One Heart One Mind

If meditation practice hinged solely on the effort we put into it, the hours and minutes we logged each day, we’d be in trouble. Sooner or later, we would exhaust ourselves from all our diligent efforting. But the deeper we move into this practice, the more we become aware of effortless practice—the free ride that Nature provides, if we know how to catch that updraft. If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.  Also, check out Thomas’s new book here

It is no secret that the Millennial and Gen Z cohort are losing their religion and seeking new ways to feel wonder and awe. But what is it about traditional religion that repels some? In a word, it may be certitude. What would it look like to honor all that our ancestors knew and realized, while being more open than ever to the Mystery and Unknowing of human life? The upcoming generations seem to be asking these questions intuitively, embodying new forms of wisdom on our planet. Listen to Little Moon’s moving anthem to an emergent spirituality: https://open.spotify.com/track/37N7VOw3uyycrCbiB8cDIa?si=d068dfcd57434c25 If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.  Also, check out Thomas’s new book here

Sooner or later, if we get at all serious about integrating contemplation into our day to day life, we start to wonder what it would look like to have a bona fide teacher to guide us on the path. In this episode, Thomas articulates some of the principles that he has found most helpful in working with teachers of his own, as well as offering students guidance in calling in the right teacher at the right time.  If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat. Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.  Offerings: Join Thomas for a 3-day workshop in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 5-7, 2024. For registration and details, click here. Also, check out Thomas’s new book here  

Waiting is something we end up doing just about everyday of our lives. And what makes waiting so difficult? Perhaps it’s the belief that if we could only be done waiting, then we would finally feel better. Given the situation, it would be wise to cultivate the art of waiting. That is, when we learn to bring our highest awareness to the experience of waiting, we discover that we will never need to wait again! If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Also, check out Thomas’s new book here Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.  

“Mindfulness” is a word. And words have their power. When we call this practice “mindfulness”, it sets us up to have a particular kind of experience which in some ways, can be limiting. In this extended meditation, Thomas uses the word “heartfulness” to turn the tables and open up a new dimension of experience that perhaps you wouldn’t have expected—the boundless Reality and Intelligence of the Heart. If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Also, check out Thomas’s new book! https://www.amazon.com/At-One-Ment-Human-Divinity-Thomas-Wirthlin-McConkie/dp/1953677169/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1XK028CQKCUQV&keywords=atonement+mcconkie&qid=1698159281&sprefix=atonement+mcconki%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1  Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

One of the great joys of contemplative life is that it teaches us to be who we actually are. By holding our attention inwardly, rather than being scattered about by a million different things, we nourish the best, most unique parts of ourselves. As the unique self comes into being, it becomes a gloriously original expression of Creation through which we can offer our fullest gifts to everyone and everything. If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

When we are children, we get upset countless times a day. If we don’t get to play with the toy we want, if we don’t get to have a sugary snack on demand, we cry, we protest, we pout, we mope. In these moments, we need soothing from our caregivers to help our bodies reset. It turns out, we’re not so different as adults. We also get upset many times a day. The difference is that as adults, we often disconnect from the body through various avoidance strategies rather than just hold our “inner-toddler” through the pain. But we can change! We can learn to hold ourselves, to soothe ourselves during these emotional storms. And when the storm breaks, which it always does, we find a new degree of mastery over ourselves and all of life. If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

When we think about getting to know somebody, our minds often go to spending time with them, asking them questions about their life, about what they value, what they love. But the beloved Sufi poet, Rumi, offers us a surprising nugget of wisdom in this regard: you truly get to know another by what you are able to say in their presence. Check out the show and start to put this timeless wisdom into practice today. If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

Every few episodes, Thomas likes to take a break from the content and storytelling and get right into practice. Here he explores the way we can access a fundamental sense of freedom and joy by shifting attention in a slightly new direction. It’s so easy to do you almost won’t believe it. If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.

Busyness is the fashion in our modern world—the default mode of being. No matter how much we’re doing, we can always do more. At least, that’s what many of us are taught to think. But what happens when we become willing to sit and do nothing? What if we don’t assume that doing something all the time is inherently productive or good? More radically, what if doing nothing is at the very heart of actually doing something real with your life? Start cultivating the courage to do nothing right now, and discover what beautiful places it will take you! If you feel fed by the show, please support Mindfulness+ by sharing with a friend, leaving a review or making a tax-deductible donation to Lower Lights School of Wisdom. We’re grateful for your support! Want more guidance from Thomas? Come to our monthly online practitioners retreat.  Have a practice question for Thomas? Leave a voicemail Voicemail. We would love to hear from you.