Episode 037 of Living in Response is the beginning of a journey into sharing one of my greatest loves - meditation. After 46 minutes of an intro (lol) into meditation from my perspective as well as the biology that supports meditation, I share a short grounding experience that integrates my ideas. If you participate in the mediation - I would love to hear from you!

I can’t thank you enough for witnessing my real-time experience with being at the beginning (a little over a month!). If anything, this raw (unedited, unfiltered, unscripted), stream of consciousness podcast is an exploration and documentation of what it means to “just start.” <3

Topics Covered in This Episode:Summarized (mostly) with AI

1️⃣ Getting Stuck in Analysis ParalysisI sat for 10 minutes overthinking how to start this episode. My nervous system was buzzing, part of me was afraid, part of me excited. I was attempting to strategically plan out the episode when I realized that I can trust that I don’t actually need to plan everything out and off I went.

2️⃣ Why I’m Starting to Share MeditationsThis is my first time offering a meditation on the podcast. Even though I’ve led and created meditations before, this moment felt like a real step. And steps, especially big ones, can feel scary—so I honored that and shared it.

3️⃣ Meditation Is My BirthrightTo me, meditation isn’t a chore or something to “get right.” It’s a birthright—a natural part of being human. Just like eating or sleeping, we’re biologically built for it. That alone is worth celebrating.

4️⃣ The Folding-in-the-Cheese of MeditationMeditation can feel vague and frustrating—like the Schitt’s Creek scene where no one explains how to “fold in the cheese.” I’ve felt that too. This episode is my attempt to offer something more concrete and body-based.

5️⃣ We’re Biologically Hardwired to MeditateMeditation isn’t reserved for monks. We have built-in systems—interoception, proprioception, spatial awareness—that make meditation possible for all of us. It’s just that most of us were never taught how to work with them.

6️⃣ Interoception: The Missing SenseI talk about the eighth sensory system: interoception, or our ability to feel internal sensations. It's how we know we’re hungry, how we track emotions, and how we feel grounded. This one sense changed everything for me.

7️⃣ How Intention Becomes BiologyInspired by Candace Pert’s Molecules of Emotion, I share how our thoughts create neuropeptides that change how we feel. Intention isn’t just woo—it’s embodied chemistry. I explore how this makes meditation even more powerful.

8️⃣ Your Body Can’t Time TravelWhile the mind jumps to past and future, the body is always here. Meditation is how I anchor into the present—through breath, sensation, and inner awareness. The body is my portal to now.

9️⃣ An Interoceptive Grounding Meditation (Starts at ~46:00)I offer a guided grounding practice using spatial awareness and interoception—sensing into the earth, then slowly tracking upward into the body. This practice is designed to help you feel grounded, present, and deeply connected using your body’s biological mechanisms as support and the body itself as an anchor.

🔟 The Process Is the ArtThis episode was imperfect and vulnerable, but that’s what made it beautiful. I’m learning to see my process not as something to rush through—but as the art itself. Thank you for being here with me.

Mentions & Resourcesnot affiliated, just a fan

📚 Molecules of Emotion by Candace Pert🧠 Interoception & Proprioception🌀 Neuro-Somatic Mindfulness (Dr. Fleet Maull)🧘‍♀️ Meditation as Birthright🌳 The Meditation Tree metaphor😂 “Fold in the cheese” – Schitt’s Creek scene (with Catherine O’Hara & Dan Levy)🎧 Timestamp: ~46:00 – Guided Grounding Meditation Begins🗣️ Quote about going to the woods to experience, not to find

So many thanks to all the people who are out there doing their thing and inspiring people like me in the process (whether they know it or not!).

Mystically,

Belle

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mysticallybelle.substack.com