Meditative Story

For the first 22 years of his life, Al Harris singularly focuses on one single goal: to play basketball in the NBA. Although he’s an elite young player, Al’s dream comes to an end when he’s passed over during the 2008 NBA draft. In the ensuing years, Al is recruited to play professional basketball throughout Europe, where he meets and builds bonds with a diverse group of people — which likely would not have happened if his “Plan A” had succeeded. Instead, Al learns that the experience of impacting others along his journey is what will result in a lasting legacy.  Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Morgan Saylor is an actor of stage and screen, best known for her portrayal of the teenage Dana Brody in the series “Homeland.” But, before acting, her first passion was mathematics. Morgan unfolds how math has given her a way to approach the unknown with trust and openness, accepting that each moment and every relationship contains infinite possibilities.Listen to Michelle Thaller's episode of Meditative Story, "Finding meaning in the vastness of the universe": https://listen.meditativestory.com/MichelleThallerSaylorEach episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Fred Minnick returns from his military service as a photographer documenting the war in Iraq, he finds himself haunted by what he saw through the lens of his camera. Trauma, as a result of the battlefield and his childhood, holds a grip on him until a bag of barbecue potato chips unlocks something in his brain. An untapped talent — he was born with a remarkable sense of smell — serves as a lifeline back to the present moment, and back to himself.Listen to Stephen Kuusisto's episode of Meditative Story, "Allowing sound to reveal life’s wonder": https://listen.meditativestory.com/StephenKuusistoMinnickLearn more about Fred's work: fredminnick.comEach episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jacob Sartorius has been making music and short videos since he was a kid. By age 14, he had millions of social media followers who loved his honest, heartfelt content. But on the flip side of that love, he discovered a darker side to his celebrity — one that took him by surprise and threatened his own well-being. Until a simple technique, and a new friend, helped him find a way back to himself, one breath at a time.Watch “Breathe: The Documentary” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0RBMwirwC4Listen to “Fear of Intimacy” here: https://vydia.lnk.to/FEAROFINTIMACYListen to “Lost But Found” EP here: https://vydia.lnk.to/LostButFoundFollow Jacob on all socials @JacobSartoriusListen to Jay Shetty's episode of Meditative Story, "Learn to see the layers in everyone": https://listen.meditativestory.com/JayShettySartoriusEach episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

We’re inviting you into the Meditative Story library to explore the idea: what’s possible when you reframe the question? You’ll hear excerpts from some of our most beloved episodes in which storytellers see challenges from a new perspective, reframe something that they might have been stuck on, and ultimately move forward with a new sense of possibility.Listen to Meditative Story episodes featured in this episode:Omar Wasow: https://listen.meditativestory.com/OmarWasowReframeVanessa Hua: https://listen.meditativestory.com/VanessaHuaReframeRuss Ellis: https://listen.meditativestory.com/RussEllisReframeGracia María: https://listen.meditativestory.com/GraciaMariaReframeRead the transcript at https://meditativestory.com/Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Writer Florence Williams, grieving the loss of a long marriage, finds herself in Tulsa, Oklahoma; she's come to sit with Penny, her former mother-in-law, who is dying of cancer. Drawn together by the gravity of needing and being needed, the two women sit in the quiet house, in a space between life and death, between rootedness and uncertainty – and yet surrounded, always, by love. As Penny begins to withdraw from the world, she has one final question for Florence, and one final piece of advice.Florence Williams explores more about this story – and the many ways that we humans respond to and recover from a broken heart — in her new book, Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific JourneyEach episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rohan Gunatillake recounts his 2005 trip to Plum Village, the monastic community founded by the great Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Author of over 100 books across mindfulness, Buddhism, activism, and nonviolence, Thich Nhat Hanh inspired generations of people all around the world to explore mindfulness and meditation. Thich Nhat Hanh founded Plum Village in 1982, and it was where he lived since he was forced to leave his native Vietnam in 1966. That was until 2018, when he finally returned to Vietnam to live at the main temple for his Zen lineage, and that is where he died on January 22nd this year, aged 95. This special episode is dedicated to him.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Boy meets girl, girl notices boy's squirrel painting, boy and girl fall in love. The plot of a classic Hollywood romcom? Not even close. But when struggling actor Randall Park meets the person of his dreams at an awkward LA art party, it is indeed the start of an epic love story – and a story of self-discovery too.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Keith Ferrazzi is the author of Never Eat Alone, a classic book about working relationships. But before he became an expert on building bonds at work, Keith is busy building emotional armor around himself – to hide his background, his ambitions, even his true feelings. He shares his story of building that armor, and then slowly learning to dismantle it, piece by piece.Listen to Adam Grant's episode of Meditative Story, "Practice taming your fear": https://link.chtbl.com/AdamGrantFerrazziIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Gracia María is a modern-day medicine woman, practicing community rituals in the tradition of her Peruvian ancestors. In connecting with her ancient roots, though, she realizes she also needs to rebuild the bonds with her immediate family, in order to share with them the person she's become. She learns the value of staying centered in her authentic self – knowing it will eventually bring others to her.Listen to Lucy Kalanithi's episode of Meditative Story, "Learning to see things as they are": https://link.chtbl.com/KalanithiMariaIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fluent in cheating time to squeeze productivity out of every minute, entrepreneur Keith Yamashita recounts the frightening details of a devastating stroke as it is actually happening, and discovers the second part of his life. It isn't a medical recovery. It’s an awakening. Listen to Franklin Leonard's episode of Meditative Story "Writing the main character": https://link.chtbl.com/LeonardYamashitaRe-runIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As the pandemic drags on, Vanessa Hua finds herself in a dark place of panic and doom-scrolling. But that begins to change on one spring day, when she takes a walk outside with her kids – and recognizes a small jewel-green plant growing on the forest floor. Her discovery of wild food foraging helps her tap into a body of shared, ancient knowledge, one that helps her find steadiness within the chaotic present moment.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Under the starry night sky, Rohan shares with us a ritual of ending and beginning. Bring to mind something you want to celebrate from this past year; release something you want to let go of; and mindfully choose a word, a beacon, that represents, in this fresh and unwritten year ahead, something that you want to become.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As an artist and writer, Beth Lisick has had her share of freelance side gigs. But nothing can prepare her for this latest assignment: tending to the unforgettable Bill, who leads Beth on an epic journey through New York City. What she learns along the way: Everyone’s struggles are not immediately visible. And neither are the gifts they have to offer us.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today’s Meditative Story departs from our standard format. It’s not a story. But it’s as striking and resonant as any wisdom we’ve ever shared on this podcast. In this episode, Austin Mao – a listener in our community and a friend – shares a love letter to his wife, Chuchu, and another to his mother. These two are letters of love, grounded in vulnerability and integrity. The lesson here: When we let go of judgement, there is freedom.Listen to Hannah Brencher's episode of Meditative Story "One envelope at a time": https://link.chtbl.com/BrencherAustinMaoepRead more about Austin: http://austinmao.comIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The end of a troubled life ignites a search for answers – a truth long buried, and a truth not yet formed.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For Jai Punjabi, the most powerful connection to home is through food – specifically the wonderful Indian cuisine he was raised on. Hoping to preserve the recipes of his beloved family dishes, Jai returns to his parents’ home in Bombay, only to discover that the secret lay not in the ingredients, but in a way of being. It isn’t the recipes to learn. It’s the process.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All her life, Meredith Arthur is a model of competence and control, and it sweeps her higher and higher up the professional ladder. But inside, something isn’t right. After a painful wake-up call, Meredith drops the version of herself that she’s constructed and starts noticing the one she’s long neglected.Learn more about Meredith's website Beautiful Voyager: https://bevoya.comIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It happens not in a yellow wood, but in author Steve Almond's befuddled 20s, when he is facing for the first time a decision that might actually matter. To the left lies success. To the right, something more interesting.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a Night Minister with San Francisco Night Ministry, Rev. Monique Ortiz walks the dark streets of a beautiful and aching city – a city that transforms completely when the sun goes down. Reaching out to the most desperate souls, she learns to help in a way she hadn’t imagined.Learn more at www.sfnightministry.orgIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The chaotic nature and noise of life as a musician – touring from city to city – eventually erodes Andrew Bird's ability to hear the music that is really inside of him. In a courageous effort to understand the faint calling of sound playing in his head, Andrew deserts his Chicago apartment for a rural piece of land where he believes an old farmhouse might unlock his personal renewal as an experimental multi-instrumentalist musician. There inside the reverberating wooden walls of a dilapidated barn, he begins to recalibrate – seeing, sensing, and interpreting the space around him musically. Rather than imposing his vision on the world, Andrew's music becomes a reflection of what the surrounding environment is trying to tell him. He learns that sometimes a sense of connectedness is easier to achieve alone, where you're able to find out what's happening inside you in order to make it sing outwards.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Before becoming a MacArthur award–winning entomologist, Dr. Marla Spivak is adrift – first as a young woman in search of direction, then deep in the Amazon, severely ill and fearing death. Time and again, it’s the hum of bees that shows her a path forward. Apiculture doesn’t just become her life’s passion, it reveals a deeper truth about the connections that bind us.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

What do we do with the not-quite-perfect relationships in our lives? Growing up, the comedian and actor Milana Vayntrub adores her father — but all their happy times together end with him getting back on a plane. What does it mean to love someone who insists on living on another continent? And what might it mean to forge a new kind of intimacy?If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Years before his YouTube-phenomenon cooking show Binging with Babish, the filmmaker Andrew Rea finds himself slipping into despair. His day job is draining him; so is an unhappy marriage. He finds the courage to take big bold steps toward a new life that’s centered on his passion for food. But there's a Part Two of this story. Because even as he finds a more fulfilled version of himself, he learns to temper some of his younger ideas about happiness.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

You might know actor Michael Imperioli as Christopher Moltisanti from The Sopranos — and now The Many Saints of Newark. But before all that, he was a 17-year-old kid, adrift, curious about acting. His parents are baffled, but they give him an enormous gift: they trust him. As he grows as an artist, Michael realizes the way that the courage to trust – in your instincts, in your teachers, and in one another – is what forms the foundation for a brave, creative life.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Russ Ellis has led the kind of life they write books about. The first full-time Black professor at California’s Claremont Colleges. Acclaimed sociologist. Celebrated sculptor and painter. Even a recording artist. But as he reveals in this episode, even the fullest life can be haunted by a single event half a century earlier.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Learn these calming techniques to help navigate tricky family dynamics, the challenges of disconnecting from work, and the loneliness that can arise at even the most joyful times of year. Notice them, name them, release them.To learn more about the RAIN mindfulness technique – an acronym first coined by senior Buddhist teacher, Michele McDonald – visit Tara Brach’s website (you’ll see how Rohan’s version relates to Michele's original technique and Tara’s revised one): https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/#rainchangeIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

A street in Honduras. A conference room. The fifth lap of a bike ride. Crisis can descend on you in unexpected places – and so can clarity. All that’s required of you, really, is to be there for it, and to stretch yourself in ways you hadn’t expected. Mariann Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese in Washington, DC, tells of three defining moments of struggle and grace in her life.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Boy meets girl, girl notices boy's squirrel painting, boy and girl fall in love. The plot of a classic Hollywood romcom? Not even close. But when struggling actor Randall Park meets the person of his dreams at an awkward LA art party, it is indeed the start of an epic love story – and a story of self-discovery too.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Robin Arzón is a star fitness coach at Peloton, beloved for her high-energy coaching with more than a dash of tough love. In this story, join Robin on the longest run of her life: the Florida Keys 100 Ultramarathon. As difficult as it is to run 100 sweaty miles in the South Florida heat, far more challenging is the mental fortitude to keep doubt at bay.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Arriving in a strange town, disoriented and desperate to crawl into bed, Kaywin Feldman realizes she is just steps from an eight-century-old art treasure: a small chapel covered floor to ceiling with one of Giotto’s most extraordinary frescoes. She wanders inside, and the course of her life abruptly changes.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Psychology professor Dr. Laurie Santos is the host of The Happiness Lab podcast – and of Yale’s most popular course ever. (More than 3 million people have taken her "Science of Wellbeing" course online.) In this story, journey with Laurie to an island in Puerto Rico where she is one of only a few humans among thousands of monkeys. The company of non-humans, it turns out, can help us better understand ourselves.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As he sits with his wife in the waiting room of the pediatric cardiology unit, actor Joel McHale is struggling to feel anything but helpless. His infant son has been born with two holes in his heart; an operation is underway to repair them. But waiting in that moment, Joel begins to realize the unpredictable journey of parenthood that lies ahead. Life will happen. You just deal with it as best you can. And you love your kids, endlessly and endlessly and endlessly.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The heart of storytelling is a journey, across time and place. In these four short stories, travel to a remote and lonely farm … a village alive with family … an island teeming with unique life … and a city street that suddenly begins to feel like home. In stories from Andrew Bird, Nadia Owusu, David Whyte, and Pico Iyer, linked and contextualized with meditations from Rohan.Listen to Meditative Story episodes featured in this episode:Andrew Bird: http://listen.meditativestory.com/AndrewBirdCompilation2Nadia Owusu: http://listen.meditativestory.com/NadiaOwusuCompilation2David Whyte: http://listen.meditativestory.com/DavidWhyteCompilation2Pico Iyer: http://listen.meditativestory.com/PicoIyerCompilation2If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One summer night Paola Antonelli, now curator and head of R&D at MoMA, sets sail off the coast of Sardinia – snaking through the wavy sea with friends. She jumps off the boat, slides into the water, and makes her way to the rocks as her friends hang back, making dinner aboard. While keeping her eyes on the horizon and the setting sun, her mind wanders to the rockier questions in her life: How will she make the right choice for her future? The answer, she realizes, is right in front of her. Life is just like sailing: Some days there are bright skies, some days rolling waves. She just has to look for the right winds and waves to take her where she wants to go.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Loving football – specifically loving England’s team during a cup final – means resigning yourself to heartbreak, over, and over, and over. In this meditation, Rohan Gunatillake explores the singular anguish routinely visited upon dedicated fans of a favorite team. Within a mindful life, that anguish can become its own kind of beauty.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Best-known for his record-setting streak of 2,632 consecutive games played, Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is widely regarded as one of Major League Baseball’s greatest all-time players. But for Cal, just showing up is never an end in itself. It’s how he shows up that distinguishes his legacy as an athlete, a lesson Cal learns by observing his father – a baseball legend in his own right – whose dignity on and off the field extends far beyond hard work and fair play alone.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

All our problems haven’t magically vanished after the dark year gone by, but perhaps we’ve begun a new chapter, a slow re-awakening. In this collection of short stories, Rohan finds moments from four storytellers – Diana Nyad, Nalini Nadkarni, Franklin Leonard, and Florence Williams – that explore the singular moments that set us on a new path. Sometimes, it’s a single, pointed question. Other times, it’s an unexpected invitation. And sometimes, that moment arrives in a full-on blizzard.Listen to Meditative Story episodes featured in this episode:Diana Nyad: http://listen.meditativestory.com/DianaNyadCompilationNalini Nadkarni: http://listen.meditativestory.com/NaliniNadkarniCompilationFranklin Leonard: http://listen.meditativestory.com/FranklinLeonardCompilationFlorence Williams: http://listen.meditativestory.com/FlorenceWilliamsCompilationIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Fresh out of nursing school, Wayne Little finds a treasured mentor in his first job – a nurse whose lifelong mission inspires his own. Years later, in the middle of a global pandemic, he calls on those lessons he learned so long ago.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a young girl, mowing her neighbor's lawn in the Kentucky heat, SG Goodman learns many important things: how to avoid running into the chain-link fence, the art of blowing the grass away from the house ... and the way these small, regular acts of community become the glue holding the world together. In caring for Miss Betty across the street, and in caring for the land her father farms, SG learns to love the world and its stories, its songs, its connections that sustain us.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's 1996, and Robert Reich has the job of a lifetime – one that's taking a steady toll on his family. In a story he’s never told before, Reich shares the pivotal moment when he turns his economist’s eye on his own life, and realizes: It's fallen out of balance. On a muddy cross-country field, watching his older son run through the rain, he realizes what he must do to fix things.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

During some of the tougher days of the last two years, Rohan takes refuge in learning a new dish: aubergines with fermented chili bean paste and black vinegar. The project grounds him at an ungrounded time, and gradually leads to a singular form of mastery – no recipe required. A meditation about learning the ingredients, practicing the steps, and ultimately stepping into your intuition.Cooking with Andong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTEaFuNbbsMFuchsia Dunlop: http://www.fuchsiadunlop.comChinese Cooking Demystified: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC54SLBnD5k5U3Q6N__UjbAwIf this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In a meditation for all the senses, Rohan guides you into a relaxed state that will quiet your mind and help you drift to sleep.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Thomas Page McBee is an author and a journalist – and was the first transgender man to box in Madison Square Garden. But that fight wasn't about overpowering an opponent. It was about confronting his own fears – of masculinity, of aggression and inadequacy – and winning.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In the morning, Idaho pastor Tri Robinson herds cattle and mends fences; in the evening, he writes sermons. But the two parts of his life don't feel connected. He feels such a deep love of the natural world, in all its beauty, all its fragility. But what is he doing, as a leader, to help preserve that precious creation? As he carries that question with him on his daily rides, he realizes: he's about to make a monumental decision. To change the way he walks in his faith – and walks on the Earth.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a young composer, Max Richter is searching for his voice, the sound of a music that is uniquely his. But what he has is only a box of fragments, song experiments, half-formed questions. He sits with them, he thinks on them, he lets them mature – and then he realizes: This is exactly the music he wants to make. As he shapes the fragments into his early masterpiece Memoryhouse, he finds the beauty in moving between modes, working in the mysterious space out of time that only music can create.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Twins Scott and Brian Nicholson are dancers and choreographers on tour with Ariana Grande. Onstage, the three of them move across the stage as a tight unit – Scott and Brian like a mirror image of protective energy around Ariana, like a stereo amplifying her energy. But when an unimaginable tragedy strikes, that energy is shattered. Until they realize – they must keep moving. Together.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Standing at the door of the airplane, a new thing called “snow” swirling around her, Rohan’s mom is about to take a momentous step – making a life change that reverberates down the generations. A meditation about the steps we take when the outcome is uncertain.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"Cape Spear always calls me back." Tony Tjan grows up in the cold and dramatic landscape of Newfoundland, where snow piles high and storms rage – but the neighbors always keep a door open to help one another. Returning home for a visit as an adult, he recalls childhood stories of abundance and adaptation, as he and his family learn to love this life on the Easternmost point of North America – in the place where the sun strikes first.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When she went off to college, Hannah Brencher started a simple habit: exchanging handwritten letters with her mom. Inside the envelopes that arrived in her dorm mailbox, she begins to know her mother, for the first time, as a person – and as a friend.If this episode resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you. Please take a moment to share your reflections by rating and reviewing Meditative Story in your podcast player. It helps other listeners find their way to the show, and we’d be so grateful.Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of first-person storytelling with immersive music and gentle mindfulness prompts. Read the transcript for this story: meditativestory.comSign up for the Meditative Story newsletter: https://meditativestory.com/subscribeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.