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

We started this meditation series, The Stagnation Layer, with the connective idea that the human body is a microcosm of the universe; that we can view the universe as a mirror image of what goes on inside.And, we looked to the Voyager space expeditation, in particular the experience of Voyager 1 in the Stagnation Layer of the cosmos, as a metaphor for how we might engage with moments of ‘stuckness’ or stagnation.Today, 45 years after its launch and 14.6 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 and 2 have now spent 10 years in interstellar space. Interestingly, Voyager 1 went through the Stagnation Layer, and Voyager 2 did not. Yet, 10 years later, these two spacecraft are in the same place, both doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing, and both wildly, improbably successful. I think there are 3 vital lessons for us within this statement - Community is vitally important for our movement through Stagnation.It is our engagement that makes these moments magical and rich rather than scary and confusing.We don’t need to worry about what anyone else is doing or experiencing within their meditation practice. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore these three lessons and how they enrich both our meditation practice and our lived experience. 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

Part 1 of this meditation series introduced the Stagnation Layer of the cosmos and the periods of stagnation we experience as individuals both as naturally occurring phenomena. Part of the description NASA shares for the Stagnation Layer says - There is a doubling in the intensity of the magnetic field in the stagnation region. Like cars piling up at a clogged freeway off-ramp, the increased intensity of the magnetic field shows that inward pressure from interstellar space is compacting it. Higher-energy particles from inside our solar system appear to be leaking out into interstellar spaceAs a personal experience, when we stagnate we likely feel an increased pressure to DO something, to figure it out, or to move. And, all our creative mojo feels like it is draining away. We find ourselves both anxious to move and possibly frozen in place. This is a tricky combination.Luckily, in these moments, there are ancient and wise teachings that can be so helpful. Even if we know or think we know, it is helpful to hear of the wisdom that has come before. Of course, what isn’t helpful is buying ALL the books. Or listening to ALL the teachers. This is overwhelming, and very likely frustrating. Instead, I encourage you to look for what I call ‘Threads of Truth’ - I came up with this term to describe the overarching themes within meditation that continue to appear across time, lineage, and geography. The words might differ, but the underlying wisdom is clearly the same. And, it is these threads of truth that serve as a compass when we are lost in the Stagnation Layer.Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we unravel the Threads of Truth and share in a 20-minute guided meditation practice. PS. You can see the Awakened Heart Sutra that I reference in this class posted in my Awakened Heart Community or via my weekly newsletter!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

Well friends, after 5 years of creating bi-weekly episodes of The Mindful Minute I am making a shift… As of today, all new mini meditation episodes can be found exclusively within awakenedheart.community.All of the existing mini meditations will continue to be here on the podcast, but I’m moving all future minis to my community for a number of reasons: I am able to provide you these meditations as downloadable files, so you can keep your favorites and access anytime! These files will be ad and commentary free to better support your meditation practice.After 2.5 years of teaching exclusively online, I am deeply invested in building reciprocal relationships and vibrant communities. Teaching to blank screens and empty closets is hard, y’all. I miss people. I miss faces, feedback, and engagement around these practices. My hope is that, if you enjoy meditating with me, you’ll join me in the Awakened Heart community. Even if it is just to download a new weekly practice, throw an emoji in the chat and be on your way. Better yet, pop in for a live class, comment on a question, or share some thoughts of your own. My Thursday full-length episodes will continue to air as they always do, and I am here for you. Drop me an email or join me within awakenedheart.community so we can have an ongoing conversation. I hope we get to practice together soon! And as always, thank you for listening and practicing with me!Learn more about my Awakened Heart Meditation Community: https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-community Download freebies and learn more about my offerings, classes, and more by visiting merylarnett.com. #meditatewithmeryl

When you read poetry of the mystics, when you study ancient tantric & buddhist texts, not to mention so many indigneous 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 The Mindful Minute 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.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

Deborah Eden Tull guides through a short practice from her new book, Luminous Darkness. This practice is an opportunity to connect with the mystery, with the unknown, and to both offer and receive lovingkindness from this endarkened teacher. While doing this practice, I was immediately reminded of Rilke’s famous words - “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue…”You can learn more about Eden here: https://www.deborahedentull.com/And, you can find Luminous Darkness here: https://www.deborahedentull.com/luminous-darknessThese 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

“I believe it is time to let go of our current obsession with enlightenment and include the teachings of endarkenment. That is, it is time to commit to turning toward rather than away from darkness and to learn to perceive with the heart.” The words above are included in the introduction to a new book, Luminous Darkness - An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown, written by Deborah Eden Tull.Eden is a dharma teacher, author and spiritual activist. She trained for 7 and a half years as a Buddhist monk at a silent Zen monastery and has taught engaged dharma for over 20 years, and the conversation we share in this episode might be one of my favorite interviews of the year!I was moved to tears as we talked about endarkenment and wandering off-trail. We explore the realm of dreams, of spiritual bypassing, of the intersection of meditation, nature & social justice, of moral imagination and of rage.Eden reminds us that, “the point of meditation is not to replace our old beliefs with new ones, but to access the perception that is free of beliefs.” Whew. This conversation is not to be missed! You can learn more about Eden here: https://www.deborahedentull.com/And, you can find Luminous Darkness here: https://www.deborahedentull.com/luminous-darknessLearn 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

In this mini meditation episode, I am sharing some big news - my upcoming meditation challenge: Building Political Resilience! And, then we will share in this week’s mini meditation:One of the biggest stumbling blocks in our meditation practice is when we find ourselves either falling asleep or daydreaming our way through practice. Conversely some of us might discover meditation is the time we have huge insights, brilliant ideas or vibrant surges of energy. Either way, laxity or elation both cause us to stumble when it comes to deepening our meditation practice.Join me for today’s mini meditation as we address this oh-so-common obstacle.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. Within this meditation series, we have been dissecting 3 of the most common stumbling blocks when it comes to a meditation practice. Already, we have talked about the 3 primary forms of laziness {part 1}, the sneaky ways we forget the foundational instructions {part 2}, and today, we are going to explore laxity & elation. Discovering the antidote to this particular obstacle was a huge step forward in my own practice. I hope it is for you as well! Join me for today’s meditation class as we explore falling asleep, being too excited, and everything in between! We will finish with a 20-minute guided meditation.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

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