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

“Thinking only of the negative aspect doesn’t help to find solutions and it destroys peace of mind,” he writes. “I love smiles, and my wish is to see more smiles, real smiles. … If we want those smiles, we must create the reasons that make them appear.”  - The Dalai Lama

In our practice, a bit of humor can be a mechanism for going deeper. Rather than doubt, judge or over-analyze, what happens if we simply smile, shake our heads at the wildness of it all and trust our inner experiences?

We tip the scales towards kindness

We balance the ocean of our bodies, 

And, we remind ourselves that we simply can’t see or know the whole story.

Join me for today’s mini meditation practice and be sure to listen to the full story in last week’s episode “Lying on the Forest Floor part 3.

These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.

You can learn more about my:

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training - only 10 spots left in my 2022 training!

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

This meditation series was crafted in response to a simple and mind-blowing statement that ‘humus, human and humor’ all share the same root word.

In part 1, we explored the concept that we are earth come to consciousness {humus}. In part 2, we looked at what it means to be human; to be as boundless as the ocean {human}. 

And now, in part 3 we look at humor in life and our meditation practice. The term humor is actually derived from ‘humoral medicine’ of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body controlled human health and emotion. {Thank you Wikipedia!}.

With humor, we invite balance. This is such a valuable sentiment to explore because so much of life feels like it is screaming at us to FIX ALL THE PROBLEMS.

Humor is the reminder that our brains simply can’t see the whole picture and it is ok that we don’t have all the answers. Humor is the invitation to not be totally consumed by the drama.

The Dalai Lama, a revered spiritual leader and, according to him, a professional laugher, writes

“Thinking only of the negative aspect doesn’t help to find solutions and it destroys peace of mind,” he writes. “I love smiles, and my wish is to see more smiles, real smiles. … If we want those smiles, we must create the reasons that make them appear.”  

In our practice, a bit of humor can be a mechanism for going deeper. Rather than doubt, judge or over-analyze, what happens if we simply smile, shake our heads at the wildness of it all and trust our inner experiences?

We tip the scales towards kindness

We balance the ocean of our bodies, 

And, we remind ourselves that we simply can’t see or know the whole story.

Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute for a discussion on humor and a 20-minute guided meditation practice. 

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can learn more about my:

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training - only 10 spots left in my 2022 training!

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

The classic text, the Ashtavakra Gita, is a dialogue on the nature of Self. Within it, we as human beings, are described as a boundless ocean. So much more than a single thought, a single mind, or a single body. Join me for today’s mini meditation as we tap into our true expansive nature. 

These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.

You can learn more about my:

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training - only 10 spots left in my 2022 training!

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

From Humus to Human Being 

Today’s talk is an exploration of what it is to be human. To be earth come to consciousness. In many languages, cultures and depth practices, there is a word or phrase that means something along the lines of “I am that I am”.

In Sanskrit, So Ham means “I am that I am”. In Hebrew, Hineni means “I am here”. These words & phrases point to something vast and boundless. Something bigger than just ‘me’. These words, phrases and ideas are pointing to something that is easily overlooked by the brilliance of our own minds. 

Our minds tend to create a little movie that stars me and only me. We get so caught up in this unfolding drama that we miss the simplistic beauty of BEING. Here I am. I am that I am.

It can feel like we are our minds. Our thoughts. But our mind actually has a multiplicity of layers.

Our minds are capable of comprehending:

1. The object of cognition: I think a thought.
2. The process of cognition: I witness the thought as a happening inside my mind.
3. Itself as the cognizant force: I am able to understand that the mind is having this thought as part of but not entirely of my being.

Who is this “cognizant force”?

Who is here?

Who is that?

When we lie on the forest floor, we allow ourselves to take up MORE space than we usually do. We are more than a single thought. Or a single brain. We are the whole forest. The boundless ocean. Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we discuss and then practice a 20-minute guided meditation. 

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can learn more about my:

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training - only 10 spots left in my 2022 training!

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

In a recent meditation, the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr wrote: “Being human means acknowledging that we're made from the earth and will return to the earth. We are earth that has come to consciousness.

In all the ancient teachings, we read that the body is a microcosm of the universe. There is both poetry and science in these statements. When we acknowledge the truth of this connection between earth and body, it is as if we are entering a deep forest. We must have both the courage to enter the forest as well as the willingness to feed the intuitive senses that will carry us safely through.

Join me for a short guided meditation that reflects on this connection to earth herself. 

These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.

You can learn more about my:

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

Recently, I listened to an interview with Suzanne Simard, author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest.

She talks so beautifully about how forests are wired for wisdom and how trees that we previously thought were drowning out young saplings are actually helping them to thrive, much like a grandmother-mother-child relationship.

Within this interview, a comment was made that Humus, Human and Humor all share the same root word, and I can’t stop thinking about the truths hidden in this simple fact. 

The root ‘Hum’ in Latin means ‘ground’. ‘Humus’ means earth or ground.

In a recent meditation, the Franciscan priest and author Richard Rohr wrote: “Being human means acknowledging that we're made from the earth and will return to the earth. We are earth that has come to consciousness.

In all the ancient teachings, we read that the body is a microcosm of the universe. There is both poetry and science in these statements. When we acknowledge the truth of this connection between earth and body, it is as if we are entering a deep forest.

We must have both the courage to enter the forest as well as the willingness to feed the intuitive senses that will carry us safely through.

“We are earth come to consciousness.”

This month’s meditation series is an exploration of lying on the forest floor, and the connection between humus, human, and humor. We begin with a meditation on earth itself. 

Join me. 

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can learn more about my:

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

Since 2006, I have been pulling at the threads of meditation. The threads of mindfulness, of Shamatha, of Vipassana, of Tantra, of Sri Vidya... ⁠

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While styles, words, and texts may differ, there are some threads that run through all of these practices. ⁠

Threads of Truth, I call them. ⁠

⁠

In the creation of my Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training, I wove these threads together. ⁠

⁠

The word "Sutra"  {as in The Yoga Sutra} means to stitch together, and this training is built upon what I've crafted and named as the Awakened Heart Sutra.⁠

⁠

This sutra contains the fundamental elements that anchor a meditation practice in ancient wisdom, and offer enough expanse from which you can begin to weave your own meditative magic. ⁠

⁠

Join me for today’s special episode as I share a bit about the ideas and principles behind this training.

You can learn more about my:

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

Two of the most common questions I receive from meditation students:

• How do I know meditation is actually helping me?
• Will meditation help with my depression/anxiety/PTSD?

Today, I am bringing you a fascinating conversation with one of the world’s experts on what meditation actually does for your brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg, and he is going to help me answer these very questions!

Dr. Newberg is the director of research at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health and a physician at Jefferson University Hospital. He is board certified in internal medicine and nuclear medicine, but what is most interesting to me is that he is a pioneer in the neurological study of religious and spiritual experiences, a field known as “neurotheology.” His research includes taking brain scans of people in prayer, meditation, rituals, and trance states, in an attempt to better understand the nature of religious and spiritual practices and attitudes. 

In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute Dr. Newberg talks to us about

• What happens to our brains with as little as 8 weeks of practice
• Some of the different types of meditation and which ones ‘work’ {hint: they ALL do!}
• A myriad of ways to address the stress and anxiety of pandemic living
• How to build the healthiest brain possible

His new book Brain Weaver shows that optimal brain health is achievable by successfully weaving together a tapestry of our bio-psycho-social-spiritual dimensions. I loved his book, and truthfully, I could have chatted with him for hours. His work is fascinating and so inspiring as we all endeavour to take better care of ourselves. 

Enjoy this conversation!

You can learn more about Dr. Newberg and his book, Brain Weaver, here: http://www.andrewnewberg.com/

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can learn more about my:

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

Today’s mini meditation is from my exclusive content from Shoreline meditation app. This meditation is accompanied by a custom soundscape from Gordon Hempton. Use headphones for the best possible experience.

There is a reason so many fairy tales take place in a forest. There is something magical that happens here. It is a little dark, a little scary, a bit light, and a bit life-affirming. The forest holds it all. When we meditate in the forest, we invite in the spectrum of experience and we approach it all with childlike wonder and curiosity.

The forest we hear in this meditation is Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in the Southern Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. This is one of the last virgin hardwood forests on the east coast. The cathedral-like arches and vaulted ceilings of these hardwood branches form a forest with wonderful acoustics; home to the eastern winter wren and many other beautiful singers.

Members of the Cherokee Indian Tribe were the first indigenous people to hear the sounds of this landscape.

These mini meditations are meant to support a daily home practice. Tune in every Monday to find your practice for the week! Full episodes are released every Thursday for a longer, deeper practice.

You can learn more about my:

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl

Y’all know I am a voracious reader, right? So much so that I considered calling my donation page a “buy me a book” page. Books inspire me, provoke questions, and uplift me. I am releasing a series of interviews with authors of some new books that I have just read and love deeply! 

You know the other thing that I love and do daily {aside from meditate}? I journal. Journaling is such an important practice for me that I even included it as an important part of meditation teacher training! And, today’s guest wrote an entire book inspired by the profound impact of journaling.

Marc Champagne unpacks the mental fitness practices and reflective questions shaping the lives of some of the most successful and brilliant thinkers in the world. He is the host of the top 50 ranked podcast, Behind The Human, and co-founded the journaling app (KYO) which ended up reaching over 86 million people without any paid advertising, all within the first two years of launch. He has studied mental fitness practices for over a decade and has consulted for top-rated digital journals and wellness companies.

Marc's first book, Personal Socrates, explores the pointed questions that stimulate our mental fitness and teach us how to direct our internal narrative to work for us, instead of against us. 

"We all ask questions, but are they the right ones, the best ones, and are we asking enough of them?"–Marc Champagne

Learn more about Marc and his new book here: https://www.behindthehuman.com/

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please consider making a one-time or monthly donation to support the growth of this labor of love. Your monthly donation will aid in keeping this show sponsor-free, employing additional small businesses AND funding the ongoing creative growth I invest in.

Donate here: https://www.merylarnett.com/support-the-mindful-minute

You can learn more about my:

*Shoreline: my new meditation app

*Awakened Heart Meditation Teacher Training

*Live, virtual meditation classes with me

*Upcoming events

All by visiting merylarnett.com.

You can also grab my FREE Meditation Starter Kit on my website merylarnett.com. It is full of my favorite tips, stories and ideas for starting and maintaining a daily meditation practice. Grab your copy today! --> http://bit.ly/meditationstarterkit ***

Connect with me on Instagram {@merylarnett} to get bonus meditation tips, mini-meditations, and the occasional baby spam: https://www.instagram.com/merylarnett/

#meditatewithmeryl