  In case you weren’t sure… I am NOT an enlightened master ;-) However, in many meditation teaching traditions, there is an unbroken lineage of teachers. This means that each teacher can trace back to the teacher before her all the way back to the original Guru of the lineage. And, within this unbroken lineage there is a power of transmission. The Guru energy is carried through each teacher in the lineage in its own way and passed through to its students. In essence, this means you have di

Today’s mini meditation is an invitation to give our hearts over to our meditation practice. Not to hold back or to judge, but to say yes to each and every inner experience. YES to the daydream YES to the repetitive thoughts YES to falling asleep YES to the blah and YES to majesty. As we trust what unfolds, the unfolding becomes more meaningful. Join me for today’s mini episode of The Mindful Minute. Within this meditation, you will hear a few beautiful phrases inviting our bodies, minds and hearts deeper into the practice. These phrases were originally written by meditation teacher Sally Kempton and are discussed in more detail in the 10/15/20 episode of The Mindful Minute “Giving It Up to Grace {part 2}”. Enjoy! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I recor

This month’s meditation series, Giving It Up to Grace, is an exploration of 4 types of grace that can serve as tools for deepening our experiences both on the meditation cushion and in our daily lives. We started the series last week {part 1} by tapping into the mystical, cosmic forces of the universe, and using the beauty of a sunset or the majesty of a mountain as a way into something deeper within ourselves.&nbsp; Alternatively, many of us will find a deepening of practice and an awakening of heart through the direct grace of self. The very essence of grace is trusting ourselves as capable of discovering our own deepest truths.&nbsp; Grace is not something we either have or don’t have, as Sharon Salzberg describes in her book Faith, “it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experiences.” In Pali, the original language of these teachings, the word often used for faith/trust/grace is “saddha” and it more directly translates as “To place

The more I pay attention, the more I realize how much energy I spend trying to control every second of my life. I want things to look, feel, and behave a certain way at all times, and when it doesn’t {which is often}, it creates stress and struggle. You do too? Today’s mini meditation is a practice in releasing the control we so falsely believe we hold over every waking moment. Invoking a spirit of grace within our meditation practice is what allows meditation to feel like an “effortless effort” rather than a battle of will with your mind. Give it a try for yourself in today’s mini meditation practice and let’s see what happens… These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me

The more I pay attention, the more I realize how much energy I spend trying to control every second of my life. I want things to look, feel, and behave a certain way at all times, and when it doesn’t {which is often}, it creates stress and struggle. You do too? October’s meditation series, Giving It Up to Grace, is a lesson in releasing the control we so falsely believe we hold over every waking moment. Invoking a spirit of grace within our meditation practice is what allows meditation to feel like an “effortless effort” rather than a battle of will with your mind. In this month’s series, we will explore 4 different kinds of grace {allowing for all beliefs and non-beliefs to engage in this exploration}, and we will learn why invoking this quality within our meditation practice impacts the depth of our meditations as well as the ways we move through our daily lives.&nbsp; Today’s episode of The Mindful Minute explores the cosmic force of grace within the universe itself. Often

It is SO easy to intellectualize the practice of meditation. To study, to read and to learn without taking time to explore these concepts through the lens of the heart. And yet, this practice of ‘mindfulness’ is often translated to something closer to “heartfulness”. This is meant to be a tender and embodied practice. Not em-brained. Embodied.&nbsp; We let ourselves soften into a practice that feels warm and kind and generous of spirit rather than stern or overly-disciplined.&nbsp; Join me for today’s mini-meditation as we practice softening into a heartfelt meditation practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-ar

With every potent and powerful transition, it can be SO tempting to turn back. To pretend we didn’t see or don’t know better because it can feel easier to be miserable than to push for the breakthrough to joy. But we are born for joy. The practice isn’t teaching us to be joyful; the practice is helping us access our joy.&nbsp; Some days this can be hard to believe. Here in the States, we just lost a Supreme Court Justice, and both political parties will continue to spew hatred and lies and try to manipulate in their own ways. And, it will continue to break our hearts.&nbsp; In this moment, I believe the only thing we can do is carry on with the most on-fire compassion practice of all time. NOW IS THE TIME. It is SO easy to intellectualize the practice of meditation. To study, to read and to learn without taking time to explore these concepts through the lens of the heart. And yet, this practice of ‘mindfulness’ is often translated to something closer to “heartfulness”.

This week’s practice is a subtle one. The last level of letting go is to let go of the thoughts, and, deeper still, to let go of identifying as the thinker. You see, we are both the one who thinks AND the one who knows that it is thinking.&nbsp; When we are able to let go in this way, our view, in fact our very being, becomes more expansive. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we explore what it looks like to let go of identifying yourself as the thinker and how that impacts your ability to expand. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you

This week’s practice is a subtle one. The last level of letting go is to let go of the thoughts, and, deeper still, to let go of identifying as the thinker. You see, we are both the one who thinks AND the one who knows that it is thinking. My favorite metaphor for this is to think of the road outside your house or office. Cars drive by, sometimes many, sometimes a few… and never, do you jump up mid-sentence, run outside and get into one of these random cars to go for a ride.&nbsp; Our meditation practice helps us to see our thoughts as these cars. Sometimes many, sometimes a few, but almost always we let our thoughts take us for a spin. We get in, we check out the upholstery, notice the transmission, and then see a shiny thought up ahead so we jump out and get into that thought instead… Let’s go a little further - When you are in a car, how many other cars can you see? The one in front of you for sure; maybe if you are paying attention you are aware of the cars to either s

Sometimes within our meditation practice, we simply desire a story. We follow a thought that arises because it is interesting - We dissect that dream from last night. We rehearse the argument we will have with our partner later. We think through a problem at work. We write the next chapter of our novels… And, sometimes it can be SO good. The idea that arises is brillant! The problem is solved! I SHOULD reflect on this yummy philosophical exploration…. However, even though we might still be seated on the cushion, we have stopped meditating at this point. We have lost our concentration and our detachment; instead of meditating, we are thinking.&nbsp; Today’s mini meditation is a chance to practice letting go of those desires, no matter how good the thoughts, and return to a deeper meditative experience. Join me! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every

After learning how to let go of tension in the body {see part 1 of this series}, the next layer of tension we release is the tension of desire, and, oh, it can be so subtle! The tension of desire is the experience of all the things that distract our minds in meditation. This can be the more obvious desires such as, “I am hungry; I should go eat right now.” or “if I don’t respond to that email right now, I’ll never be able to relax…”. Desires can also be a bit more hidden from our awareness. Sometimes we simply desire a story. We follow a thought that arises because it is interesting - We dissect that dream from last night. We rehearse the argument we will have with our partner later. We think through a problem at work. We write the next chapter of our novels… And, sometimes it can be SO good. The idea that arises is brillant! The problem is solved! I SHOULD reflect on this yummy philosophical exploration…. However, even though we might still be seated on the cushi

he first level of letting go within a meditation practice is the letting go of tension.&nbsp; As we experience anything in life, the very first level of response occurs in our bodies. We lean in to what we love. We twist away from what we dislike. We furrow our brows when something perplexes us. We tense our shoulders or our jaws when we try too hard or feel defeated… Join me for today’s mini episode of The Mindful Minute as we let go of tension during a guided meditation. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode,

Within our mindfulness meditation practice, the piece that always receives primary billing is the PRACTICE itself. The effort of concentration or continually returning our mind to the object of focus - most often our breath. However, there is an equally important second aspect of the practice that we will focus on in this month’s meditation series - detachment or letting go.&nbsp; Detachment is the act of releasing all the things we do while “practicing.”&nbsp; When we practice something we are trying to get better, aren’t we? My son is taking spanish lessons and the expectation is he will get good-ish at speaking spanish one day. And, I know I don’t have to tell you, the devil is in those expectations.&nbsp; So too with our meditation practice.&nbsp; We EXPECT to get ‘better’ at meditating.&nbsp; We expect to * get calm* get quiet* get happy* feel better* see something* hear something* have some sort of mystical experience And without the tenant of ‘letting go’ w

If we want days that feel joyful, we must look for and call out joy.&nbsp; If we want days that feel peaceful, we must look for and call out peace.&nbsp; It isn’t about making it to the top of the mountain, the end of the trail, or through the tough time. Meditation, and life, is about living fully present and awake, and to move slowly enough to actually enjoy ourselves. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we learn to sit within the pauses. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever

The poet dreams of the mountain Sometimes I grow weary of the days, with all their fits and starts. I want to climb some old gray mountains, slowly, taking The rest of my lifetime to do it, resting often, sleeping Under the pines or, above them, on the unclothed rocks. I want to see how many stars are still in the sky That we have smothered for years now, a century at least. I want to look back at everything, forgiving it all, And peaceful, knowing the last thing there is to know. All that urgency! Not what the earth is about! How silent the trees, their poetry being of themselves only. I want to take slow steps, and think appropriate thoughts. In ten thousand years, maybe, a piece of the mountain will fall. ~Mary Oliver This feels so beautifully poignant and important right now.&nbsp; We do grow weary, don’t we?&nbsp; It can be so hard when we are wrapped up in difficult moments to see beyond them, to remember that behind every gray, cl

Today’s mini meditation is a practice in resting in our intrinsic joy. It is a refuge from the difficult moments and a celebration of the magic in the mundane. Join me for this short, sweet practice.&nbsp; These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to mery[email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Joy is intrinsic to each of us. It is our birthright. Across time, culture and lineage, meditation texts tell us that as we settle deeper into ourselves, what we discover is joy. Now, for the joy of it {see what I did there??} perhaps you want to Google the definition of joy. And then happiness. And then happy. And enjoy the lack of clarity that comes with these definitions. So, let us turn to the ever-wise definitions offered by Brene Brown -&nbsp; “Happiness is tied to circumstances and joyfulness is tied to spirit and gratitude.” We need both, don’t we? We need the happiness that comes from a flawless Zoom call or 20 sweet minutes when your kids behave.&nbsp; Equally, it is deeply valuable, especially in the circumstances of 2020, to foster and grow the connection to the piece of us that is NOT tied to circumstances. That amidst online schooling and cancelled vacations and whatever else, we can still experience joy.&nbsp; In ancient Greek the word for joy translates to

One of the three qualities of consciousness is a Self that is aware of itself and everything else. What this means in essence is that there is a piece of our consciousness that can see or witness what is happening. This larger awareness knows how we feel about the situation we are in; it knows where we are in space and time; and this knowing is very different from the jumble of thoughts we experience in any given moment.&nbsp; Join me for today’s mini-meditation and discover for yourself: what else is happening besides that loud tangle of thoughts and distractions that keeps arising when you meditate? These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.

What is it that you know, and how does that knowing differ from your thoughts?&nbsp; What or who gives context to your experiences and your ideas of self? When you meditate, what else is happening besides that loud tangle of thoughts and distractions that keeps arising? One of the three qualities of consciousness is a Self that is aware of itself and everything else. What this means in essence is that there is a piece of our consciousness that can see or witness what is happening. This larger awareness knows how we feel about the situation we are in; it knows where we are in space and time; and this knowing is very different from the jumble of thoughts we experience in any given moment.&nbsp; In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we are going to break down this expansive, intangible idea of self, and try a unique meditation technique for accessing the Self that knows. I hope you’ll join me! You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtu

Our true, deepest Self is ever-present. Always residing in the present moment, which is simultaneously ending and beginning endlessly. Each moment is infinitely thin, a slender slice of time in the continuum of our lives, and yet, this tiny, tender slice of time contains all that has been in the past as it creates the makings of the future. Equally, the moment is completely fresh. The past has ended and the future has not yet begun. Join me for today’s mini meditation practice created to help us strengthen our connection to Now.  These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

According to the ancient sages, the Self has three basic qualities: The Self is ever-present. The Self is aware of itself and everything else. The Self is joyful. In this month’s meditation series, we are going to explore these three qualities in terms of modern-day life. What do these three qualities mean, and why do they matter to you as you navigate today’s version of ‘normal’? These teachings help us to access the part of ourselves that provides a steady and calm knowing amidst the constantly changing whirlwind of daily life. Rather than spend all day, every day lost in the circle of thoughts - school, work, bills, health, equity, justice -  we can learn to rest in the steadiness and calm of the true Self. We can touch into the joy that is intrinsic in all of us. It is here that true creativity flows, that connections flourish, and that peace of mind takes lasting hold.  Today’s episode begins with a settling into the “ever-present” state. Endlessly ending and endlessly begin

If you have never done a sound bath before, be sure to listen to the full length episode on 8/6/20 as Shawn Moore and I discuss the beauty and power of sound-based meditation. Shawn is a registered yoga teacher, sound practitioner, and meditation instructor, as well as a friend and colleague. He was kind enough to record a sound practice just for YOU! Be sure to grab some headphones for the best sound experience, make up a cozy nest to settle into and listen today! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett **Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!** Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wher

Sound Baths &amp; Meditation: Are they the same thing? An Interview with Shawn J. Moore Y’all, I am so thrilled to share today’s episode with you! Today, I am offering a conversation I recorded with my friend and colleague, Shawn J. Moore about sound meditation. Sound baths. Sound healing. Sound therapy. Sound meditation. There has been a lot of talk about this type of experience over the last few years, and I thought you might enjoy hearing from an actual practitioner about this style of meditation: what it is, why it works, and more. Shawn was kind enough to record a special sound bath experience just for us so be sure to set aside time at the end of this practice! Shawn is the Director of Student Leadership at Morehouse College, a Registered Yoga Teacher, sound practitioner, meditation teacher, graphic designer, and Gallup-certified Strengths coach. Shawn is going to talk to us about his own journey to meditation starting in high school {anyone else remember sitting in Barnes &a

Today’s mini meditation is a celebration of the joy that comes from connecting with nature. Ancient meditation practitioners left us texts describing the mini universe they found inside as their meditation practices deepened. We too can access the peace and expansiveness that comes from connecting to elements within. This body is made of earth and gold, Sky and stars, rivers and oceans, Masquerading as muscle and bone.  Every substance is here: Diamonds and silver, magical elixirs, Ambrosia that gives visions, Herbs that nourish and heal. The foundation of the planet,  Immortal magnetic iron,  Circulating in the blood. Every element in you loves the others: Earth loves rain, sky loves sun,  Sun loves the space it shines through, Space loves everyone equally. In meditation, luxuriate in knowing this deep  and simple truth. Every cell is an organ of sense Infused with majesty. The Radiance Sutras These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tun

We bought a canoe for Father’s Day this year. I ordered a life jacket for myself, and I received notice it was on backorder for 30 days. This week, I received notice that it is on backorder for another 30 days. This run on all things outdoors brings me such joy. With the slowing and shutting down of our so-called normal lives, we have been reminded of the joy to be found just outside our doors. You’ve noticed it too, haven’t you? All the gardening happening. And the walking. The kiddie pools and the sprinklers. The patios. Not to mention the visits to lakes, rivers, mountains and streams. We’ve always known nature brings us peace, but never have so many of us chosen it as THE thing to do with this limited, precious time we have each time. Until now. So many of us find balance in going for hikes, in running, in bike rides and campfires…. The reasons for this may be varied and myriad, but there is one reason I want to explore today -  The ancient meditation practitioners discovered

According to the Yoga Sutra, meditation connects us to our inner luminosity &amp; sorrowless joy. In modern day terms, when we talk about meditation as a tool for emotional resiliency, we are really talking about tapping into this inner luminosity. ⁠⁠ We won't avoid hardship and pain in our lives just because we meditate, but we will be able to maintain connection to that inner luminosity and sorrowless joy to help us move through with more grace. Join me for today’s mini episode of The Mindful Minute as we work with a specific meditation practice to help us build awareness of that inner light. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/mery

This month, my meditation series has been focused on building emotional resilience. We are learning how to use the tools of meditation to help us not only survive tough times but more so to thrive in our daily lives. Today’s episode, the final installment of this series, is my personal favorite because I think it is the game-changing practice.  It is the practice of cultivating compassion to take back power. Yep. Compassion equals power. Let me explain. When we are stuck in the tough feelings created by traumatic experiences {fear, shame, anxiety, uncertainty, anger} we are also stuck in what is called our “reptilian” mind. This part of our brain is not evolved or complex in any way. When we are here, we are mostly stuck here, just surviving. Today’s meditation practice is one that helps us move out of our “reptilian” mind and into the more evolved, complex part of our mind. I’m going to call it the wise mind.  Developing emotional resilience, in large part, requires us to be able

If you’ve discovered each time you sit to meditate lately, you are overcome with feelings of discomfort {too many thoughts, too much tension or anxiety in the body, too busy, etc.} then this is the class for you.  Over the last few months, as I’ve sat to meditate, I’ve noticed a literal feeling of “tangle” in my chest. A tight, anxious, moving feeling that immediately makes me want squash it. ⁠ Don’t feel that. ⁠ Stop it. ⁠ Ignore it. ⁠ I’ve tried it all, and the truth is, no matter how temporarily successful I might be, there that d*mn feeling is again the next time I sit… At some point, in the midst of this feeling and the war of thoughts it inspires, I heard so clearly, “love the tangle.”⁠ Love the tangle. Put your hand on your heart, and I say, "I feel you. I hear you. I acknowledge you." Allow the tangle to be here. Soften the edges, if you can. And, gently, so gently, turn your awareness towards the breath. Every thread of breath gliding to and through that tangle, spreadin

This month’s meditation series is exploring how a meditation practice bolsters our emotional resiliency. Basically, meditation is one tool that helps us ensure we will make it through tough times with more grace. We started the series {part 1} with a look at the 24-hour, global news cycle and how that can create a semi-permanent state of anxiety in many of us. This week, we discuss how to shift ourselves out of constant anxiety and into a state of rest &amp; relaxation. If you’ve discovered each time you sit to meditate lately, you are overcome with feelings of discomfort {too many thoughts, too much tension or anxiety in the body, too busy, etc.} then this is the class for you.  Over the last few months, as I’ve sat to meditate, I’ve noticed a literal feeling of “tangle” in my chest. A tight, anxious, moving feeling that immediately makes me want to squash it. ⁠ Don’t feel that. ⁠ Stop it. ⁠ Ignore it. ⁠⁠ I’ve tried it all, and the truth is, no matter how temporarily successful

We can all apply specific mindfulness techniques to help us navigate these emotionally tricky times with as much emotional resiliency as possible.  The goal is not to avoid hard times, but to know without doubt that you can survive these times. When we are feeling the impact of traumatic stress, one of the primary feelings is powerlessness. Therefore, the antidote is to begin to regain a sense of power during our days.  We can start by bringing our minds right back here to the present moment. Join me for today’s mini episode of The Mindful Minute as we use presence to calm ourselves and reclaim our peace of mind.  These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&amp;A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www

Oh, loves. It has been a year thus far, hasn’t it?! Murder hornets, pandemics, and long-overdue demands for social justice have asked much of our emotional resiliency. As I’ve worked with students to navigate these times, I’ve realized that I’m relying on much of my experience in teaching mindfulness for PTSD {Post Traumatic Stress Disorder}. For several years, I was lucky enough to work alongside brilliant psychotherapists and social workers as we offered tools to those working through PTSD and substance abuse. While we won’t all receive a formal diagnosis of PTSD, most of us are working through the experiences of trauma in our daily lives. All of us can apply specific mindfulness techniques to help us navigate these tricky times with as much emotional resiliency as possible.  The goal is not to avoid hard times, but to know without doubt that you can survive these times. When we are feeling the impact of traumatic stress one of the primary feelings is of powerlessness. Therefore,

While mantra practice is a departure from how I normally teach meditation, it is quite often a part of my personal meditation practice. One of the most significant moments of my life was sitting on the banks of the Ganges river and chanting the Gayatri mantra as the sun rose.  Chants and mantras can be found across continents, cultures, time and religions. With the double bonus of giving your mind a tool to assist in concentration AND offering subtle intentions to the deepest part of your consciousness, it is a powerful practice and one that is very accessible to beginners. Join me in today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore mantra meditation through a secular lens. We will be practicing with one of the first mantras taught in meditation: So Hum. So Hum is sanskrit in language and it is often defined as meaning “I am That” or “I am what I am”. It is also believed to be the sound of the breath, which makes it a fabulous anchor for meditation practice. Join me and let’s tr

First, a short announcement from me about my studio, Sacred Chill {West} and the future of live, virtual classes with me, and then… The Dalai Lama is releasing a new album, Inner World, on July 6 in conjunction with his 85 birthday. This album is His Holiness’ teachings and mantras set to music, and it is fairly significant because this is the first time he has ever released mantras to music as a practice. As I was reflecting on this new offering, I thought it might be interesting to talk to y'all about the different styles of meditation out there. I often get questions about varying types of meditation, and today, I will break down the major differences between some of these well-known styles of meditation. At the end of class, we will do a 20-minute guided meditation using a mantra practice {don’t worry, you don’t have to say anything out loud!}. While mantra practice is a departure from how I normally teach meditation, it is quite often a part of my personal meditation practice.

When we meditate, we are in essence harnessing the light of awareness and shining it inside. This light allows us to look deeper inside, to see more, to clear out the cobwebs. Turning on the lights is brave. It is powerful. It is enlivening.  And yet, if we haven’t done the work to shore up the foundation, to clear the path leading deeper in, turning on the light can serve as a shock.  If you’ve been the dark a long time and you step out into the brightness of daylight, it can be blinding, can’t it? We shield our eyes; perhaps we run back inside for sunglasses, something to protect ourselves from the glare….  If we haven’t done the work to be with little discomforts, how might it feel to face bigger discomforts? It can send us running for the hills, abandoning our meditation practice with the seemingly innocent excuse of “I just don’t feel like it” right now.  Today’s mini meditation practice allows us to gain steady traction, firming footing, and gather courage to bring what is

This past Saturday, June 20, was the Summer Solstice, and it is the first solstice in many years that I didn’t teach a special meditation event. I usually host something extra special to harness the power of these reflective times, and yet, this year, even though I had already mapped up what I wanted to share and reflect on, I just kept delaying until the day was upon us and it was too late… The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year; the most light we see in a 24 hour period.   When we meditate, we are in essence harnessing the light of awareness and shining it inside. This light allows us to look deeper inside, to see more, to clear out the cobwebs. Turning on the lights is brave. It is powerful. It is enlivening.  And yet, if we haven’t done the work to shore up the foundation, to clear the path leading deeper in, turning on the light can serve as a shock.  If you’ve been the dark a long time and you step out into the brightness of daylight, it can be blinding, can’t it

Our discomfort is wise. It is asking us to pay attention to something important. Anger. Sadness. Grief. Guilt. Shame. All of these difficult feelings are wise.  And yet, the realities of most of our upbringing is that we learn to respond to this discomfort unwisely. We respond to discomfort with knee-jerk reactions. Our meditation practice teaches us how to be comfortable with discomfort. Or perhaps a better way to say it might be, how to be patient within discomfort.  It is within this pause of discomfort that we are able to hear wise action calling our name. Join me for today’s mini meditation - this particular practice has a specific breathing technique designed to help balance the nervous system. It’s a great practice if you are feeling particularly anxious, stressed or overwhelmed. Thank you to today’s sponsor, Manta Sleep {mantasleep.com}. Manta sleep believes quality sleep is the foundation for everything good that happens in life, and they make the world’s most comfortable sl

I take the weekends off; I completely unplug. No social media, no email, no news. Usually that allows me to refuel for the week ahead and to be able to engage wholeheartedly. However, this Monday as I opened my laptop, I opened it to discover that my own city, Atlanta, GA, was the home of another unjust murder of a black man by police. Rayshard Brooks.  This class is offered here to hold space for all of it. For grief, for anger, for fear, for world-weariness, for heart-weariness. Meditation alone will not fix this moment. It can’t. I can’t. We can hold space for each other and for the possibility of comfort within this moment.  I believe one of the greatest gifts of a mindfulness meditation practice is the way it allows us to trust our discomfort. Our discomfort is wise. It is asking us to pay attention to something important. Anger. Sadness. Grief. Guilt. Shame. All of these difficult feelings are wise.  And yet, the realities of most of our upbringing is that we learn to respond

 Hope is a practice. It is something we do rather than something we have. So too is our meditation practice. It isn’t a state to have or exhibit, it is a practice to return to on a daily basis. We can’t plan our way into a meaningful life. We must practice into it. We will make false steps, we will stumble, we will see small gains. We will practice.  Join me for today’s mini-meditation as a practice into hope. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Thank you to today’s sponsor, Manta Sleep {mantasleep.com}. Manta sleep believes quality sleep is the foundation for everything good that happens in life, and they make the world’s most comfortable sleep mask to help us get that better sleep. Mindful Minute listeners save 10% on all orders with code ‘Mindful10’. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation ti

I am humbled to share this practice with you all today. You are showing up even though I’m sure many of you are experiencing feelings of I-don’t-want-to right now. Perhaps you don’t want to meditate right now because you are so uncomfortable, or angry, or disappointed, or scared, or tired, or done with waiting one more second, or all of the above. I am humbled to share in this practice because it reminds me and us that hope is also a practice. Hope is a practice. It is something we do rather than something we have. So too is our meditation practice. It isn’t a state to have or exhibit, it is a practice to return to on a daily basis. Cynics don’t build the future. Those courageous enough to act from the humility of their lived experiences and the audacity of their boldest dreams, this is who builds the future.⁠ We can’t plan our way into a meaningful life. We must practice into it. We will make false steps, we will stumble, we will see small gains. We will practice.  As Jaqueline No

Today’s meditation practice is a compassion practice that can apply to any person or group of people that you choose to practice for - it can be practiced for yourself, if you are the one who needs that loving support today. When we practice, we are deeply connecting to the thread of humanity we all share. Let us stand {and sit} together in solidarity and in love. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Thank you to today’s sponsor, Manta Sleep {mantasleep.com}. Manta sleep believes quality sleep is the foundation for everything good that happens in life, and they make the world’s most comfortable sleep mask to help us get that better sleep. Mindful Minute listeners save 10% on all orders with code ‘Mindful10’. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spa

This week I am sharing a discussion with my business partner and all around favorite person, Octavia Raheem. Octavia &amp; I have been friends, colleagues &amp; partners for many years, and now, Octavia has published her first book - Gather. I had the distinct good fortune to read Gather in advance, and I have used it as part of my personal meditation practice everyday since. It is a collection of essays, prayers and poems written from the deep knowledge sourced in Octavia’s personal meditative practices. Each entry is followed with beautiful and thoughtful journal prompts inviting introspection and reflection. Join Octavia and me for today’s discussion as we talk about yoga nidra, meditation, ancestors, courage and rest. Perhaps most importantly, be sure you stay for Octavia’s guided meditation on courage at the end of today’s episode. It is a practice we all need right now! You can learn more about Octavia Raheem here: http://octaviaraheem.com/gather/  Or follow her on Instagram

This podcast episode is offered humbly as a practice to support and uplift in times of crisis. This is recorded as America experiences widespread protests and riots in response to the deep, and too-long-ignored racism prevalent in every layer of our culture. This talk and this practice, I hope, are useful for all beings everywhere as we bravely and unflinchingly face the oppressions, discriminations, forced exoduses and genocides that occur anytime we create the label “other”.  I encourage you to listen to a myriad of voices alongside my own: Reverend Angel Kyodo Williams, Sebene Selassie, Spring Washam and Joanna Hardy are a few of the teachers I follow. *************** I can’t remember who said it or where I read it, but I remember reading somewhere in my studies that meditation eventually asks you to feel The Great Heartbreak of the World. At the time, I remember thinking, “ummmmm. No thanks.” Who wants to feel heartbreak?! What I wanted was to feel better: less stress, more h

This mini meditation is led by visionary artist Kim Krans. For the full story, I encourage you to listen to the full length episode released on 5/28/20. For now, enjoy this six minute mini meditation designed to give you a taste of timelessness. This practice helps to pull us out of the moment when we are feeling stuck or lost and gives us access to something larger.  You can learn more about Kim by visiting kimkrans.com Thank you to today’s sponsor, Manta Sleep {mantasleep.com}. Manta sleep believes quality sleep is the foundation for everything good that happens in life, and they make the world’s most comfortable sleep mask to help us get that better sleep. Mindful Minute listeners save 10% on all orders with code ‘Mindful10’. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus med

I couldn’t be more excited to share today’s episode with you. Today, I am sharing a conversation with my favorite artist, Kim Krans, about the intersection of meditation and creativity. Kim is a visionary artist, author, and creator of The New York Times bestseller The Wild Unknown Tarot. Kim and I share some yoga teachers in our backgrounds, and I’ve found her art to be incredibly inspiring in my own practice. I had the opportunity to interview Kim exactly one year to the day of when she started drawing her new graphic memoir, Blossoms &amp; Bones. In this episode, we talk about how to practice when there are so many practices out there calling our names, about drawing the feeling, archetypes, and the practice of exploring timelessness. Do not miss the six minute meditation Kim guides us through at the end. It is a brief taste of how to take something as esoteric as timelessness and invite it into our meditation practice. And, lastly, if you are struggling with the right/wrong duali

“You set out to find God, but keep stopping at mean-spirited roadhouses.” ~Rumi In today’s mini meditation, our practice reminds us to continue even on the days when we want to give up. We meditate, and we do it because we know every itch we don’t scratch, every thought we don’t chase, every minute we stay seated rather than pursuing the next to-do, these are all the training ground to help us stay awake during our lives. These moments prepare us to hold the tensions that are part of our human existence and to continue on the path even when the mean-spirited roadhouses call our names. Join me for today’s practice; even if you feel like skipping it! Thank you to today’s sponsor, Manta Sleep {mantasleep.com}. Manta sleep believes quality sleep is the foundation for everything good that happens in life, and they make the world’s most comfortable sleep mask to help us get that better sleep. Mindful Minute listeners save 10% on all orders with code ‘Mindful10’. These mini meditations are

“You set out to find God, but keep stopping at mean-spirited roadhouses.” ~Rumi This week brings the final installment of my Responding Creatively to Fear meditation series, and in this week's episode we talk about how to continue when you want to give up. One of the truest statements I think I ever heard was from another Atlanta yoga teacher who said, “best not to start this path because once you do… you can’t get off.” It can be so tempting sometimes to go back to sleep… Isn’t it easier to watch TV for 4 hours and skip that meditation? Isn’t it easier to just have the glass of wine or eat the chocolate cake? Isn’t it easier to mindless scroll on Facebook throughout the day? Fortunately and unfortunately, once you begin to awaken you have begun. You can try to go back to sleep. We almost all do at least once, but some part of your subconscious continues to nudge you… “This isn’t the way. This isn’t what you want. There is something truer. Keep going.” We must stop visiting th

When we feel lost in the struggle of all the things we don’t want: We don’t want to feel this way. We don’t want the day to go like this. We don’t want the world to look like this. Then, it is time to imagine a new way. Often, we can’t easily picture something different than our lived reality, but it is there, just waiting to be envisioned and ushered into a life more true, more beautiful. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute for a practice to engage our imaginations and to challenge the status quo of our thoughts.  Thank you to today’s sponsor, Manta Sleep {mantasleep.com}. Manta sleep believes quality sleep is the foundation for everything good that happens in life, and they make the world’s most comfortable sleep mask to help us get that better sleep. Mindful Minute listeners save 10% on all orders with code ‘Mindful10’. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes ar

A different view. A different thought. A different action.⁠ In our meditation series this month, we are exploring how to respond creatively to fear. Part of that creative response has to be to do something different than we normally do -⁠⁠ If you catch yourself responding the same way to a particular stimulus frequently; it is time to try a different way.⁠ Is it easy? No. Does it take imagination and creativity to invite a response previously unknown to you? Yes. ⁠⁠ Is it possible? Absolutely.⁠ So how? How do we do something different? Often our thought-habits are likened to well-worn, dirt roads with deep ruts down the middle because we’ve driven down the road so many times. It is REALLY hard to get your car out of those ruts, but it is possible. What if we were able to let go of all things we “don’t want,” and instead we start to picture in detail what we DO want. Some of it will feel very far-fetched. Some will feel completely out of our control. Some of it will feel like pie

Meditation reminds us that freedom doesn’t come from resisting our fears but from getting to know them well. In this time of deep uncertainty, learning to enter the cave of mystery and uncertainty is akin to discovering the pathway to freedom. Join me for today’s short meditation to explore your own responses to fear and unknown. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving me a review wherever you get your podcasts. Reviews help others to find this podcast! ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintainin

This month’s meditation series is based upon one question -  “What do I do when I feel I can’t handle what is going on?” We all have our coping mechanisms, and likely, we’ve all been using them A LOT lately. The problem with these mechanisms is that we use them as tools to avoid the discomfort of feeling out of control, and this pseudo-control becomes like a prison boxing us into our own neurosis. We CAN’T let go of the beliefs or the actions or the escapes because what is left is far too scary.  We become increasingly terrified of the possibility of freedom. Meditation tells us there is another way. Meditation reminds us that freedom doesn’t come from resisting our fears but from getting to know them well. In today’s episode, we explore three ways we protect ourselves from fear and how we can bring a sense of creative curiosity to that fear. Within this exploration, we can hear the whispers of compassion and self-understanding calling… Big thanks to our sponsor, MOON Organics

Today’s mini meditation is an extra special offering. This 10-minute guided meditation is led by Dr. Rick Hanson as he walks us through the 7 practices of awakening as outlined in his new book Neurodharma. This is a practice you can come to again and again to explore the profound contentment that is possible from your meditation practice. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving me a review wherever you get your podcasts. Reviews help others to find this podcast! ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and

Are y’all ready to geek out with me today? We are going deep! Today’s episode is a special interview with Dr. Rick Hanson about his new book Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom, and Seven Practices of the Highest Happiness Rick Hanson, Ph.D., is a psychologist, Senior Fellow of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and New York Times best-selling author. He’s lectured at NASA, Google, Oxford, and Harvard, and taught in meditation centers worldwide. I am so thrilled to share this conversation with Rick today; his book Buddha’s Brain is one I reference all the time as a meditation teacher, and this new book couldn’t arrive at a better time. The book is described as offering “effective ways to find profound contentment and inner peace in a turbulent world,” and I truly found many of the practices he offered to be timely in this pandemic. Rick outlines 7 practices that he’s seen through many different traditions {Christianity, Sufism, Buddhism, etc.} that all lead towards inc

Oh, how my heart is hurting. I am angry and scared and overwhelmed with our local government’s decision to open the economy back up despite the science saying this is far too soon. It is precisely in this moment I turn inward for the calm and the confidence I need to move forward with courage. Today’s mini meditation is an invitation into spaciousness and timelessness that I hope offers a sense of alignment and an ease in making the decisions and taking the actions you/we/all need to make for the good of humanity.  May we all be well and live with ease.  These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving me a review wherev

What is working for you right now? Has anything felt easy? Has there been an auspiciousness or a synchronicity that has shown itself to you? Even something that has just made you go... hmmm.⁠ ⁠These questions are not to lessen anyone’s pure struggle and grief in this moment; rather it is to draw attention to our relationship to TIME.⁠ Unknown to many of us, there are TWO ideas of time out there. Chronos and Kairos.⁠ Chronos is what we know {sort of} as clock time. The time invented to allow for scheduling, accomplishing and always for rushing. ⁠⁠ Chronos is the battle cries we are beginning to hear in response to the Covid-19 shelter-in-place orders of “open the economy. open. open.”⁠ Kairos is something different. Kairos is mythic time, divine time, timelessness. This is when we sit inside a single moment as it unfolds and it changes the entire trajectory of our lives.⁠ And this moment that we are in right now, well this moment is so fractured and confused and has so thoroughly

Today’s mini meditation is another short meditation practice designed to help you through the emotional &amp; mental struggles of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the moment we must LET GO of convention and constraints. This is the moment we must let go of the shoulds, the coulds and the pressures of self-inflicted guilt.  There is so much pressure right now to do and be a certain way, and yet none of us have done this before. Who is to say there is a right way to live through a pandemic? Join me for this brief guided meditation as we explore what is real for us, what is true and what false beliefs are adding to our struggle. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if

I want to talk about letting go today. Today marks week FOUR of our shelter-in-place, our quarantine.  And, the longer I sit and meditate and breathe and work and live and love in this time, the more I realize there has never been such a moment of “Both. And.” We are home and resting AND we have never worked harder and are exhausted. We are meditating AND freaking out on our kids. We are acknowledging the silver linings AND we are in the throws of profound grief. We are organizing and cleaning and gardening AND we are drinking too much, eating too much and wishing we could just go see our friends. Both. And. This is the moment we must LET GO of convention and constraints. This is the moment we must let go of the shoulds, the coulds and the pressures of self-inflicted guilt.  There is so much pressure right now to do and be a certain way, and yet none of us have done this before. Who is to say there is a right way to live through a pandemic? And, so our practice today is to wor

The beauty of the human experience is that we are fully capable and innately wired to feel seemingly conflicting emotions simultaneously. It is true. We can feel joy and pain. We can feel fear and trust. As long as we are willing to feel, we can feel it ALL. Sometimes as we awake our senses in meditation practice, what we feel isn’t necessarily beautiful… We might feel pain, fear, heartache or sadness. Learning to let it be allows us to savor our full sensorial experience. If we are quick to shut one feeling down, we are quick to shut them all down. So sit and feel. And, cry if you need to cry. Laugh if you need to laugh. Smack the floor in rage if you need to… Let your senses be.  These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasiona

As the days of quarantine tick by, I’ve discovered a new, intense mental rhythm to daily life. It is marked by many, cyclical, consuming thoughts that often take the shape of planning: What will I offer the kids for school When will I work When will my partner work What will we eat Who do I need to call and check on. I should make a list. Repeat.  For others that I’ve talked with, their days too have a new mental rhythm. It goes something like:  I can’t deal with this. I need to lie down. Someone else pls tell me what to do. Repeat. BOTH of these are stress responses. BOTH are totally normal. And, BOTH keep us trapped. We are trapped by thoughts and stuck living only in our actual brains. As if there was no body beneath these giant heads of ours.  Up here in the head, things get very tight. Very small. Very narrow. There is little joy here. So, I offer an invitation today -  Let’s reconnect to feeling. Let’s awaken our senses and our sense of awe. Let’s reac

Are you riding the waves of grief as part of this COVID-19 pandemic? I know I am - some days the hurt and the worry feels all consuming {and other days, thank goodness, not as intense…}. Today’s mini meditation is something I’ve been using on the tough days. Our innate response to pain is often to contract, to stuff down and resist… “I don’t WANT to feel this…” And yet, feeling is the only way to get through, the only way to ride that wave without being completely knocked over. So today’s practice is 12-minutes to allow. 12-minutes to allow the feelings to be present with a sense of softness and a trust that taking the time to feel is far more helpful than trying to ignore. After all, the only way to heal is to feel &lt;2 IMPORTANT: This practice can be tremendously beneficial for many of us, and equally, if you are feeling completely overwhelmed and unable to handle the feelings coming up for you, if you are dealing with significant mental health challenges or have PTSD, please wai

Today’s episode is something totally new for The Mindful Minute - I am sharing my first ever podcast-interview and boy is it timely! I had no idea when I recorded this interview with Rachel Peavy of Blissful Budget that it would air amidst a global financial crisis. If you or your business has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, I am so sorry and I feel your pain. I hope that this episode offers some tools to help. Perhaps most importantly, Rachel has just published an article with tips on mindfully getting through a financial emergency {https://blissfulbudget.com/5-tips-for-getting-through-a-financial-emergency/} that has been incredibly helpful for me so far. I started working with Rachel back in November 2019 in conjunction with my “Abundance” meditation series. Rachel’s work to bring mindfulness to our money-relationships has been a real game changer for me.  It is almost embarrassing to admit that even with 10 years of mindfulness practice, I wasn’t applying any sense of m

Today’s meditation practice is an opportunity to gaze inwards with presence, non-judgment &amp; compassion, and to allow the teachings and ideas from those a little further ahead on the path infuse our subconscious and shine a light so we can see a little more clearly. Join me! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Learn more about Sacred Chill {at home} virtual meditation and yoga classes by visiting https://sacredchillwest.com/sacred-chill-at-home/ Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving me a review wherever you get your podcasts. Reviews help others to find this podcast! ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarn

Today’s final episode of the Wayfinding meditation series is an exploration of foresight. You might remember we started this month’s series with a talk on the tools of modern day wayfinding: hindsight, insight &amp; foresight as guidance back to our true selves. At its heart, wayfinding is a system of elements working together to provide guidance; so too is our meditation practice. It is within this practice that we make our way home to ourselves. It is with these tools of hindsight, insight &amp; foresight that we discover ourselves. Hindsight has shown us what was inside all along - our unique soul calling. Insight is the very definition of meditation and the chance for us to tap into the well of peace that exists inside at all times regardless of external circumstances. And now, Foresight… in my mind, foresight is simply another name for The Dharma or The Teachings of Meditation. These teachings serve as a map. In the same way our ancient wayfinders used stars to navigate their

Today’s practice is an offering to all in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic. No matter how consumed by fear or anxiety, see if you can sit today. Even for a few minutes to reconnect with yourself. We will work with the mantra, “May I be safe. May I be held. May I be loved.” as our grounding force in today’s practice. Join me! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving me a review wherever you get your podcasts. Reviews help others to find this podcast! ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maint

Well. It feels like the world was a different place when this series started last week. Here in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken over our day-to-day lives, and I know for many of my international listeners, you have already been in the midst of this for some time. After some internal debate, I decided to continue with this series as planned, because, of course, the teachings support this very moment we are in - we began this series with a discussion of the tools of the modern wayfinder. The tools of hindsight, insight &amp; foresight are the gifts a meditation practices offers the practitioner as a means of finding one’s self again. Some of the names for meditation actually translate to mean “insight”. The original meditation texts talk about the practice leading us to our innermost, truthful state of sorrowless joy &amp; inner luminosity. Essentially, these teachings tell us there is an undisturbed well of peace inside... if only we can access it. Ah, but we can!

Whew. These times are intense y’all. News of Coronavirus seems to have consumed most of our attention these days and is keeping our nervous systems and our brains on HIGH alert. The stress and anxiety is real and not helpful. So, today I’m sharing the practice I am relying on to keep me steady and C H I L L these days… Metta {compassion-based meditation} is a traditional meditation practice that was offered as an *antidote to fear* I used it daily during my postpartum anxiety. I return to it daily in this moment of uncertainty and anxiety swirling around our day-to-day lives. Tune into today’s mini-meditation as a daily practice you can do to acknowledge all that you feel without letting yourself become consumed by it. As my business partner recently wrote, “let us not look away or over consume media. Let us not dissolve into sheer panic even as there is fear that deserves to be acknowledged. Let us be consistent, grounded, and intentional in our response and actions. For us, this

Whew. These times are intense y’all. News of Coronavirus seems to have consumed most of our attention these days and is keeping our nervous systems and our brains on HIGH alert. The stress and anxiety is real and not helpful. So, today I’m sharing the practice I am relying on to keep me steady and C H I L L these days… Metta {compassion-based meditation} is a traditional meditation practice that was offered as an *antidote to fear* I used it daily during my postpartum anxiety. I return to it daily in this moment of uncertainty and anxiety swirling around our day-to-day lives. Tune into today’s mini-meditation as a daily practice you can do to acknowledge all that you feel without letting yourself become consumed by it. As my business partner recently wrote, “let us not look away or over consume media. Let us not dissolve into sheer panic even as there is fear that deserves to be acknowledged. Let us be consistent, grounded, and intentional in our response and actions. For us, this

Our community intention this month is R E M E M B E R How long have you spent running away from yourself? How many times has “should” informed your decisions? How many times has someone else’s picture made you change your picture? This month’s meditation series is devoted to the remembrance of and reconnection to one’s true self. The you that ONLY YOU can express. Discovering the pathway to the true self is an act of wayfinding - mapping the stars, feeling the currents, trusting the internal whispers. Civil Rights Activist Ruby Sales points out that complete sight is comprised of hindsight, insight &amp; foresight. These are the tools of the modern wayfinder.  At its heart, wayfinding is a system of elements working together to provide guidance; so too is our meditation practice. It is within this practice that we make our way home to ourselves. In this first episode, we are exploring the tool of HINDSIGHT. “It was Karl Marx, I think, who once proposed that evolution be studied in

Save this episode to have on hand for the stressful moments! You can get the background of this practice by listening to the full episode on March 5, 2020 {Like A Chicken With Her Head Cut Off}. This practice is a 10-minute meditation designed for use specifically on super stressful days or in stressful moments. When stressed, it can be so tempting to scream I DON’T HAVE TIME and run around like a chicken with your head cut off. Yet, if you can give yourself 5 - 10 minutes to connect to the moment without judgment and with compassion, you will be able to move forward in a healthy and wise way.  Give it a try today! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoy

This week’s episode of The Mindful Minute is a sneak peek into my new virtual offering: Mindfulness &amp; Managing Stress. This program was created for some of my corporate clients that want to introduce mindfulness into the workplace and don’t have the space or time to do live sessions. Today, I’m sharing my favorite practice out of the 6-week course. This practice is specifically for those moments when stress overcomes us - when we are tempted to run around like a chicken with our heads cut off and scream, “I DON’T HAVE TIME!!!!” You’ll learn 3 protective beliefs around stress that come from stress researcher Kelly McGonigal and then we will do a short 10-minute practice together. I hope you’ll use the practice this week and let me know if it helps shift your stressful moments. I’ll be practicing too! If you are interested in bringing this program to your office, you can learn more by visiting merylarnett.com and click on classes! Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to ge

This meditation starts with a story…. Once upon a time, there was a kingdom far, far away. There was a king. A queen. And, a fearsome dragon who made living far too uncomfortable. The king went to beg for relief and the dragon offered, “I will leave your village alone if you will give me your daughter as my wife.” The King &amp; Queen discussed this proposition with their daughter, and playing the role of good daughters everywhere, she acquiesced, but, this daughter was also wise. So the good daughter pays a visit to the Crone, who tells her, “Fear not, my dear. You must buy 7 wedding dresses…” and then whispers some more in her ear. The day of the wedding comes, and that evening, the dragon says to the Princess, “well my dear, why don’t you take off your wedding dress and let’s retire to the marital chamber…” The Princess responds, “Yes, dear. But I need to ask for a sign of our equality in this marriage. For every article of clothing I remove, I want you to remove one too.” The Dr

All month, we’ve been talking about the deeply vulnerable experience created in meditation. The uncovering and unrestriction of our feelings to sit with ourselves in a gentler way is profoundly powerful. Mark Nepo describes this experience as “Our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world, but to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold, the car handle feels wet, and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being, soft and unrepeatable.” And, yet... how many of us have had nightmares of arriving at school or work only to discover we are naked?! Walking through the world in a vulnerable, ungloved way asks tremendous courage of each of us. So the question becomes: How can we care for ourselves, nourish ourselves and all the while push the edge of uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure {vulnerability}? Tune into The Mindful Minute today as we discuss this very question and then sit for a 20-minute guided meditation practice. Connect with me on Insta

Feeling a little “off” today? Something got your emotions swirling around and your anxiety riding high? So, what is there to do?? Happily, there is a lot of opportunity to work with this vulnerable feeling and evolve it into something a bit more friendly and welcoming. After all, vulnerability is the epicenter for joy, connection and creativity. Rather than continuing to run from ourselves, why don’t we sit down and stay awhile? These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider leaving me a review wherever you get your podcasts. Reviews help others to find this podcast! ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my w

Last week, we kicked off the February meditation series with an exploration of why we feel so much more when we start a meditation practice. We worked with Brene Brown’s definition of vulnerability {uncertainty, risk &amp; emotional exposure} as a clear picture of what is happening when we meditate. In this week’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we explore what is happening when we feel vulnerable. The Physiology of Vulnerability. This physiology shows up in a lightning quick process that moves through our brains, our bodies and our emotions. It is an amazing process, and truth be told, it isn’t totally a bad thing. After all, this primal response is what has allowed our species to survive, evolve and thrive.  And yet, today, it isn’t really necessary all the time. Often we aren’t in danger. We are just feeling something we’ve deemed as “yucky” likely from the safety of our meditation cushions. There is no tiger lurking outside the door. So, what is there to do?? Happily, there is a

Brené Brown says that “vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy  and creativity.” And, as powerful and important as that is, vulnerability also has its own unique feeling in the body - often, it is one that feels “unsafe” to our primal brain. What a paradox to know that love, belonging and joy are right there, and yet, they feel inaccessible because of the feelings vulnerability creates in the body. Join The Mindful Minute for today’s mini-meditation as a way to practice building your comfort with discomfort, and therefore building your comfort with joy! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/ and if you enjoyed today’s episode, please c

There is an old joke about a therapist who tells her client to start meditating. She says, “you’ll feel better…” So, the client begins a meditation practice and comes back to the therapist only to report, “You lied to me! I am feeling all this STUFF coming up. All these emotions and anxiety… I don’t feel better at all?!” And, the therapist smiles and says, “ah, yes. You are feeling your anxiety better. You are feeling your sadness better. ALL your emotions better!” Isn’t this the truth?! As we embark on a meditation practice, it isn’t uncommon for new practitioners to find themselves in a moment that feels… more. More emotional. More sensitive. More joyful. More heartache. More. This “more-ness” comes from the experience of, perhaps for the first time ever, opening up to our hearts and our vulnerability. We are allowing ourselves to feel fully. And, this new-er, more connected heartfulness comes with its own tangible, physical experiences. The physiology of vulnerability.  If you’v

Today’s mini meditation comes from a new virtual course I’ve recently created for companies wanting to introduce mindfulness in the office. This meditation is a quick practice of returning to presence when we are stressed, distracted or overwhelmed at work. Take 5 minutes and try it today. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --&gt; http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit *** #meditatewithmeryl

I am always honored when someone takes the time to share a bit about their meditation practice with me and asks about their meditation struggles. This year, I intend to do an occasional FAQ bonus episode where I will answer a few of the questions I receive, and this is the inaugural episode! Today, I am chatting about what to do if “feeling the breath” makes you feel anxious, uncomfortable or like you are hyperventilating. I’ll try to answer the “how do I know my practice is working??” quandary. And, I’ll talk about meditating with the really tough stuff: trauma, emotional or mental overwhelm and imbalance… Lastly, I’d love to hear from you! What do you struggle with in your meditation practice? You can email me {[email protected]} or reach out via Instagram {@merylarnett}. My February meditation series, Nourish Yourself, kicks off next Thursday! Talk to you then. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby

Gregory Boyle defines compassion as “to be in awe of what someone has to carry, rather than to stand in judgment of how they carry it.”  Can you reflect that inwards? Can you be in awe of what you have to carry rather than stand in judgment of how you carry it? Join me for today’s mini meditation as we practice cultivating awe and compassion for ourselves so that we can connect with the greater world in a healthier, more compassionate way. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice.

Mindfulness Meditation is often described with the image of a bird - one of the bird’s wings is “presence/awareness” and the other wing is “heartfulness”. This heartfulness is the cultivation of compassion. It is both part of the practice itself and part of the outcome of the practice. Gregory Boyle defines compassion as “to be in awe of what someone has to carry, rather than to stand in judgment of how they carry it.”  Let’s just pause for a moment and take that in… … … So. Powerful. And, what we know to be true is that real compassion cannot exist unless it begins with the Self. We can’t run out and save the world when we are quietly ripping ourselves to shreds inside. We can’t care for others when we are falling apart ourselves. So, let’s talk compassion. Let’s talk about how to practice it in tangible ways. Let’s talk about what to do when what is going on inside is too intense to be with in any way, especially a kind way. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute for a

Today’s mini meditation is practice that is phenomenal if you find yourself really struggling with thoughts during meditation. If you aren’t sure what to do with your thoughts, how to relate to them without struggle, or how to get quiet… this might be the practice for you! This is the practice that many of my students comment finally helps them to “get” it! Give it a try today and let me know your experience {via email or instagram}! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab yo

This class was recorded on MLK Day 2020. I always feel a profound sense of gratitude and deeply humbled to try and share teachings on this day. As it happened, this day was also the day I planned to talk about the component of ‘non-judgment’ as part of a mindfulness practice. As you might remember from last week’s class, mindfulness can be defined as being present without judgment and with compassion. That non-judgment component is often the most mis-understood part of this practice because it can easily be misconstrued to mean that nothing phases you; that there are no big emotions present; and it’s all “it is what it is…” attitude. Not. True. Tune into today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore the nuances of non-judgment, and the ways in which this teaching stands in deep support of social justice, activism and being an agent of change. I can’t begin to offer answers, but I can share this practice, which, for me, has offered deep and clear insight into how I want to be i

I created this podcast as a way to share mindfulness meditation as a support of our everyday joy. I have been practicing and teaching mindfulness meditation for 10 years as an everyday practitioner. What I mean by “everyday” is that I’m a mom-of-two. I’m a partner and activity community member. I’m a business owner. I have real life responsibilities and commitments. I’m not a monk and I don’t think you need to be one either in order to find daily joy and happiness. When I started my meditation journey, it took me years to figure out what I was doing, why I was doing it and how to do it most effectively. And, in the course of that time, I also began to experience little moments of life that felt more awake, more alive, more enjoyable. Those little moments kept propelling me along the path until I ended up with this deeply committed and enlivened meditation practice that I have today.  This podcast is a recording of my live Monday night mindfulness meditation class that takes place at

This month, here at The Mindful Minute, we are all about building a strong, consistent meditation practice, and that begins by training the brain to come back to presence. Today’s mini meditation is inspired by Viktor Frankl who said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” We find that space in the present moment, and today’s meditation is focused on bringing us into and keeping us in this present moment, spacious experience. Join me! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It

This 3-part series is designed to help you start and maintain a daily meditation practice. It's designed to help those who "can't" meditate, those who tried once and quit, and those who are curious but don't know what the heck to "do"...⁠ In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we are going to break down what exactly mindfulness is; we will remove the many, many myths out there about what you should be doing and what you should be feeling; and, we will talk about the most important step you can take to building a consistent, supportive meditation habit {hint: it might not be what you think!}. Tune in today for our short discussion and 20-minute guided meditation as the pathway to building a meditation habit with staying power. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full

This mini meditation is a practice you can do right before bed each night. Walking back through your day to extend awareness and gratitude for all those {seen and unseen} that impact our day. Try it today and let me know how it impacts you! These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --&gt; http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit *** #meditatewithmeryl

Well, y’all… I’m practicing what I preach today! If you’ve listened for awhile, you know that this podcast is usually a recording of my live Monday night meditation class, and, this Monday, I was supposed to kick-off the New Year with the start of my “Begin Again” meditation series… But, Monday night I was home with a sick baby recovering from croup, and I had to miss teaching. So, this week’s podcast episode is a recording of my Wednesday night class which is a compassion-based meditation practice. I hope this serves you as much as it served me this week!! When our plans fall apart, when the list of “not-done” far outweighs the “done” it can be easy to fall into a small, tight mind. A mind that is silently and never-endingly repeating “not enough” “not enough” “not enough” and a spiral of thoughts about what else will fall apart because things didn’t get done…. And, the truth is, we can’t change the moment. Sometimes it is just going to be a moment of suffering… AND, we can meet th

In many traditions, the greatest teachers are called Sages. Originally, sage was a verb - “to sage” and it meant to taste or to experience. Overtime, we’ve learned to place all our stock on one who has tasted when really the true work is to taste/experience for ourselves. Join me for today’s short meditation practice as a way to see for yourself what a meditation practice can offer you. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you know I have a FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com? It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --&gt; http://bit.ly/meditationst

"In naming things we often come to mistake the names for the things themselves..."  ~Maria Popova⁠ As part of the New Year traditions, many of us are anxious to reflect, to set intentions and goals, to pick a "word" of the year, to name what it is we most want...⁠ There is great value in these reflections and goals, and yet, each of the things we name {even a goal of starting a meditation habit} is standing in for a feeling we are chasing. So, what's that feeling? And, what's beneath that one?⁠ There are so many places in our lives when we substitute studying/reading/planning as a stand-in for the actual exploration itself. It can be SO tempting to let someone else tell us the way, to tell us what we should want, or to tell us what we should do.  Our meditation practice is an invitation to come back to exploring through a new way of listening. In meditation, we watch the beauty of the unfolding pathway of thought as a way of knowing beyond "names".⁠ Join me for today’s New-Year-i

This week’s mini practice is a drop into spaciousness and then the prompt to journal immediately afterwards. For 5 - 10 minutes after your meditation practice, write everything you can think to write. Write about how your practice felt, what you thought about, how you feel right now, etc. Just keep going until the well is dry or the timer dings.  Journaling is the marginalia of our meditation practice. It is our chance to highlight, asterisk, and underline important messages, patterns and insights that arise in our practice so we don’t forget them.  Try it out today and see for yourself… maybe this will be part of your new habit for 2020. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice. Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/mery

This past weekend's Winter Solstice felt particularly potent for me. Some years I reflect and teach on the dark. Some years I reflect and teach on the coming light. This year, I felt drawn to savor the pause in-between. ⁠ There is a space in meditation when "nothing" is happening, there is no loud thoughts, there are no clear insights, there is just a sense of nothingness.⁠ It can be easy to forget that much of our meditation practice rests in our liminal spaces. Especially in times of being overly-busy, our meditation practice can feel like it is spent fighting with the mind, efforting, noting all the thoughts, etc. ⁠ In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute  we explore how to drop a little more easily into a spacious pause and savor these moments of silence &amp; stillness amidst the noise of the season.⁠ Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/  ***Did you kno