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

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