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

This month, we are paying attention to the overlap of Easter, Passover, and Ramadan, and the way the universe seems to be reminding us of what is most important - Our connection to each other and to the planet. In our meditation practice, we can also explore our sense of unity. One of the tenets of a mindful meditation practice is non-judgment. We talk about this idea of not judging ourselves, our thoughts or our emotions quite often, but what about our judgment of others.We are so entrenched in our sides, our tribes, our ideological beliefs, that it feels almost impossible to comprehend how someone could feel or believe differently. Take any political issue, and my guess is that you can’t even believe how someone on the other side could think their choice is a good one, and yet - Even in this inability to comprehend, we know that ‘they’ are thinking the exact same thing about ‘our’ beliefs and choices. It blows the mind, doesn’t it? How is resolution or unity possible?And, then I sit and I meditate, and remember what is most important. That remembrance settles me into the type of knowing that allows me to face the unknown and the discord and have faith in our capacity for goodness.I don’t have the answers, but I do have faith in our connection.Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute. We talk about faith, non-judgment, unity, and how this overlaps with advocacy and action. And of course, we share in a 20-minute guided meditation at the end. Let’s practice.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-minuteJoin my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Learn more about:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

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

April 2022 is a powerful month this year. For the first time in 31 years, the sacred holidays of Passover, Easter & Ramadan all overlap in the same month. These holidays respectively celebrate themes of liberation and expansion, rebirth and renewal, and forgiveness and self-restraint.Unrelated, I went on a foraging hike this weekend in the North Georgia mountains. I learned about some of the medicinal plants that are in abundance right now like violets, dead nettle, and yellow root. So many of these plants offer medicine that is deeply needed in this moment - respiratory health, vibrancy, and healing. In a talk given by a fellow meditation teacher, she marveled at the fact that the earth is producing exactly what we most need right now.In the same way, we see time responding to our needs. The overlap of lunar and solar calendars doesn’t happen often, and at a moment when divisiveness feels ever-present - when we are seeing a dramatic ramp up in exclusive policy vs inclusive policy - the universe is responding with the reminder of what we most need and what is most sacred:Our connection to each other and the planet we live onJoin me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore our meditation practice as a pathway to unity. 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-minuteJoin 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.#meditatewithmeryl

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

I recently attended a forum titled ‘Democracy Under Siege: Authoritarianism and the Psyche’. It was fascinating; just in case you were wondering exactly how nerdy I am…During the panel discussion a comment was made that democracy asks us to embrace rhizomatic thinking or rhizomatic imagination. This phrase immediately jumped out at me because I had just taught the last ‘Way of Roots’ meditation class and I knew this was tied to that topic, but how?A rhizome is “a continuously growing horizontal underground stem which puts out lateral shoots and adventitious roots at intervals” like ginger or iris plants.If you look at rhizomatic learning, you will see the work of Inna Semetsky. She writes, “a rhizome does not consist of units, but of dimensions and directions.”I think this is an interesting lens to view our meditation practice through as well. Rather than a clear end goal that we are systematically working towards, accomplishing one study unit and then the next; instead we grow horizontally along our path underground.It isn’t always clear. It definitely isn’t linear. Nor are we always fully aware of the process happening underground.So, we continue to meditate, we journal, and we share or discuss with our community to help us uncover/discover what is happening as we grow underground. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we chat about rhizomatic meditation {I definitely just made that term up}, and then share in a 20-minute guided meditation.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-minuteJoin 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.#meditatewithmeryl

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

Within this meditation series, we have discussed how rootedness is innate to us {part 1}, and how paths carved by our rootedness lead us to a rewilding of the spirit {part 2}, and now in the last part of the Roots meditation series we discuss entanglement. In physics, entanglement refers to particles that “have correlated attributes such that they act not as individual particles but as an inseparable whole.”In forests, tree roots entangled with the mycorrhizae of the soil create an inseparable community that rely on one another for well-being. Within our meditation practice, I think we see entanglement on two levels:First, our practice becomes entangled with our lived experience. Initially perhaps, our practice feels like this thing we do on our meditation cushion and then we go live our lives the other 23 hours and 50 minutes of the day. But slowly, slowly this practice tangles with our waking, walking moments and we feel more and more consciousness throughout our days.Second, our meditation practice is entangled with other meditators across place and time. When we connect with other meditators, our practice becomes more enlivened. We receive the same support, warnings, and care as the mother trees share with the younger members of the forest. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we sift through the forest floor in search of answers about our own meditation experiences. 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-minuteJoin my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Learn more about:*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

If we look at ancient meditation teachings as roots, they allow us to understand the path that has been carved by practitioners of the past. And then crucially, the teachings always invite us to explore for ourselves. To question. To advance. We don’t have to accept without experiencing for ourselves.We use wisdom teachings - through books, through teachers or classes or podcasts -  to help guide us. To give us the lay of the land and the sense of what’s possible. And then we return to our practice.Join me for today’s mini meditation practice as we explore the path carved. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Learn more about my:*Elemental Awakening: Begins March 20, 2022*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 meditation series, The Way of Roots, began with an exploration of our own rootedness - our own ability to be present and awake to the moment as it is. Now, we add a bit to our understanding of Roots. Roots travel in search of nutrients, water, and community with other trees. One of the first things I think about is the big oak on the side of my house, near the road. It has been there a long time, and its roots have traveled past the boundary of the yard, under the paved road where they have made these huge, self-created speed bumps in the road.The tree doesn’t heed to suburban ideas of lawn. Roots don’t heed to where development has said ‘stop’. In fact, re-wilding has shown that even in the face of huge infrastructure and development - if left alone, roots move back in and take back the territory that was once theirs.This makes me think of the wisdom teachings from great meditators of the past. These ancient teachings don’t heed to modernity. They don’t become obsolete because now iPhones and social media exist. In fact, these teachings of meditation become MORE potent in the face of these modern evolutions. Meditation teachings invite the rewilding of our souls on some levels. It says ‘remember when’ or ‘remember who’ you were before all this. This isn’t to romanticize an ancient time, or ancient culture. It is simply to be aware of the path your roots have carved and are currently carving.From each root, are tons of little off-shoots. We get to ask, “are we on an off-shoot, or are we on the main root? Are we moving in the direction we want to be moving?    If we look at teachings as roots, they allow us to understand the path that has been carved.And then crucially, the teachings always invite us to explore for ourselves. To question. To advance. We don’t have to accept without experiencing for ourselves.We use wisdom teachings - through books, through teachers or classes or podcasts -  to help guide us. To give us the lay of the land and the sense of what’s possible. And then we return to our practice.Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore the path roots carve and then share in a 20-minute guided meditation.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-minuteJoin my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Learn more about my:*Elemental Awakening: Begins March 20, 2022*Roots: nature-based meditation app*Live, virtual meditation classes with me*Upcoming eventsAll by visiting merylarnett.com.#meditatewithmeryl

Roots, in botany, are the part of a vascular plant normally underground. Its primary functions are To anchor of the plant To aid in the absorption of water and mineralsTo store a reserve of food.Our practice serves much the same purpose. It anchors us to the present moment, it allows us to absorb the benefits of being present, non-judgmental and compassionate, and it prepares us to face difficult times with equanimity.And, here is the vital element - we can access this wisdom just as we are. We are born with roots. Rootedness is innate to us.Join me for today’s mini meditation as we practice accessing our roots. These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.Join my FREE meditation community here: https://meditate-with-meryl.mn.co/Special thanks to today’s sponsor: Baronfig - Baronfig’s line of “Tools for Thinkers” includes guided journals, notebooks, writing instruments, bags, accessories, and so much more. As an avid journaler, I use and love their guided meditation journal, dream journal and their basic Confidant notebooks! Get one for yourself at baronfig.comLearn more about my:*Elemental Awakening*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