Are You Stuck? Meditation for Mental Health & Nature-Inspired Support Through Stagnation {part 1}

*Today's episode is a replay of a fan-favorite episode, The Stagnation Layer part 1, from September 2022*

When you read poetry of the mystics, when you study ancient tantric & buddhist texts, not to mention so many indigenous 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 “The Stagnation Layer”.

Scientists write:

“Data obtained from Voyager over the last year reveal this new region to be a kind of cosmic purgatory. In it, the wind of charged particles streaming out from our sun has calmed, our solar system's magnetic field is piled up, and higher-energy particles from inside our solar system appear to be leaking out into interstellar space.”

A cosmic purgatory?

Have you ever felt you were stuck in a cosmic purgatory? Are you in one right now?

Sometimes I think this feels like a dark void, like you are stuck in a doorway and can’t step through, or perhaps like a dense fog that you are lost inside.

Lucky for us, the universe itself is providing the answer for what we do in stagnation, if we only remember to listen.

Join me for today’s episode of Our Mindful Nature as we discover the Stagnation Layer and explore how we might move through. As always, there is a brief talk followed by a 20-minute guided meditation.

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Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/

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This podcast explores meditation, mental health and the power of connection, offering guidance for caregivers, healers, and therapists facing compassion fatigue, burnout, and other mental health struggles through self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. With a focus on anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, each episode provides tools like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to cultivate clarity and reduce stress. Listeners can also experience nature-inspired guided meditations, designed to bring peace and balance in times of distress.