Mountain Zen Den Podcast

Mountain Zen Den is here to help you reunite with the natural, beautiful world right where you are. It’s almost too good to be true!  Mother Nature patiently waits for us to tap into her organic, wholesome goodness that is always available “On Demand” to help every one us become our best and realize our full potential. The best part is, there are no hidden fees for this service that is available for us all.

The only thing you and I have to pay for this benefit is "attention". We just need to wake up and remain alert to the natural resources of health, energy and well-being that focus on and a proximity to the goodness of the Earth all around us.

This time of year brings with it such a wide array of emotions – anticipation, joy and hope and peace on earth and goodwill towards men...  But it also can be a very painful time for some of us – bringing up feelings of sadness, anxiety and stress, feelings of fear and loss and disappointment, unmet expectations – all underscored by overwhelm and exhaustion.

This can result in great cynicism and disdain for Christmastime due to commercialism, self-centeredness and a sense of loss regarding the true meaning of the season.

Today we take a few minutes of mindfulness to reflect on The Christmas Story as told on the book of Luke.

Merry Christmas!

Listen. Do you hear that? That is a rare sound these days. A rare sound indeed. It’s the sound of Silence.

Noise - that thing we consider “unwanted sound” and levels from human activities, have been doubling every thirty years – even faster than the population growth! What’s up with that? And more importantly, what are we going to do about it?

For today’s meditation, we’re going to spend a few minutes just quieting our hearts and enjoying the silence within. You can only do so much about the environment around you, but you can learn to master and totally control your inner environment through developing good and daily meditation habits.

Glad you're here!

Snow symbolizes so many things for us.

Christmas, vacation, snow days, skiing, sledding, snow-shoeing, building snow men and having snowball fights, making snow angels and catching snowflakes on your tongue.

It’s always such a cozy feeling to come in from afterterwards… peppermint hot chocolate, crackling fires in the fireplace, hot tubs…

It also represents purity and renewal. It’s a symbol of forgiveness, peace and beauty.

Snow seems to be the ultimate visual symbol of winter and the apex of the season.

But what is snow? Really?

For today’s meditation we’re going to get all bundled up in our warmest outdoor gear – the kind that makes you all excited about going snow-shoeing or skiing, and we’re going to explore snow and get comfortable in the great winter outdoor wilderness.

Have you ever noticed how a mountain - the very thing that symbolizes majesty, beauty, grandeur, inspiration, peace, and renewal, is the symbol we reference when speaking of a challenge or obstacle we need to conquer or “get over” in our lives?

The sheer massiveness of this immovable force can both inspire and intimidate, draw and repel, challenge and taunt the humanness in every one us of us.

Truth is, a mountain can no more conquer you than can a cloud, or a raindrop, or pine cone. It is a thing. A part of this world, and therefore, the Universe. A part of you, and of me, and of the hiker a mile up the trail in front of you.

It is the thought of the mountain, or rather, the mountains of thoughts that daily conquer each of us if we let them.

Welcome to today's show!

It’s time to regain balance and harmony, beauty and purpose.  Instead of wandering around in a bad dream, we need to regain focus on the natural world and the way the Universe works.  As we begin to understand the laws that were set up to help us grow to become all we were meant to be – we find Love & Simplicity, Joy & Tranquility.

But the problem is, this doesn’t just happen.  The law of entropy (where things are constantly falling apart) keeps things interesting.  We have been given an active role in guiding, nurturing and directing our world. Either for good or for bad.  Our gardens don’t just grow tomatoes and corn and beans or beautiful orchids and roses without a bit of forethought planning and intention.  Neither does your life.

It all begins in our minds and with the power of Intention.

Music for today’s show provided courtesy of Jeff Van Devender/Java Musik, a coffeehouse for your spirit from his new Christmas Album “Yuletide Reflections”.

Every morning is an opportunity to have a do over, if you messed up the day before, OR want a chance to build on the good things and progress you made yesterday. Either way, it’s a win-win!

It’s a part of the nature of life to struggle a bit. Struggling and trying and failing and struggling some more and trying again is normal. It’s how we grow.

Have you ever watched a wobbly-legged newborn baby animal struggle to try to stand up and walk? Have you ever seen a baby bird learning to fly? Or a tree trying to grow through a rock or fence or other obstacle.

It’s about not giving up. It’s about taking chances. Trying and failing and trying again. Trying something new, learning from your mistakes and challenges, finding what works, and building on that.

If you want to grow and be the best you can be, you have to commit to trying. You have to be willing to risk failure and you have to learn how to reinvent yourself. Especially if you’ve ever really messed up big time.

We all have a need to grow. When we stop growing we begin dying.

According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Self-Actualization (aka Personal Growth) is at the top of them.

Life equals growth and growth equals change.

In order to reinvent yourself you need to have a spiritual practice or routine or discipline to help get you there.

Welcome to today's show!

Learn more about Reinventing Yourself in 10 Steps at >https://www.mountainzenden.com/reinventing-yourself/

Christmas in the mountains is a time of beauty and wonder. Christmas in the Rocky is transcendent.

So strap on your snowshoes and come along with me. In the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emerson who inspired John Muir who inspired Enos Mills to protect, preserve and become the father of Rocky Mountain National Park, we give you “A Rocky Mountain Christmas”.

I woke up this morning to what sounded like a gazillion Canada geese just gaggling about, swooping in for a landing in the frosty cornfields here in front of the mountains.

There are things all around us everyday that would bring so much joy and happiness and peace if we would just take the time to notice them. It’s called living in the Now.

 Now is all we’ve got. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow hasn’t come, we just have Now. And if you think about it, it’s ok. We couldn’t handle anything more. Nor would we want to.

Now is where we live and the only place we can find joy.

Join us today as we take a few minutes to walk through our day in our minds, finding joy and meaning in nature and the simple things all around us. Basically, we are going to set ourselves up for success in being present all throughout our day, and finding joy right where we are.

Glad you're here!

Life just keeps getting busier and busier.  Hurry, worry and rush are the norm.  It’s like the proverbial roll of toilet paper, the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes!

This “unnatural” stress is creating a sickness, not just in the individual, but in our society as a whole. We’ve lost our sense of connectedness, with Nature and with each other, with our sense of meaning and purpose.

We've gotten away from the core of who we are and where we came from.

We are literally killing ourselves through unneeded worry, mindlessness and stress.

In today's show we explore and celebrate the much-needed restorative powers of Nature.

Come on in!