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

After learning how to let go of tension in the body {see part 1 of this series}, the next layer of tension we release is the tension of desire, and, oh, it can be so subtle!

The tension of desire is the experience of all the things that distract our minds in meditation. This can be the more obvious desires such as, “I am hungry; I should go eat right now.” or “if I don’t respond to that email right now, I’ll never be able to relax…”.

Desires can also be a bit more hidden from our awareness. Sometimes we simply desire a story. We follow a thought that arises because it is interesting -

We dissect that dream from last night.

We rehearse the argument we will have with our partner later.

We think through a problem at work.

We write the next chapter of our novels…

And, sometimes it can be SO good. The idea that arises is brillant! The problem is solved! I SHOULD reflect on this yummy philosophical exploration…. However, even though we might still be seated on the cushion, we have stopped meditating at this point. We have lost our concentration and our detachment; instead of meditating, we are thinking. 

So, we must learn to let go of desire itself. No matter what comes up in meditation, we practice letting go. Even when you think to yourself:

* I should eat right now or I won’t have time before work begins.* OMG I just had the best idea for my novel and I should go research it while I feel inspired* I simply MUST go tell my partner to turn down the TV or I won’t be able to meditate

All of these thoughts could be true, and they are still desires. We can build the ‘let go’ muscle by dropping them. It will be ok. You’ll still eat breakfast. 

One of my teachers used to say, “even if Buddha himself shows up in your meditation and tells you YOU are the next incarnate… let it go.”

Let’s practice letting go of desire in today’s episode of The Mindful Minute. We will have a brief discussion followed by a 20-minute guided meditation.

Register for Monday Sept 21 International Day of Peace class as well as the giveaway of the Dalai Lama’s new album Inner World:

https://www.union.fit/events/meryl-arnett-a-practice-for-peace

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/

***Did you know I have a 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

he first level of letting go within a meditation practice is the letting go of tension. 

As we experience anything in life, the very first level of response occurs in our bodies. We lean in to what we love. We twist away from what we dislike. We furrow our brows when something perplexes us. We tense our shoulders or our jaws when we try too hard or feel defeated…

Join me for today’s mini episode of The Mindful Minute as we let go of tension during a guided meditation.

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 practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

**Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/**

***Did you know I have a 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

Within our mindfulness meditation practice, the piece that always receives primary billing is the PRACTICE itself. The effort of concentration or continually returning our mind to the object of focus - most often our breath.

However, there is an equally important second aspect of the practice that we will focus on in this month’s meditation series - detachment or letting go. 

Detachment is the act of releasing all the things we do while “practicing.”  When we practice something we are trying to get better, aren’t we?

My son is taking spanish lessons and the expectation is he will get good-ish at speaking spanish one day. And, I know I don’t have to tell you, the devil is in those expectations. 

So too with our meditation practice.  We EXPECT to get ‘better’ at meditating. 

We expect to

* get calm* get quiet* get happy* feel better* see something* hear something* have some sort of mystical experience

And without the tenant of ‘letting go’ we can get ourselves in quite a tangle. Letting go is the act of disengaging with the normal ways we try to control and understand ourselves within any given moment. 

Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute as we explore the first level of letting go within our meditation practice. 

My Practice For Peace Class is available for registration here: https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

Join me on Sept 21 at 6 a.m. by donation only!

You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/

***Did you know I have a 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

If we want days that feel joyful, we must look for and call out joy. 

If we want days that feel peaceful, we must look for and call out peace. 

It isn’t about making it to the top of the mountain, the end of the trail, or through the tough time. Meditation, and life, is about living fully present and awake, and to move slowly enough to actually enjoy ourselves.

Join me for today’s mini meditation as we learn to sit within the pauses.

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 practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

The poet dreams of the mountain

Sometimes I grow weary of the days, with all their fits and starts.

I want to climb some old gray mountains, slowly, taking

The rest of my lifetime to do it, resting often, sleeping

Under the pines or, above them, on the unclothed rocks.

I want to see how many stars are still in the sky

That we have smothered for years now, a century at least.

I want to look back at everything, forgiving it all,

And peaceful, knowing the last thing there is to know.

All that urgency! Not what the earth is about!

How silent the trees, their poetry being of themselves only.

I want to take slow steps, and think appropriate thoughts.

In ten thousand years, maybe, a piece of the mountain will fall.

~Mary Oliver

This feels so beautifully poignant and important right now. 

We do grow weary, don’t we? 

It can be so hard when we are wrapped up in difficult moments to see beyond them, to remember that behind every gray, cloud-covered sky that we bemoan, there is the exact same blue sky that we rejoice over on the beautiful days. 

We are conditioned to believe in the magical thinking of the future. 

If I can only get HERE then I will be happy/be ok/be peaceful/be successful….

But, what are we missing when our eyes are only on the future?

It isn’t about making it to the top of the mountain, the end of the trail, or through the tough time. 

Life, this life, is about living fully. PERIOD. We live. Awake. Impassioned. Emboldened. Because we only have this moment to rejoice in. To celebrate or enjoy. Just this one. 

And in order to do this, we must see beyond the headlines of the moment. 

We must dig deep into the present moment, mining it for all the gems that lay hidden just under the surface. 

If we want days that feel joyful, we must look for and call out joy. If we want days that feel peaceful, we must look for and call out peace. 

When you feel like throwing your hands up, can we remember to climb slowly, resting often and forgiving it all.

Join me for today’s episode of The Mindful Minute and let’s climb slowly together. We will share in a guided meditation and brief talk of mountains and weariness.

You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/

***Did you know I have a

Today’s mini meditation is a practice in resting in our intrinsic joy. It is a refuge from the difficult moments and a celebration of the magic in the mundane. Join me for this short, sweet practice. 

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 practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Joy is intrinsic to each of us. It is our birthright. Across time, culture and lineage, meditation texts tell us that as we settle deeper into ourselves, what we discover is joy.

Now, for the joy of it {see what I did there??} perhaps you want to Google the definition of joy. And then happiness. And then happy. And enjoy the lack of clarity that comes with these definitions. So, let us turn to the ever-wise definitions offered by Brene Brown - 

“Happiness is tied to circumstances and joyfulness is tied to spirit and gratitude.”

We need both, don’t we? We need the happiness that comes from a flawless Zoom call or 20 sweet minutes when your kids behave.  Equally, it is deeply valuable, especially in the circumstances of 2020, to foster and grow the connection to the piece of us that is NOT tied to circumstances. That amidst online schooling and cancelled vacations and whatever else, we can still experience joy. 

In ancient Greek the word for joy translates to “culmination of being”. 

Since this trait is intrinsic to all of us, I don’t need to teach about how to be more joyful. I think what most of us need is practice getting out of our own way. Joy can be an intense and vulnerable experience. It often triggers feelings of grasping or of fear of what might come next… The best thing we can do is work with these 3 qualities of consciousness that we have focused on in this meditation series:

* Be in the present moment* Be aware of yourself and everything else* Trust the joy that arises as your birthright

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

You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/

***Did you know I have a 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

One of the three qualities of consciousness is a Self that is aware of itself and everything else. What this means in essence is that there is a piece of our consciousness that can see or witness what is happening. This larger awareness knows how we feel about the situation we are in; it knows where we are in space and time; and this knowing is very different from the jumble of thoughts we experience in any given moment. 

Join me for today’s mini-meditation and discover for yourself: what else is happening besides that loud tangle of thoughts and distractions that keeps arising when you meditate?

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 practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

**Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/**

***Did you know I have a 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

What is it that you know, and how does that knowing differ from your thoughts? 

What or who gives context to your experiences and your ideas of self?

When you meditate, what else is happening besides that loud tangle of thoughts and distractions that keeps arising?

One of the three qualities of consciousness is a Self that is aware of itself and everything else. What this means in essence is that there is a piece of our consciousness that can see or witness what is happening. This larger awareness knows how we feel about the situation we are in; it knows where we are in space and time; and this knowing is very different from the jumble of thoughts we experience in any given moment. 

In today’s episode of The Mindful Minute, we are going to break down this expansive, intangible idea of self, and try a unique meditation technique for accessing the Self that knows. I hope you’ll join me!

You can practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!

Many thanks to our sponsor, Go Zafu - the portable meditation cushion designed for outdoor use. The Go Zafu combination meditation pad & cushion removes the logistical and comfort barriers that stand between you and peaceful meditation in nature.

Use code: Mindful10 to save 10% on https://gozafu.com/

***Did you know I have a 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

Our true, deepest Self is ever-present. Always residing in the present moment, which is simultaneously ending and beginning endlessly.

Each moment is infinitely thin, a slender slice of time in the continuum of our lives, and yet, this tiny, tender slice of time contains all that has been in the past as it creates the makings of the future. Equally, the moment is completely fresh. The past has ended and the future has not yet begun.

Join me for today’s mini meditation practice created to help us strengthen our connection to Now. 

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 practice with me live each Monday as I record this podcast. My virtual meditation class includes time for Q&A and a chance to connect with me personally! https://www.union.fit/orgs/meryl-arnett

**Use code: Mindful5 to get your first class for $5!**

Even better, if you enjoyed today’s episode, leave me a review wherever you get your podcasts, screenshot it and send it to [email protected] to get your first live class with me FOR FREE!