Our Mindful Nature {Formerly The Mindful Minute‪}‬ Meryl Arnett

Today’s episode is the meditation offered at this year's Summer Solstice inspired by the poem An Inn for the Coven by Gabrielle Calvocoressi.No discussion, no distraction - just the meditation for your daily practice.Enjoy!Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ (https://merylarnett.substack.com/) to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them athttps://www.nickcmcmahan.com/ (https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/)https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/ (https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/)Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnett (http://instagram.com/merylarnett)youtube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast (http://youtube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast)

Today’s meditation is a live recording from this year’s Summer Solstice Meditation Retreat.Midsummer and the temps are hot… literally and figuratively. As a way to explore the feelings that come with rising temperatures, in today’s class I share two powerful poems:An Inn for the Coven by Gabrielle CalvocoressiThe Guest House by Rumi These poems speak of a place where we are safe. The Inn feels lush, abundant, filled with love and the possibility of beauty.The Guest House feels sturdy, spacious enough for all our feelings to reside without conflict.We hear of our loves, our hurts, and our divinity in these poems; all different and all the same and all inside. And so, this midsummer meditation is an invitation to explore the inn. To travel the grounds finding all the hidden trails.To open all the doors. It is an invitation to create or discover an internal experience of deep, nourishing safety, a place to nurture our love and hope. A place to rest well and to feel fully. Join me for today’s discussion and guided meditation.Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ (https://merylarnett.substack.com/) to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings, sound design, and editing; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them athttps://www.nickcmcmahan.com/ (https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/)https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/ (https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/)Watch on YouTube, Make a donation, or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnett (http://instagram.com/merylarnett)youtube.com/@ourmindfulnature (https://www.youtube.com/@ourmindfulnature)

Today, as the final installment in our Edges series, I am joined by writer, poet, memoirist, teacher, yogi, activist, and mother - Nadia Colburn.Nadia has recently released her newest book of poetry, I Say the Sky - and y’all know how much I love exploring the intersection of poetry and mindfulness. As a start, I want to share one of the review blurbs about Nadia’s newest book because I feel that it so perfectly sums up her work:"From the opening poem and on through this glorious book, Nadia Colburn strikes the difficult balance between celebrating the splendor of the world we inhabit and acknowledging the grief and devastation that none of us can escape. As much a book of love songs as a book of elegies, I Say the Sky is a heart opening and mind sharpening collection." ~Camille T. DungyI couldn’t agree more.In our conversation today, Nadia,who feels like an old friend, and I discuss:* Writing from the body* Agency in times of distress* Meeting edge places in a state of opening rather than contractionWe talk of generative, supportive action and of course we explore mindful writing practices to support ourselves in times of change. Grab your journal and join us!Learn more about Nadia Colburn here: https://nadiacolburn.com/Check out Nadia's FREE 5-day Meditation & Writing Challenge here: https://nadiacolburn.com/free-mindful-writing-challenge/ (https://nadiacolburn.com/free-mindful-writing-challenge/)Learn more about Project Regeneration here: https://regeneration.org/ Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production support of this episode. https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/Please sign up for my newsletter at merylarnett.substack.com to access these meditations as stand-alone audio files for your daily practice. Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast

As you have likely noticed in this month’s episodes, we have moved from the stars to the soil. We will spend the next several episodes exploring edges and ecotones - spaces rife with the very best type of tension. The tension that inspires growth, expansion and action. Today, I am talking with artist, edge-walker, and dear friend Perri Lynch Howard about her experiences in a variety of ecotonal landscapes.Perri is an artist dedicated to forging new narratives from the front lines of climate change. Working in the context of extreme environments is an essential aspect of Howard’s practice, driving her curiosity to seek a deeper sense of place, beyond the dichotomy of near and far. Her artwork resides within the emerging genre of New Polar Aesthetics, expressed through painting, drawing, sculpture and sound.In this episode, Perri shares three of her unique, ecotonal field recordings with us as a way to explore the edges both within and without. We will hear the sounds of Vashon Island, the Great Basin Desert, and Svalbard and throughout we discuss:* Non-judgement * Listening for the truth of the moment* The relational words we use when discussing the land and ourselves* Reciprocal relationship in the time of climate crisis* The first rule of field recording AND meditating (!!)At the end, there is a guided meditation experience of the Vashon Island soundscape as an opportunity for you to explore your own relationship with edges. Thank you to the residencies and agencies that provided the time, space, and resources for Perri to record these incredible landscapes - The Arctic Circle Residency, PLAYA Artist Residency, Vashon Artist Residency, The Puffin Foundation, Artist Trust, and Quiet Parks International.

Last week, we began a new meditation series devoted to exploring the edges - both in the natural world as well as our internal landscape - and today’s interview and meditation practice do exactly that. Marisela B. Gomez is a community activist, public health professional, and physician-scientist. She is a co-founder of Village of Love and Resistance in Baltimore Maryland, organizing for power, healing and the reclamation of land. And,she is a meditation and Buddhist teacher, and a student of the late Zen Master Thich Nhat Han.She recently co-authored a new book, Healing Our Way Home: Black Buddhist Teachings on Ancestors, Joy & Liberation.In today’s episode, Marisela and I talk about the edges and the intersections of contemplative practices, community care and social justice.We talk about * the role of love in practice and action* the misconceptions of self-care* how and why spiritual or contemplative practice is vital for the healing of the planet and all beings.At the end, Marisela guides a beautiful meditation inviting us to explore and soften around our internal edges. Join me!Learn more about Marisela and find her new book here: https://www.mariselabgomez.com/ (https://www.mariselabgomez.com/)Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnettyoutube.com/@themindfulminutepodcastThank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/#meditatewithmeryl

Have you heard of an ecotone before?An ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent and different patches of landscape, such as forest and grassland.Ecotones do not simply represent a boundary or an edge; the concept of an ecotone assumes the existence of active interaction between two or more ecosystems with properties that do not exist in either of the adjacent ecosystems. An ecotone is a meeting place that creates something entirely distinct from either side of the boundary. In essence, 1 + 1 = 3.And this third space is what I want us to explore in this month’s meditation series.Edges, ecotones and third spaces are places of life, energy & growth; they are places of speciation - of creation and evolution.Third spaces are invitations into expansion - into knowing ourselves, our lands, and our actions in a way that wouldn’t be possible if we only resided on one side of the edge.Join me for today’s discussion of ecotones both within ourselves and in the outside world. Thank you to Gordon Hempton for the use of the incredible soundscape in today’s guided meditation. Recorded in North Carolina at Joyce Kilmer National Forest, the Cherokee were some of the first people to hear the sounds of this hardwood forest.Sign up for my newsletter at https://merylarnett.substack.com/ (https://merylarnett.substack.com/) to receive free mini meditations each week, creative musings, and more.Make a donation or learn more about my free offerings and live classes by visiting merylarnett.cominstagram.com/merylarnett (http://instagram.com/merylarnett)youtube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast (http://youtube.com/@themindfulminutepodcast)Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/ (https://www.instagram.com/brianna_podcastpro/)#meditatewithmeryl