The Calming Ground Podcast

Elizabeth Mintun
  • 4.9 (17)
  • Alternative Health
  • Updated Daily

This podcast offers a space for busy people to go to for inspiration, wisdom, to learn from one another's struggles and transformations, as well as to receive actionable steps to relax, gain confidence, and move forward with the life they long to experience.

  1. 1d ago

    149 - Exploring Sacred Ritual & Liminal Space: A Conversation with Tracee Stanley

    What if the spaces in between - the breath before the inhale, the dusk before the dark - hold more wisdom than anything we're chasing?  In this episode, yoga nidra teacher and bestselling author Tracee Stanley joins host Elizabeth Mintun to explore liminal space, daily ritual, and the practice of coming home to yourself, one breath at a time. Tracee explains liminal space as the in-between moments most of us are trained to rush past. She offers that ritual doesn't require hours of free time or a five-day retreat to be transformative. She talks about the sandhyas, the sacred junctures of the day (sunrise, midday, sunset) that anchor her own practice, the Soham mantra woven into every breath, and how our attention has become a commodity, pulled and extracted by algorithms built to take us away from ourselves rather than toward what's reciprocal and alive.  This episode is for anyone craving more groundedness in an ordinary, busy life.  Key Takeaways Ritual lives in the ordinary: how you wake, how you drink your tea, how you wash the dishes. Tracee anchors her day to the sandhyas - sunrise, midday, and sunset - rather than waiting for big blocks of free time.Our attention has become commodified. Algorithms are built for extraction; nature and ritual are built for reciprocity. The practice is simply noticing where attention goes and gently calling it home.Soham - the mantra already living in the breath itself (so on the inhale, hum on the exhale) - is one of the simplest doorways into presence. Resources Tracee's website: traceestanley.com   Tracee’s Instagram: @tracee_stanley Living Ritual: Infuse Each Day with Purpose and Spirit - preorder Tracee’s book now; it releases August 25th: https://www.traceestanley.com/livingritual#preorder Radiant Rest: Yoga Nidra for Deep Relaxation and Awakened Clarity - Tracee’s free guided practices: https://soundcloud.com/shambhala-publications/practice-one-grounding-deep?utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=social_sharing&utm_medium=widgetutm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fsoundcloud.com%2Fshambhala-publications%2Fpractice-one-grounding-deep  Tracee’s Soham Meditation : https://on.soundcloud.com/esEnlpiANT0d2Ythyz The Sacred Pause Half-Day Retreat in Clintonville (Columbus, OH):  📅 Saturday July 18th | 9:30 AM –2:30 PM EST  👉 Register for here  Free Guided Meditation: https://thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation Email Elizabeth at elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Want to go deeper in your own practice? Learn more about 1:1 coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    33 min

  2. Jun 24

    148 - Befriending the Resistance

    You know it's time. The relationship, the self-talk, the job… maybe you've known for a while. And still, you haven't moved. In this episode, host Elizabeth Mintun explores the question that's been showing up in client sessions, community conversations, and her own life lately: I know what I need. So why can't I get myself to move? Drawing on nervous system science, this episode offers a gentler way to meet the resistance that shows up right when we're trying to grow.  Key Takeaways Your nervous system ranks options by familiarity, not by what's best for you. A painful pattern has already been survived - your body has proof of that. A new path hasn't been tested yet, so your system defends what's known, even when it hurts.The old pattern is still giving you something, even while it costs you. This is secondary gain, and naming it honestly (without blame) is often the missing piece in understanding why you haven't moved yet.Change takes capacity, not willpower. If you're already running on empty, asking yourself to overhaul a relationship or rebuild your self-talk is asking a depleted system for more output with less fuel. Sometimes the most loving move is rebuilding capacity first. Resources The Sacred Pause Half-Day Retreat in Clintonville (Columbus, OH):  📅 Saturday July 18th | 9:30 AM –2:30 PM EST  👉 Register for here  Free Guided Meditation: https://thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation Email Elizabeth at elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend.

    12 min

  3. Jun 17

    147 - The Fire Element: Summer, the Heart, and the Cost of Doing Too Much

    What if there was ancient wisdom that might be able to help us during the season of summer?  In this solo episode, host Elizabeth Mintun explores the fire element from qigong and Traditional Chinese Medicine and what it means to tend your inner flame rather than just feed it. She opens by reading her poem, written in a parking lot after dropping her daughter off at camp - and uses that moment of emptiness as an entry point into one of the richest teachings of the season. Fire is the element of summer: the element of the heart, of joy, of outward expression and connection. Fire also has a shadow - scattered energy, overstimulation, the performing of aliveness rather than the feeling of it. Elizabeth unpacks the five element framework for listeners new to qigong and TCM, exploring the heart and small intestine as fire's organ pair, the difference between balanced joy and its anxious shadow, and what it actually feels like in the body when fire is in balance versus burning thin.  Resources The Sacred Pause Half-Day Retreat in Clintonville (Columbus, OH):  📅 Saturday July 18th | 9:30 AM –2:30 PM EST  👉 Register for here  Free Guided Meditation: https://thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation Email Elizabeth at elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    21 min

  4. Jun 10

    146 - Why We Fear Our Own Power: A Conversation About Shadow Work with Melanie Ryan

    What if the parts of you you've been hiding - even from yourself - are actually your greatest source of power? In this illuminating conversation, host Elizabeth Mintun sits down with Melanie Ryan, psychotherapist, Buddhist teacher, shamanic practitioner, and creator of the Golden Shadow Method. Melanie explores how the unconscious holds not just our wounds, but also our greatest gifts, and how ancient wisdom traditions can guide us back to the light of our own true nature. Melanie shares her remarkable journey from conventional psychotherapist to weaving together Carl Jung, Tibetan Buddhism, and shamanism into a transformative healing path. Together, Elizabeth and Melanie explore why we are so often more afraid of our own power than our pain, how shadow work can help us reclaim hidden parts of ourselves, and why our triggers (both dark and golden) are actually allies pointing us toward healing.  Whether you are deep in your own healing journey or simply curious about what lies beneath the surface, this conversation offers profound insight into the ancient wisdom that has always known: you are already good. Key Takeaways The shadow holds your golden gifts, talents, and power too.Basic goodness is your true nature; the work is removing what covers it.Your triggers are teachers, not enemies - they point directly to where healing wants to happen.Play and creativity are essential doorways into the golden shadowAncient wisdom traditions - Jung, Buddhism, shamanism - all point to the same truth: we are not separate from love Resources Melanie's Website: goldenshadowmethod.com Newsletter & Ancient Wisdom Today: ancientwisdomtoday.com Melanie on Instagram & Facebook: @golden.shadow.method   Melanie's upcoming retreat The Golden Shadow Method at The Omega Institute, New York: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/golden-shadow-method The Sacred Pause Half-Day Retreat in Clintonville (Columbus, OH):  📅 Saturday July 18th | 9:30 AM –2:30 PM EST  👉 Register for here  Free Guided Meditation: https://thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation Email Elizabeth at elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    45 min

  5. Jun 3

    145 - The Hidden Exhaustion of Always Trying to Heal: My Journey from Self-Improvement to Wholeness

    What if you are already whole, just as you are?  In this episode, host Elizabeth Mintun shares a very personal story of her painful divorce, navigating the complexities of a blended family, and spending years immersed in self-development. She talks about how nature, forest bathing, qigong, and simple mindfulness practices helped me move from striving toward wholeness to recognize that wholeness was already present.  Key Takeaways Insight alone isn’t enough. Understanding your patterns can be transformative and yet, intellectual awareness is different from embodying compassion, presence, and self-acceptance in everyday life. Consistent practices that reconnect us with our breath, our bodies, and the present moment are so simple and yet powerfully transformative. Nature invites presence. The natural world invites us into relationship, rhythm and connection with the present moment. Wholeness doesn’t mean perfection. Recognizing your wholeness doesn’t deny pain, wounds, or growth. Recognizing your wholeness means that you already have value and beauty, just as you are.  Resources  The Sacred Pause Half-Day Retreat in Clintonville (Columbus, OH):  📅 Saturday July 18th | 9:30 AM –2:30 PM EST  👉 Register for here  Free Guided Meditation: https://thecalmingground.com/free-guided-meditation Email Elizabeth at elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    14 min

  6. May 27

    144 - Gentle Reminders for When You’re Overwhelmed: How to Return to Presence, Purpose & Nourishing Practices

    What if the most powerful thing we can offer each other isn't a strategy, but actually just a kind reminder? In this episode, host Elizabeth Mintun addresses what it really means to return to presence, to yourself, and to what sustains you. She covers Harvard research on mind-wandering and why it matters for your wellbeing, the Sanskrit concept of smriti (mindfulness as remembrance), why our nourishing practices fall away and how to return without shame, and why the most radical thing someone can offer us is often the simplest: come back. Key Takeaways Your body is always in the present tense. When your mind wanders, sensation and breath are some of your fastest anchors back.Losing yourself rarely happens in one moment - it happens in a thousand small ones. Coming back is the same: one small, honest act at a time..When a nourishing practice falls away, start smaller than you think you should - the goal is to re-establish contact, not to immediately return to full capacity.Smriti, the Sanskrit root of mindfulness, literally means remembrance.  Resources  The Sacred Pause Half-Day Retreat in Clintonville (Columbus, OH):  📅 Saturday July 18th | 9:30 AM –2:30 PM EST  👉 Register for here  Email Elizabeth at elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    26 min

  7. May 20

    143 - Flowing with Grief: Meeting Loss Through Movement and Ritual

    What happens when grief feels too heavy to hold with words alone?  In this moving conversation, host Elizabeth Mintun sits down with Kelsey Moro, dance movement & creative arts therapist and founder of Riverbend Grief. Kelsey explores how grief lives in the body - and how movement, breath, ritual, and community can help us reconnect to ourselves after loss.  In this conversation, Kelsey shared her personal journey into grief work after the tragic loss of a friend in high school transformed her relationship with dance and ultimately led her to become a grief therapist. Together, Elizabeth and Kelsey explore the ways grief can leave us feeling frozen, disconnected, or afraid to fully feel - and how gentle movement practices can help us safely meet our grief rather than avoid it. Whether you’re navigating loss yourself or supporting.c someone who is grieving, this conversation offers compassionate insight into the healing power of embodiment, ritual, and community.  Key Takeaways You do not need to be a dancer to benefit from movement-based healing. Breath itself is a form of movement and can be a powerful starting point. Small daily grief rituals can help grief feel less overwhelming.  Resources  Kelsey’s upcoming retreats:  Conscious Grieving Retreat in Mill Valley, CA Creative Grief Tending Retreat at The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY Kelsey’s Website: www.riverbendgrief.com Kelsey’s Email: riverbendgrief@gmail.com Kelsey’s Instagram: riverbend_grief Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Contact Elizabeth: elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    31 min

  8. May 13

    142 - From Public Shame to Personal Freedom with Melissa Petro

    What happens when the thing you’ve spent years trying to hide becomes the very thing that sets you free? In this episode, host Elizabeth Mintun sits down with author and writing coach Melissa Petro for an honest conversation about shame, storytelling, identity, and the courage to be seen. Together, Elizabeth and Melissa explore the healing power of writing, the difference between secrecy and privacy, and how telling the truth about our lives can help loosen shame’s grip.  This conversation is compassionate, nuanced, and full of insight for anyone who has ever felt afraid that parts of themselves were “too much,” “unacceptable,” or unworthy of being seen. Key Takeaways You become the narrator. When you write about your past, you create distance from the person you were. The "older, wiser narrator" can make meaning without being the shame. You are no longer your shameful path - it's past tense.Move at the speed of trust. Melissa is clear that radical honesty is a privilege not everyone has - there are real consequences to revealing stigmatized parts of yourself. Her advice: start in safe containers. A journal. A trusted friend. A small workshop. Shame resilience is a muscle - and it can become a superpower. The more you practice telling your truth in safe spaces and being met with kindness, the more resilient you become when you're not. You stop internalizing what doesn't belong to you.When you tell your truth, you give others permission. The ripple effect is real. Melissa hears it constantly: I've had that experience too. Thank you for saying it out loud. One honest story makes room for a hundred more. Resources  Melissa’s upcoming workshop at the Omega Institute: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/writing-shame-resilience Melissa’s website: melissa-petro.com Melissa’s book: Shame on You: How to Be a Woman in the Age of Mortification - available wherever books are sold Melissa’s free monthly workshop: Write It Anyway meets the last Wednesday of every month, 6–8pm EST. Email melissa.petro@gmail.com to get the link. Instagram: @melissa.petro Learn more about 1:1 Coaching with Elizabeth Mintun here  Contact Elizabeth: elizabethmintun@thecalmingground.com Find Elizabeth on Facebook & IG @thecalmingground Subscribe to The Calming Ground Podcast so you never miss an episode. If you loved this conversation, please share it with a friend

    32 min
See All (149)

4.9
out of 5
17 Ratings

About

This podcast offers a space for busy people to go to for inspiration, wisdom, to learn from one another's struggles and transformations, as well as to receive actionable steps to relax, gain confidence, and move forward with the life they long to experience.

Information

  • Creator
    Elizabeth Mintun
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    149
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Calming Ground All Rights Reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Calming Ground Podcast

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