Our Mindful Nature: Meditation Inspired by Nature to Soothe the Overwhelmed Mind and Ease Anxiety

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: 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: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

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 is a great episode to listen to if you are feeling a bit lackluster in your meditations lately or if you are just starting out!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: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

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: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

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 real, very difficult reality that we live in.I am happy to say that with some very deep reflection, discussion with my own teachers, and a digging further into my own practice has left me with the answer - Yes. And. Yes. Meditation is an AMAZING tool for helping us deal with our modern-day lives, AND we can only go so far alone.So, I have spent the last 5 months envisioning and creating the Awakened Heart Meditation Community so that we can go further. Together.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: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

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 businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in. Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

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 along with their antidotes as a way to settle more fully into our meditation practice. Join me for today’s talk and 20-guided meditation as we explore the obstacle of laziness. It isn’t what you think!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: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

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:*Roots: nature-based 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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 heavily at some point and then gradually add, shift or evolve that practice as the season changes. Be sure to listen all the way to the end as Mara guides us through a short mindfulness practice!You can learn more about Mara at https://marabranscombe.com/ And you can find her book at https://www.ritualasremedy.com/ Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartbreaking Times Here: merylarnett.comIf 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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 visiting merylarnett.com.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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 guided meditation practice.Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartbreaking Times Here: merylarnett.comIf 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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*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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 for Heartbreaking Times Here: merylarnett.comIf 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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 Heartbreaking Times Here: MerylArnett.comLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based 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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 negative states, life and death. Suffering is not a mistake; it is simply built into the system. The tension of opposites is not an issue to remedy. It simply is the truth of existence. 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 today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we lean into our meditation practice as a support for suffering. As always, we have a brief discussion followed by a 20-minute guided meditation. Join me!Download my FREE OFFERING: 5 Practices for Heartbreaking Times Here: https://mailchi.mp/merylarnett/5-practices-for-heartbreaking-timesIf 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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: http://eepurl.com/dBYEUL You won’t receive anything from me while I’m on break, but you will be the FIRST to hear about what is new in August.Join my free meditation community, Meditate with Meryl: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/I’ll share some bonus meditation practices and the occasional Sabbatical-Update, and I will be looking for updates from you! Share how your practice is going this summer. What are you loving? What are you struggling with? Is there a topic you hope I address on the podcast? I’ll be back in August with a new meditation series.Until then, keep practicing!Love,MerylJoin my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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.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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 differently.This is a big, big topic with lots of nuance - let’s start the conversation now, in this episode of The Mindful Minute, along with a 20-minute guided meditation because… you do have time ;-) Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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 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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy, emotion, imagination and cognition. Its main goal is to explore how the soul behaves.Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore Spiritual Physics and what it means to fully enter space & time.Big 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!Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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!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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 & 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 Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope. He leads Mindfulness & Writing retreats online and throughout the country, and works as a creative coach with groups and individuals. He lives with his husband, Brad Peacock, in Shaftsbury, Vermont.James and I explore the connection between poetry and meditation, the magic of the most mundane moments, poetry as a tool for connection, and a shared hatred of folding laundry! James also talks to us about journaling and how to get started if you feel stuck when it comes to writing. This conversation was a delight to record; I hope you enjoy listening to it as well!You can find James’ new book, 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!Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl

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 those that we find challenging, we discuss the potential problems with religion and spirituality, and we talk a bit about ontological anxiety. I found this conversation fascinating, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!Dr. Newberg’s most recent book is Brain Weaver, Creating the Fabric for a Healthy Mind through Integrative Medicine.You can see some of the brain images that Dr. Newberg references here: http://www.andrewnewberg.com/researchJoin my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minuteLearn more about my:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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 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 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.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute#meditatewithmeryl