The Season We Begin Again | A Poem & Benediction for New Beginnings

As autumn turns the air crisp and the leaves golden, we are reminded of the gift of new beginnings—new school years, new journeys, new stories, and the joy of not walking the road alone. This episode offers a reflective poem followed by a gentle benediction to carry with you into this season of change.

Take a deep breath… listen… and step into what’s possible.

✨ If this spoke to you, please subscribe, share with a friend, and join us each week as we learn to just breathe.

⏱ Timestamps

0:00 – Opening chime & welcome

0:10 – The Season We Begin Again (poem)

1:58 – Benediction for new beginnings

2:40 – Closing chime & silence

Take a gentle pause to begin your meditation journey. In this short guided session, you’ll be introduced to the practice of noticing your breath, softening into presence, and returning to the simplicity of being here now. No experience is needed — just you, your breath, and a few quiet moments of stillness.

✨ Remember: every breath is a new beginning.

0:00 – Welcome & getting comfortable

0:20 – Beginning with the breath

0:55 – Noticing sensations of breathing

1:28 – Returning when the mind wanders

1:55 – Closing benediction

🙏 If this meditation helped you, please like, subscribe, and share with someone who could use a moment of peace today.

⏱️ Timestamps

🌿 Welcome to Just Breathe 🌿

This year, join me for a 12-month journey of guided meditations, poetry, and reflections—

from Beginning Stillness to Presence & Awareness,

from Healing & Release to Sleep & Renewal,

and all the way to Reflection & Renewal.

✨ Each month brings a new focus.

✨ Each week, a short guided practice to help you find calm, clarity, and renewal.

✨ Perfect for beginners and longtime practitioners alike.

If you’re ready for a year of breathing deeper, loving freer, and living with more peace—subscribe and journey with us.

🔔 Don’t miss a single session. Subscribe here: [Your Channel Link]

💬 Share with someone who could use a moment of stillness.

#Meditation #Mindfulness #JustBreathe

Theme: The contemplative life as your life

Focus: Living as a walking prayer — rooted, open, and whole.

Merton Anchor: “The monk is not a special kind of man, but every man is a special kind of monk.”

In this final session of our 12-part series on Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation, we close with a full-length meditation — weaving together the themes of the past weeks in a prayerful poem, a breath practice, and silence. Together, we remember that prayer is not something we do, but who we are.

✨ If this series has been meaningful to you, I invite you to:

• Subscribe to the channel for the upcoming 12-Month Meditation “Just Breathe” Content Calendar

• Share this series with a friend who might need space to breathe

• Return often to these meditations whenever you need stillness

⏱️ Timestamps

0:00 – Opening bell & music

0:24 – Introduction: Your life as prayer

1:50 – Settling into stillness

2:30 – Poem-Prayer: All That We Have Become

5:10 – Breath practice: Here I am / A prayer

6:40 – Guided silence and reflection

8:15 – Living as prayer in daily life

9:20 – Closing benediction

9:50 – Invitation: What’s next with Just Breathe

10:06 – Final bell & silence

🙏 Thank you for being part of this journey. May you go gently, go in peace, and go as prayer.

Pain can feel like the end of the story—but what if it’s also the beginning of transformation? In this episode of Just Breathe, we reflect on Thomas Merton’s reminder that the more we try to avoid suffering, the more we suffer. Together, we’ll open space to see pain not as punishment, but as a teacher—shaping the soul, softening the heart, and making room for compassion.

Take a deep breath, listen in, and allow silence to hold you.

⏱ Timestamps

0:00 – Opening chime & introduction

0:52 – Merton’s wisdom on suffering

1:45 – Lament: the weight of pain

2:50 – Turning pain into a teacher

4:00 – Breath practice for courage & release

5:00 – Benediction & closing chime

✨ If this meditation resonates, please share it with someone who may need a gentle reminder that even in suffering, transformation is possible.

In this meditation, we step into the beauty of unknowing—releasing the need for answers and learning to live into the questions. Inspired by Thomas Merton’s wisdom, this practice invites you to breathe, rest, and carry poetic questions as gentle companions on the contemplative path.

“If you seek understanding before you believe, you will never believe.” – Thomas Merton

🕊️ Let go of certainty.

🕊️ Trust the mystery.

🕊️ Walk with wonder.

⏱️ Timestamps:

0:00 – Opening chime & settling breath

0:35 – Invitation into mystery

1:20 – Merton’s anchor quote

2:05 – Releasing the need for answers

2:40 – Poetic questions to carry

3:45 – Breath practice: mystery in, certainty out

4:25 – Silence & resting in the unknown

5:10 – Carrying the questions as companions

5:40 – Closing benediction & chime

✨ If this meditation speaks to you, please share it with a friend and leave your reflections in the comments.

In this spoken poetic reflection, we return to Thomas Merton’s reminder that the cloister is not confined to monasteries—it can be found in our kitchens, buses, hallways, and breaths. This short meditation helps us recognize the sacred in the ordinary, turning daily life into a rhythm of stillness, presence, and prayer.

0:00 – Opening bell & welcome

0:20 – Introducing today’s theme: The World is My Cloister

0:55 – Merton’s reminder: finding others in God

1:30 – Everyday places as our monastery

2:15 – Breath rhythm: This is holy / God is here

3:10 – Sounds, faces, and places as sacred bells

3:45 – Benediction: may every step be a prayer

4:10 – Closing bell & silence

✨ Wherever you go, your life can be a monastery.

⏱️ Timestamps

In this gentle meditation, we explore the sacred that lives in the ordinary — in dishes, laundry, and the hum of a daily commute.

Guided by Thomas Merton’s reminder that “The spiritual life is first of all a life,” we practice noticing beauty, presence, and God’s nearness in the simple moments we often overlook.

Take a few minutes to slow down, breathe, and discover the holiness woven into your everyday life.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Welcome & introduction to the theme

0:42 – Reflection on Merton’s words

1:15 – Imagining the sacred in ordinary tasks

2:18 – Guided breath & body awareness

3:45 – Remembering the sacred in daily life

4:35 – Closing benediction

Session 7: Love That Sees the Soul

In this episode, we reflect on Thomas Merton’s wisdom: “The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves.” Through a gentle, letter-style spoken prayer, we explore how to cultivate a love that honors the sacred in others—and in ourselves.

Take a few minutes to breathe, listen, and let your heart be opened to a love that sees beyond appearances, beyond performance, to the soul itself.

⏳ Timestamps

00:00 – Opening chime & welcome

00:25 – Merton’s invitation to love

01:05 – A prayer for seeing the soul in others

02:36 – A prayer for being gentle with ourselves

04:00 – Love as a wide, open field

05:05 – Closing blessing & final chime

🌿 “May our love never be a cage, but a wide field under an open sky.”

#justbreathe #ThomasMerton #meditation #love #contemplation

🧘‍♀️ Session 6: “Learning to Let Go”

Theme: Detachment and Trust

Focus: Releasing control and letting go of grasping in order to receive grace

Anchor Quote: “We must be content to live without watching ourselves live.” – Thomas Merton

In this longer-form guided meditation, we explore what it means to surrender. To loosen the grip. To stop striving. And to begin trusting—really trusting—that grace is already at work beneath the surface.

We’ll move slowly, with intention.

We’ll breathe deeply, with space.

And we’ll practice the sacred art of letting go.

This is a space to come as you are.

To release what you’re carrying.

And to remember: you are already enough.

🔔 Gentle bowl chimes, soft ambient music, and extended silences accompany this session.

⏰ Timestamps:

00:00 – Opening & theme

01:15 – Settling breath

02:30 – Where are you holding on?

04:15 – Invitation to loosen the grip

06:00 – Reflection on Merton’s wisdom

07:45 – Letting go into grace

10:15 – Benediction: Trust, grace, and freedom

11:35 – Bowl chime to close

🎧 Best experienced with headphones and minimal distractions.

🌬️ Come with nothing. Leave with peace.

🙏 Just breathe.