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

Soundscape Alchemy.Friends, what an episode I have for you today! Months ago, I took an impromptu trip to Canaveral National Seashore to visit acoustic artists Perri Lynch Howard and Gordon Hempton.Frequent collaborators on the podcast, I was ecstatic to spend a weekend practicing the art of listening with them both. We walked mangroves, explored shorelines, and discussed the interplay of human voice, aerospace traffic, and birdsong.The creative collaboration of Gordon and Perri resulted in a stunning piece of environmental art titled, “Hear Me Out.” Join me today for a discussion of what it means to listen with honesty, to weave ourselves into the natural world we inhabit, and to move “in close proximity to lifelong love.”In this episode, Perri and Gordon delve into their experiences during their artist residency at Canaveral National Seashore through the Soundscape Field Station Artist Residency Program. The conversation highlights their collaborative project 'Hear Me Out', which investigates the changing soundscapes and their artistic interpretations influenced by the environment. They share their journey of recording, the emotional challenges faced, and how Doris Leeper's legacy inspired their work. The discussion also touches on the significance of natural sound preservation and future projects related to soundscapes and environmental art.At the end, pop in your headphones, close your eyes, and listen to “Hear Me Out.”Gordon HemptonAcoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton has circled the globe three times in pursuit of the Earth’s rarest sounds. His sound portraits which record quickly vanishing natural soundscapes have been featured in People magazine and a national PBS television documentary, Vanishing Dawn Chorus, which earned him an Emmy. Hempton provides professional audio services to mediaproducers, including Microsoft, Smithsonian, National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rolex Awards for Enterprise he is co-author of One Square Inch of Silence: One Man’s Quest to Preserve Quiet (Free Press/Simon & Schuster, 2010) and Founding Partner of Quiet Parks International.https://soundtracker.com/Perri Lynch HowardPerri Lynch Howard is a multi-disciplinary artist working in painting, drawing, installation, and sound. Her visual work and sound installations convey the passage of light, sound, and signal through landscapes on the front lines of climate change - a phenomenology of place. Howard received her BA from The Evergreen State College, BFA from the University of Washington, and MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her art has a global reach through projects completed in Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Canada, the Arctic Circle, and in South India as a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar.https://www.perrilynchhoward.com/Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s sound design and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at:nickmcmahan.cominstagram.com/brianna_podcastproLastly, thank you to Atlantic Center for the Arts and the ACA Soundscape Field Station for making this collaboration possible.https://atlanticcenterforthearts.org/home/soundscape-field-station/Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

In this Monday night meditation class, we delve into the concept of listening and silence amidst the constant noise of modern life, especially during the election season. Today’s discussion touches on the various sources of human-made noise and their impact on inner peace, the varied definitions of silence, and the key to mindful listening.David G. Haskell wrote, “listening opens us to what is hidden or unappreciated,” and together we will explore this hidden, unappreciated terrain.Today’s guided meditation, featuring natural sounds from the quietest place in Oregon as recorded by Nick McMahan, encourages listeners to practice deep listening, find tranquility within themselves, and hear what was previously unheard.Let’s practice!The nature sounds you hear in today’s episode are from the ancestral lands of the Northern Paiute people. Now considered the edge of the Great Basin or the Basque Hills area of southeastern Oregon.Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at:nickmcmahan.cominstagram.com/brianna_podcastproSign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

U.S. Poet Laureate and fellow meditator Ada Limón joins me today on Our Mindful Nature to chat about her Signature Project, 'You Are Here, Poetry in Parks.' Y’all this was a dream conversation for me - full of presence, hope and truth. Full of poetry and beauty even as we discuss climate crisis and environmental activism. Together, we delve into the origins of ‘You Are Here: Poetry in Parks’, its deep connections between nature and poetry, and its aim to foster mindfulness and presence. Ada shares thoughts on the power of small actions amid climate crises, the inclusivity of the project's installations in national parks, and the importance of everyday nature. We also talk about the power of realizing that You. Are. Here. “'You Are Here: Poetry in the Parks' aims to deepen our connection to nature through poetry,” said Limón. “I believe the way we respond to this crucial moment on our planet could define humanity forever. In conceiving of my signature project, I wanted something that could both praise our sacred and natural wonders and also speak the complex truths of this urgent time. Above all, this project is about rising to this moment with hope, the kind of hope that will echo outwards for years to come.”   At the end, as a mini practice, Ada reads her stunning poem Sanctuary.Ada Limón is the twenty-fourth US Poet Laureate and the author of The Hurting Kind, as well as five other collections of poems. These include The Carrying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named a finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and Bright Dead Things, which was named a finalist for the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Award. Limón is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, and her work has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, and American Poetry Review, among others. Born and raised in California, she now lives in Lexington, Kentucky.Learn more about You Are Here: Poetry in Parks: https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/3-6-24-poetry-in-parks.htmFind Ada’s book You Are Here; Poetry in the Natural World here: https://milkweed.org/book/you-are-hereThe Methow people were the first people to hear the sounds of Methow Valley, Washington that are included in today’s episode. Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at:nickmcmahan.cominstagram.com/brianna_podcastproSign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

In this guided meditation, we explore an elemental balancing practice for anxiety management and nervous system regulation. Reflecting on personal experiences with balancing extreme temperatures and anxiety, I share a visualization and sound meditation that has been deeply supportive in my own practice. I hope it will be useful in your own practice as well! No discussion, no distraction - just the meditation for your daily practice.Enjoy!Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Thank you to Gordon Hempton for today’s nature field recordings, to Nick McMahan for sound design, and editing, and to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at:soundtracker.comnickmcmahan.cominstagram.com/brianna_podcastproWatch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visitingmerylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

In this guided meditation, we explore an elemental balancing practice for anxiety management and nervous system regulation. Reflecting on personal experiences with balancing extreme temperatures and anxiety, I share a visualization and sound meditation that has been deeply supportive in my own practice. I hope it will be useful in your own practice as well!  Together, we will guide our energy to move from the root chakra to the third eye, integrated with breath work and visualizations to promote balance and cooling. The supportive soundscape in today’s episode is a recording of a summer night in Olympic National Park from acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton. You will hear a summer breeze swirl through tall grasses while chattering birds and a distant coyote settle down for the night.In this episode:00:00 Welcome and Introduction00:46 Balancing in Extreme Temperatures01:25 Dealing with Anxiety and Imbalance03:05 Elemental Balancing Practice04:32 Combining Practices: Elemental Balancing and Still Lake of the Mind07:58 Guided Meditation: Journey Through the Elements27:56 Closing and Returning to the PresentThe sounds in today’s episode were recorded on the ancestral lands of eight tribes: Hoh, Jamestown S'Klallam, Lower Elwha Klallam, Makah, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Quileute, Quinault and Skokomish. Thank you to Gordon Hempton for today’s nature field recordings, to Nick McMahan for sound design, and editing, and to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at:soundtracker.comnickmcmahan.cominstagram.com/brianna_podcastproSign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

7 a.m. It’s a cool, blue morning, and we are seated alongside the Coosa River in Alabama. Our guided meditation practice begins with mindful breathing and sensory awareness. This is an opportunity for cosmic connection and deep relaxation.It is silent except for the birds’ morning chorus and a whisper of wind through the river grasses.Gradually, a family of geese make themselves known, and we are instantly reminded of Mary Oliver’s poem Wild Geese, which ends with the line - {...} the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting — over and over announcing your place in the family of things.Today’s poetic meditation is inspired by this invitation to remember our place in the family of things, to maintain a mindful awareness of our relationship with nature, to re-weave ourselves into the animate earth around us. Join me for this 6-minute, nature-inspired meditation.Creek Native Americans were the first people to hear the sounds of the Coosa River that are played in this meditation.Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at:instagram.com/brianna_podcastproIf you enjoyed today’s episode, please Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week.Want to support this podcast? Consider sending this episode to a friend or leaving a review. It is free and it really helps this show to grow!merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

Today’s episode is the meditation offered at this year's Summer Solstice inspired by the poem An Inn for the Coven by Gabrielle Calvocoressi.No discussion, no distraction - just the meditation for your daily practice.Enjoy!Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them athttps://www.nickcmcmahan.com/https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@themindfulminutepodcastThis 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.

Today’s meditation is a live recording from this year’s Summer Solstice Meditation Retreat.Midsummer and the temps are hot… literally and figuratively. As a way to explore the feelings that come with rising temperatures, in today’s class I share two powerful poems:An Inn for the Coven by Gabrielle CalvocoressiThe Guest House by Rumi These poems speak of a place where we are safe. The Inn feels lush, abundant, filled with love and the possibility of beauty.The Guest House feels sturdy, spacious enough for all our feelings to reside without conflict.We hear of our loves, our hurts, and our divinity in these poems; all different and all the same and all inside. And so, this midsummer meditation is an invitation to explore the inn. To travel the grounds finding all the hidden trails.To open all the doors. It is an invitation to create or discover an internal experience of deep, nourishing safety, a place to nurture our love and hope. A place to rest well and to feel fully. Join me for today’s discussion and guided meditation.Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them athttps://www.nickcmcmahan.com/https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@ourmindfulnatureThis 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.

Today, as the final installment in our Edges series, I am joined by writer, poet, memoirist, teacher, yogi, activist, and mother - Nadia Colburn.Nadia has recently released her newest book of poetry, I Say the Sky - and y’all know how much I love exploring the intersection of poetry and mindfulness. As a start, I want to share one of the review blurbs about Nadia’s newest book because I feel that it so perfectly sums up her work:"From the opening poem and on through this glorious book, Nadia Colburn strikes the difficult balance between celebrating the splendor of the world we inhabit and acknowledging the grief and devastation that none of us can escape. As much a book of love songs as a book of elegies, I Say the Sky is a heart opening and mind sharpening collection." ~Camille T. DungyI couldn’t agree more.In our conversation today, Nadia,who feels like an old friend, and I discuss:Writing from the bodyAgency in times of distressMeeting edge places in a state of opening rather than contractionWe talk of generative, supportive action and of course we explore mindful writing practices to support ourselves in times of change. Grab your journal and join us!Learn more about Nadia Colburn here: https://nadiacolburn.com/Check out Nadia's FREE 5-day Meditation & Writing Challenge here: https://nadiacolburn.com/free-mindful-writing-challenge/Learn more about Project Regeneration here: https://regeneration.org/ Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production support of this episode. https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/Please sign up for my newsletter at merylarnett.substack.com to access these meditations as stand-alone audio files for your daily practice. Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@themindfulminutepodcastThis 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.

As you have likely noticed in this month’s episodes, we have moved from the stars to the soil. We will spend the next several episodes exploring edges and ecotones - spaces rife with the very best type of tension. The tension that inspires growth, expansion and action. Today, I am talking with artist, edge-walker, and dear friend Perri Lynch Howard about her experiences in a variety of ecotonal landscapes.Perri is an artist dedicated to forging new narratives from the front lines of climate change. Working in the context of extreme environments is an essential aspect of Howard’s practice, driving her curiosity to seek a deeper sense of place, beyond the dichotomy of near and far. Her artwork resides within the emerging genre of New Polar Aesthetics, expressed through painting, drawing, sculpture and sound.In this episode, Perri shares three of her unique, ecotonal field recordings with us as a way to explore the edges both within and without. We will hear the sounds of Vashon Island, the Great Basin Desert, and Svalbard and throughout we discuss:Non-judgement Listening for the truth of the momentThe relational words we use when discussing the land and ourselvesReciprocal relationship in the time of climate crisisThe first rule of field recording AND meditating (!!)At the end, there is a guided meditation experience of the Vashon Island soundscape as an opportunity for you to explore your own relationship with edges. Thank you to the residencies and agencies that provided the time, space, and resources for Perri to record these incredible landscapes - The Arctic Circle Residency, PLAYA Artist Residency, Vashon Artist Residency, The Puffin Foundation, Artist Trust, and Quiet Parks International.Finally, deep gratitude to Nick McMahan for editing and the sound design of this episode, and to Brianna Nielsen for production support.Learn more about: Perri Lynch Howard: https://www.perrilynchhoward.com/Nick McMahan: https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/Brianna Nielsen: https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/Please sign up for my newsletter at merylarnett.substack.com to access these meditations as stand-alone audio files for your daily practice. Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@themindfulminutepodcastThis 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.