I have been leading meditation teacher trainings since 2017, and as I launch my 2023 training, I thought it would be fun to share a few conversations with graduates about their experiences in MTT.Today, I am delighted to share a behind the scenes chat with a former student, Johanna Olivas. (https://www.lunaserenity.com/) Johanna is a registered yoga teacher, Reiki master, sound healing practitioner, and since 2022, a certified meditation teacher. In this episode, we talk about:* Confidence and connection: teaching that first meditation* Expanding creative skills* Discovering authenticity in voice and in space holding* The secret sauce of journalingTune into The Mindful Minute today to hear about Johanna’s experience with meditation teacher training, and how she is using this knowledge in her business today. To learn more about my 2023 Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training, please visit: https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-teacher-training (https://www.merylarnett.com/awakened-heart-meditation-teacher-training)We begin August 16!To learn more about Johanna, please visit https://www.lunaserenity.com/ (https://www.lunaserenity.com/)Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/dBYEUL to receive free mini meditations each month, creative musings, and more.Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.com.IG: @merylarnett                 #meditatewithmeryl

Behind the Scenes: Meditation Teacher Training with Johanna Olivas

This podcast explores the deep connection between the land and Self through nature-based meditations and contemplative experiences that invite us back into belonging - to each other, our ancestors, the earth, and all beings that make up this universe. 

Our Mindful Nature is the new name of The Mindful Minute podcast. I {Meryl} have been sharing meditation classes on this podcast for more than 8 years, and as of 2024, I felt it was time to update the name to more accurately reflect the content I share. You can continue to expect inspirational talks, guided meditations and occasional interviews. You can continue to expect classes centered on accessible, equitable, communal well-being primarily through nature-based meditations created through the lens of Tantric meditation and Spiritual Ecology.

Now, let’s grab a cup of tea, a comfy seat and settle in for today’s practice.

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Last week’s episode (We Are Made of Star Stuff; An Interview with Dr. Kimberly Arcand) is a personal favorite of mine, and this week, I’m highlighting the meditation from that episode to m...

Mini Meditation: We Are Made of Star Stuff

In 2020, experts at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Center began the first ongoing, sustained program to “sonify” astronomical data. The sonification project is led by my guest today, Dr. Kimberly Ar...

We Are Made of Star Stuff: An Interview with NASA’s Dr. Kimberly Arcand

Sometimes the simplest practices are the most helpful. When lost, overwhelmed, sad or scared, I often find myself simply walking outside, lying down, and staring up at the sky. There's nothing specific to do, nothing specific to feel. It's simply a moment to watch the movement of the clouds or stars, and to remember that the earth is nothing more than a pale blue dot rotating in a vast galaxy of stars, planets, moons, and more. This practice connects us to something larger than ourselves and this one moment in time. What we experience through the cosmos surrounding us tells us about ourselves.A little perspective is always a good thing. Join me for today’s 10-minute meditation; it is perfect for a reset, a brain break, or a moment of calm on a hectic day.Sign up for my newsletter at to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.﻿Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnett (http://instagram.com/merylarnett)youtube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast (http://youtube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast)Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/ (https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/)#meditatewithmeryl

Mini Meditation: Astronomical Mindfulness

The Mindful Minute has a NEW NAME and NEW LOOK! After 8 years, I have updated the name to more accurately reflect the content offered here. Welcome to Our Mindful Nature!“Back when humans lived in communal caves and tribal encampments, we told stories about the stars. When we started sailing, we used these same pinpricks of light to estimate our own location. When we began planting, we relied on the constellations and the Sun to plant and sustain crops. Yet today, most modern humans have lost this deep connection to the cosmos that was once central to our daily lives.” ~Sarah ScolesToday’s episode is a replay of a 2022 interview that is still one of my favorites and is a perfect fit for our astronomical focus this month. Enjoy it!I have devoted more episodes to the night sky and the cosmos surrounding us than any other singular topic, and today’s interview with science journalist and author Sarah Scoles perhaps best sums up why the skies above serve as such a powerful connection to our meditation practice and our deepest selves. Sarah, along with astronomy professor Chris De Pree, wrote a unique guidebook (and a perpetual guest on my nightstand) titled Astronomical Mindfulness.In today’s episode of Our Mindful Nature, Sarah and I talk about the power of the sun, moon, stars, and planets to offer engaging exercises that deepen your knowledge of the solar system, help you take necessary pauses every day, and foster a renewed sense of presence in the universe. The focus is on short, simple practices that immediately create a sense of connection and provide context for the hectic moments of our day-to-day lives.Whether you look up at the night sky or not, the skies above us are perhaps the most central, ubiquitous element of human storytelling and identity. Humanity has looked up for as long as we have ever found a record of. The earliest cave drawings and the earliest indentations carved into the earth were made in reference to the sky above. What we experience through the cosmos surrounding us tells us about ourselves.Join me for this exploration of the cosmos, mindfulness, and some new practices you can try tonight. At the end, I offer a 10-minute guided meditation inspired by this conversation.Sarah Scoles is a freelance journalist and contributing editor at WIRED. She is the author of Making Contact: Jill Tarter and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and They Are Already Here: UFO Culture and Why We See Saucers. Learn more about Sarah at: https://www.sarahscoles.com/

Astronomical Mindfulness with Sarah Scoles {REPLAY}

​​The Mindful Minute has a NEW NAME and NEW LOOK! After 8 years, I have updated the name to more accurately reflect the content offered here. Welcome to Our Mindful Nature!Today, we are kicking off a month of astronomical-inspired meditations and interviews in honor of next week’s total solar eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when, at just the right moment, the moon passes between the sun and Earth blocking the sun’s light. On April 8, 2024, 13 states will experience a total solar eclipse, for many others we will witness a partial solar eclipse.In honor of this, I am sharing a meditation I recorded a few years ago titled ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ (hehehe). While this meditation references a total lunar eclipse, the energy behind this meditation remains the same whether it is the sun or the moon having its light blocked.Do you feel this in your life sometimes? That something comes up creating a block in your energy, your attention or your ability to move forward? I think these might be the moments I am MOST grateful for my meditation practice. When we meditate, we develop an awareness of our habitual reactions to life and create the space for movement. We learn to pause just long enough to acknowledge what is blocking us, to let it move out of the way, and to once again feel illuminated. In this meditation, we listen to Rialto Beach at midnight. There are full, dynamic waves, and with each wave we feel the drifting pull of the ocean. The invitation to pause and then allow movement is clear here between the quiet of a wave landing on the beach and the crescendo of the wave retraction.Big thank you to sound artist and acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton for the use of today’s soundscape. I highly recommend headphones, if you have them available.The Quileute were some of the first people to hear the sounds of land shared in today’s meditation.Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ (https://merylarnett.substack.com/) to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.

Behind the Scenes: Meditation Teacher Training with Johanna Olivas

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