Elephant Journal: Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis Waylon H. Lewis

In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon shares a simple Buddhist practice that you can do anywhere, anytime.
" One of the most wonderful Buddhist instructions for how to become present and available, open, joyful, and genuine, in your life is as simple as this: any time of the day, particularly if you're having a hard time, if you're feeling speedy, if you're feeling exhausted, look out your window. Go outside if you can. Then..." ~ Waylon Lewis 
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Waylon chats with Ellie Laks of the beloved animal sanctuaries known as The Gentle Barn, this time about her new book: “Cow Hug Therapy.”
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Waylon speaks about the role of journalism as the pursuit of truth, the trap of "fake news," and how we can all develop our antenna for bullsh*t (including our own) if we pause to examine our sources of "facts." 
"Journalism is simply the search for truth, which makes it similar to science. If you're interested in journalism—whether you're liberal or conservative—you're interested in facts, and you're open to changing your mind and opening your mind, and being proven wrong." ~ Waylon Lewis
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In this week’s Mindful Monday video & podcast, Waylon talks about one thing we can do—every day—to transform our lives for the better. 
"The notion of duty, which we talk a lot about in the military realm or public service, or say in my Buddhist upbringing...it's a very un-American word from the point of view of 'we Americans cherish our freedom or independence.' The way we generally think of it in America or write about it is: my freedom is separate from yours. So it's a sort of independent freedom, not interdependent, not co-dependent, not cooperative. It's all about 'me' and 'my freedom.' That's an interesting notion when you think about the notion of duty. It would seem to be a contradiction.
So, what is our duty as human beings?
I introduced this as the one daily reminder that if you do it every day, it'll transform your entire life.  I don't think that's an exaggeration. In the Buddhist teachings, they talk about vision or view, or Christians may think of it as mission.
What is our mission in life?" ~ Waylon Lewis
Learn more about Elephant Academy's Meditation course: https://bit.ly/meditation_for_crazy_busy_people 
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Waylon meets his all-time favorite Elephant Journal writer, Lynn Shattuck, for the first time. They talk about writing, finding your voice as a writer, how to write about your life in a cathartic, genuine, way and Lynn's thread through much of her writing: the loss of a beloved sibling.
"I was really fortunate. [Elephant] felt like a safe home for my writing. I felt welcomed from the beginning by the editors, and it was a cozy connection." ~ Lynn Shattuck
Read Lynn's writing on Elephant Journal: https://www.elephantjournal.com/profile/lynn-shattuck/
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Waylon talks about how, as human being and as a writer, we can uncover our voices. Hint: it’s not as impossible as it feels.
“Ironically, simply getting present with yourself and out of your own thoughts will enable you to find the words that are genuine and helpful to others.” ~ Waylon Lewis
Learn more about Elephant Academy's Find your Voice course: https://bit.ly/FindYourVoiceFall2024
Subscribe to get our full conversations weekly: https://elephantjournal.com/videos