Why Can't I Meditate? Podcast

Deb Phelps

A short, honest podcast about meditation for people who think they can’t meditate and includes short meditation practices. With Deb Phelps — meditation teacher since 1980, offering simple guidance, a little humor, and practices that help you begin again. debphelps.substack.com

  1. Aug 4

    Ep. 20: When We Truly Listen

    LISTEN TO EPISODE Listening seems simple, yet it’s one of the most meaningful gifts we can offer another person. How often are we already planning our response while someone else is still talking? How often do we jump in with advice before they’ve finished sharing? And how often do we listen just long enough to know when it’s our turn to speak? In this episode of Why Can’t I Meditate?, we explore how meditation can help us become more present—not only with ourselves, but with the people we care about. We’ll look at the difference between hearing words and truly listening, why silence can sometimes be the kindest response, and how simply being present can deepen our relationships. This episode includes This Week’s Gentle Practice and a short guided meditation to help you cultivate a more receptive, compassionate way of listening. Sometimes the greatest gift we can offer isn’t the perfect answer. It’s our presence. The August Meditation Challenge is a gentle invitation to return to daily meditation with more consistency, support, and ease. Throughout the month, I’ll share a short daily message in our free Skool community to help you stay encouraged and connected to the practice. And if you’d like a simple library of guided practices you can return to anytime, my Audio Meditation Library on Palette is available for $5 a month. 🌿 Details on meditatewithdeb.com Get full access to Meditate with Deb | Peaceful Wellness at debphelps.substack.com/subscribe

  2. Jul 28

    Ep. 19: The Little Moments We Almost Miss

    Listen Here We often imagine that the meaningful parts of life will be easy to recognize: a celebration, a vacation, an accomplishment, or a perfectly peaceful day when nothing goes wrong. But much of life happens in much smaller moments. The first sip of coffee or tea. Sunlight coming through a window. A familiar voice. A pet settling beside you. The simple relief of taking off uncomfortable shoes at the end of the day. In this episode of Why Can’t I Meditate?, we explore how meditation helps us become more available to these ordinary moments—not by turning everything into a grand spiritual experience, but by pausing long enough to notice the life already happening around us. This episode includes This Week’s Gentle Practice and a short guided meditation to help you slow down, reconnect with your senses, and receive one ordinary moment before it quietly passes by. Sometimes a moment does not need to be extraordinary to be meaningful. We simply need to be present for it. The August Meditation Challenge is a gentle invitation to return to daily meditation with more consistency, support, and ease. Throughout the month, I’ll share a short daily message in our free Skool community to help you stay encouraged and connected to the practice. And if you’d like a simple library of guided practices you can return to anytime, my Audio Meditation Library on Palette is available for $5 a month. 🌿 meditatewithdeb.com Get full access to Meditate with Deb | Peaceful Wellness at debphelps.substack.com/subscribe

    Ep. 19: The Little Moments We Almost Miss
  3. Jul 21

    Ep. 18: The Space Between Expectations and Reality

    We all carry expectations—about how the day should unfold, how other people should respond, how productive we should be, and even how meditation should feel. Then reality arrives with plans of its own. In this episode of Why Can’t I Meditate?, we explore what happens when the moment in front of us does not match the picture we created in our minds. Meditation may not persuade life to follow the schedule, but it can help us notice our resistance, soften around the word should, and respond to what is actually happening. This episode includes This Week’s Gentle Practice and a short guided meditation to help you hold expectations more lightly without giving up on what matters to you. Sometimes peace does not come from making reality match our plans. Sometimes it begins when we loosen our grip on how we thought things were supposed to be. The August Meditation Challenge is a gentle invitation to return to daily meditation with more consistency, support, and ease. Throughout the month, I’ll share a short daily message in our free Skool community to help you stay encouraged and connected to the practice. And if you’d like a simple library of guided practices you can return to anytime, my Audio Meditation Library on Palette is available for $5 a month. If you’d like more personalized guidance in your meditation practice, I offer one-on-one mentoring. 🌿 meditatewithdeb.com Get full access to Meditate with Deb | Peaceful Wellness at debphelps.substack.com/subscribe

  4. Jul 16

    An Invitation to the August Meditation Challenge

    Have you ever wanted to meditate more consistently? Perhaps you’ve started before but found it difficult to keep going. Maybe life became busy, or you weren’t sure if you were “doing it right.” You’re not alone. This August, I’d like to invite you to join me for the August Meditation Challenge—a gentle, supportive month of daily guided meditations designed to help you build a meditation practice one day at a time. This isn’t about perfection. It isn’t about meditating for hours each day. And it certainly isn’t about having a perfectly quiet mind. It’s simply an invitation to pause, breathe, and care for your inner world. In this special podcast episode, I’m sharing an audio invitation that explains what the challenge is all about, what you can expect, and why I believe meditation is one of the most important forms of essential self-care. If you decide to join the challenge, you’ll receive 31 guided meditations throughout August inside the Audio Meditation Library, where you can practice at your own pace. You’re also warmly invited to join our free Peaceful Wellness Skool Community for encouragement, reflections, and optional Community Gatherings throughout the month. Whether you’re completely new to meditation or returning to a practice you’ve missed, I hope you’ll join me. Let’s discover what can happen when we simply show up for ourselves... one breath, one moment, and one gentle day at a time. 🌿 Learn more and join the August Meditation Challenge: meditatewithdeb.com 🌿 Join the free Peaceful Wellness Skool Community: Join here Get full access to Meditate with Deb | Peaceful Wellness at debphelps.substack.com/subscribe

About

A short, honest podcast about meditation for people who think they can’t meditate and includes short meditation practices. With Deb Phelps — meditation teacher since 1980, offering simple guidance, a little humor, and practices that help you begin again. debphelps.substack.com