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

Swami Rama once said, "Contentment is falling in love with your life." If you've ever been in a long-term relationship you already know - falling in love doesn't happen at once. It happens in fits and starts, over and over again. There is the initial fall, the later moments of irritations and hurts, the deeper discoveries of connection and intimacy, more hurts, more connection... and on and on it goes.

Our experience of waking up to our lives is much the same - there are moments of joy and ease, moments of struggle, even moments of boredom. Through it all, our practice of contentment is the reminder that nothing is missing from this moment. It is complete just as it is. There isn't anything else and there couldn't be anything else in this moment. It already is THIS MOMENT. Join me for a practice in falling in love with your life.

If you'd like to skip right to the meditation, start at minute 4:52.

#meditatewithmeryl

Join me as we enter into this year's Black Friday weekend by setting a mindful intention. Before we shop. Before we eat. Before we connect with friends and family. Let's clear some space and invite in exactly what we most need this holiday season.

If you'd like to skip directly to the meditation, start at minute 3:50

#meditatewithmeryl

re·sist·ance

noun

1. the refusal to accept or comply with something; the attempt to prevent something by action or argument.

2. the ability not to be affected by something, especially adversely.

Today, we are discussing the ways we consciously and unconsciously resist the present moment {even the good ones?!} and how it affects our ability to joyful and awake for our lives.

Join me for a brief talk about resistance, judgment and releasing. Even in traffic! :-)

If you'd like to skip right to the meditation, start at minute 6:33.

#meditatewithmeryl

Our meditation practice is the practice of The Middle Way. Meaning the practice isn't about perfection, a goal or an end-game. The practice IS the practice.

A student once asked his teacher, "is there anything I can do to become enlightened more quickly?"

And, the teacher responded, "as little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning."

"Well, what good are these practices you prescribe?" asked the student.

"To make sure you are awake when the sun starts to rise." replied the teacher.

Let's make sure we are awake today.

If you want to skip right to the meditation, start at 4:45.

#meditatewithmeryl

One of my very favorite questions ever posed to me comes from meditation teacher Tara Brach -

"When you are on your way somewhere, can you appreciate beauty?"

When we think about how our meditation practice can affect our lives off of the "cushion" I think this is perhaps the greatest gift - the ability to see and experience beauty in the quotidien...

Meditation starts at 5:15

#meditatewithmeryl

#truestory This morning, my almost-3-year-old wakes up and the very first words out his mouth are, “Mommy, I’m like sky.” Although I haven’t shared this teaching with him, I love that he innately knows it...

"You are the sky. Everything else - it's just the weather." ~Pema Chodron

This is a powerful understanding for yourself, and it is equally powerful to remember in our connections with others. We don't hold a grudge against the sky because it rained on us; we weather the storm and move through to the best of our ability.

If you would like to skip right to the meditation, start at minute 3:30.

#meditatewithmeryl

This month at Sacred Chill {West} our theme of the month is True Belonging. Not the belonging of fitting in or "finding your tribe", but the belonging of being at home in your body and therefore the world.

I've spent the last month or so immersed in Brene Brown's shame-resilience curriculum, Connections. Her offered antidote for shame is courage, compassion, connection. In my opinion, this is also the recipe for True Belonging -

The courage to share your stories & vulnerabilities.

The compassion to listen to someone else share their stories.

The meaningful connections that we develop through these interactions.

John O'Donohue offers us this quote, "our bodies know that we belong. It's our minds that make us so homeless."

Join me in discussion and meditation as we explore this embodied way to meeting life with our whole heart.

If you'd like to skip right to the meditation, it begins at 3:26.

#mediatewithmeryl

Speaking on the day of the Las Vega tragedy, I don't have any answers. I don't have any action plans or suggestions, even. But, I am sharing my thoughts around cultivating compassion, the importance of meditating and the importance of action.

It has always been my teaching that we meditate to get clear, to feel connected & compassionate, and then from that place we get up and ACT. We stand up against injustice, inequality and a lack of safety. Yet, in a recent sitting with Buddhist monk & teacher Gen Mondrub Kelsang, his teaching was an encouragement to sit. Just sit. To touch and cultivate peace and trust that this alone is the work. His teaching reminded us that we must get clear so that our actions are wise. That we aren't rushing to help because in some hidden way, it supports our ego.

Initially, I shook my head. Crossed my arms and said "nope." Not my teachings. I think we must act and meditating alone isn't enough. And, then while driving to teach Monday morning, I heard the horrible news of the Las Vegas shootings. And, my immediate reaction was what can I DO?! I must fix this messed up, awful world. I must... I must... I must do....

And, then, so clear that I almost stepped on the brakes to physically stop myself, I understood Gen Mondrub's teaching. My immediate response was to try and control. To fix. To do. All of it because in some ways it would make me feel better... So I sat. I sat 3 times on Monday, and again today. I'll keep sitting and getting clear, and when action is apparent, I'll act too.

Offered with love,

Meryl

If you would like to skip right to today's meditation, please start at 4:10.

#meditatewithmeryl

sacredchillwest.com

merylarnett.com

Tapas is a sanskrit term that can described as the friction created when we move against the grain... When we move up against the edges of our comfort-level... Today we spend a few minutes talking about our meditation practice as a form of Tapas and how this "friction" helps us to experience more joy in our daily lives.

To skip directly to the meditation, start at 5:20.

#meditatewithmeryl

sacredchillwest.com

Tapas is a sanskrit word translates to mean "heat". Often it is used within a yoga practice as self-discipline, spiritual growth, transformation, austerities...

From my perspective, these practices can easily take on a harshness if we aren't careful. If I berate myself enough, THEN I will change.... But, the silent, self-judgment does nothing but keep us small, isolated, stuck. It is only from compassion, a sense of gentle kindness, that wise discernment & true growth can occur. Our meditation practice today is just that - an invitation to gentle awareness & compassion. Join me.

If you want to skip right to the meditation, start at 6:01.

For more information and my teaching schedule visit merylarnett.com and sacredchillwest.com. #meditatewithmeryl