Waylon discusses what we can do when we’re overwhelmed with overwhelm. He also offers a reminder of where Dharma (or expertise) comes from.

(Hint: it’s not our ego)

“We all get overwhelmed. We get overwhelmed by the news. We get overwhelmed by relationships. We get overwhelmed by stress around food, or money, or how we look, whether we’re popular or not, depending on what age we are, and what’s going on. Overwhelm is really just a lack of oxygen.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

Waylon offers a message to those in the United States: What to do now that he’s Tariffed you.

"This isn't about hoarding, but this is about having a mindful, smart reaction. If you don't have to spend money preparing, save your money and hopefully we can get through this together. Panicking doesn't help but preparing in community does. Big love." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon asks the question: what is the Buddhist practice of Right Speech when it comes to hate and greed and lies?

“From a Buddhist point of view, we need to be honest. We must not be harmful in our speech, but we need to be able to be frank. In fact, the Buddhist notion of idiot compassion would lead us to (hopefully) remember that allowing hate or lies or prejudice or violent speech to go unanswered in any way is actually harmful." ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

Waylon shares a message that isn't exciting, or riveting, or hateful...but is hopefully mature, and reasonable, and helpful:

 "I am scared that a lot of the social media [platforms] are one decision—by an already corrupt, greedy billionaire—away from shutting down our means of communication. So I think we gotta invest in community. We gotta invest in resistance. We have to invest in connecting in ways that aren't just on social." ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

Waylon offers a message directly to those who identify with MAHA, aka, Make America Healthy Again, a political platform and slogan used by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who is now in charge of the health of Americans under Trump:

" I have a special anger and resentment toward MAHA. And that anger and resentment isn't the neurotic kind of anger and resentment that I, as a Buddhist, want to breathe through and let go of. It is one that I want to share openly and vulnerably." ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

Mindfulness, meditation, compassion…

The things Elephant focuses on…

These are not separate from caring about politics, policy, public service. If we keep coming from a place of caring, of basic goodness, the boulder we are rolling up the hill will begin to roll down the next hill. We can do this together. Things can get easier. Keep caring.  

“Compassion fatigue arises when there's confusion and ego mixed up in [our caring]. Ego doesn't mean that we're bad people. We all have ego. We all get caught up. But if we can truly come from a simple place of caring, that's considered to be an in inexhaustible resource, because it's natural to who we are and to this world.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

This week on our longrunning, ongoing “Walk the Talk Show” podcast and video series:

 "Groundlessness is something Buddhism talks about a lot. And you think, well, groundlessness, that sounds pretty bad. We always want ground beneath our feet. 

We want to be able to ground into Mother Earth, connect with the heavens above, connect with our hearts, our shoulders, connect with society. That's actually a meditation practice in the Buddhist tradition.

But groundlessness is something that all of us go through. When we're having a hard time, when we're lonely, when we're feeling rejected, feeling confused, feeling lost...we tend to want to close down or blame other...or blame self, which can lead to depression. We want to find the ground..." ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

Waylon gives practical Buddhist life advice for when you're feeling defeated, depressed, or blue.

“The advice from a mindful point of view is obvious, but when we're in that state of mind what's obvious is forgotten: so get in nature, look up and out—force yourself to breathe—meaning going for a walk, biking, anything where you have to [intentionally] breathe because breathing helps us process. Desperately try to avoid negative habitual patterns.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis 

For more:

• Habitual Patterns: https://youtu.be/tt4evvgKxMk 
• Meditation: https://youtu.be/qzGZcxG4jvw?si=pN9LF5mkdZ4nGAk4
• More Meditation: https://youtube.com/shorts/U9wKCVgSblY?si=yZpt8TYU5VzqWgp1 

Waylon and his wife, Kelsey, have a frank conversation about love and dust bunnies with one of our favorite guests: mindful feng shui expert Anjie Cho. They discuss how we can use mindfulness, Buddhism, and feng shui to awaken our love lives this Valentine’s Day.

Anjie came with the goods—not only does she have specific advice for Waylon and Kelsey, she offers several tips for singles looking to attract a partner into their lives, and those already in a relationship.

Waylon will support President Trump tomorrow, if...

"I always say, I have nothing against Trump—for as much as I despise him and think he's doing awful things in the world, if tomorrow he woke up and was 'buttercups and dancing through meadows' and 'let's be kind to people, and humans and animals and the planet all matter'—that would be great. I would support him tomorrow." ~ Waylon H. Lewis