Heart Haven Meditations: Recent Episodes
Tess Callahan
Weekly meditations to calm your mind, connect to your heart, and take refuge in love. These practices draw from neuroscience, wisdom traditions, and teachers such as Adyashanti, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Joe Dispenza, Andrew Holecek, Carl Jung, Byron Katie, Thomas Merton, and Jack Kornfield. Tess Callahan, Ed.M., MFA, is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and author of the novel APRIL & OLIVER. Tess invites you to attune to your own creative powers through intimate inner listening. You can find her novel writing at: https://tesscallahan.com/. Heart Haven Meditations is also on YouTube. Relax and enjoy!
Healing music designed to gently guide you into deep restorative sleep. Composed by the fabulous Eric Fischer, the notes are literally imbued with love. May you feel safe, protected, and free to relax into sleep.
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Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Alternate nostril breathing or Nadi Shodhana is breathing technique from yoga that promotes relaxation, clarity, and stress relief. It involves inhaling and exhaling through one nostril at a time, alternating sides, and can benefit the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. It aids in lowering blood pressure, improving heart rate variability, enhancing lung function, and activating the parasympathetic nervous system. Mentally, it calms the mind, reduces anxiety, and improves focus. Spiritually, it balances the body's energy channels (nadis), promoting deep states of consciousness and transformation. Practiced correctly, it can lead to a calmer, clearer mind and better sleep.
Sound mixing by the fabulous Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Though Savasana (or shavasana), the “Corpse Pose,” is a relaxation practice often used at the end of a yoga session, it can be done anytime to cultivate rest, rejuvenation, and wellbeing. It invites you to release tension, surrender to gravity, and allow the body-mind to come into a state of ease. Imitating a corpse helps you to release your grip on the impulse to alter or fix the present moment in any way. By symbolically surrendering to death, you relinquish worry and relax into stillness. Savasana fosters inner peace that can stay with you long after the practice is over. I learned this version from my yoga teacher, Tony Rivers, who was a student of B.K.S. Iyengar. My sound engineer Eric Fischer gets credit for the deeply relaxing soundscape. I hope you enjoy.
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Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Dr. Andrew Holecek discusses Dark Retreat—a Tibetan Buddhist practice of spending extended periods in complete darkness—and its transformative effects on creativity, healing, and spiritual insight. Dark Retreat is “big medicine” not to be undertaken lightly. Like any retreat, its power relies on its integration. His new book on the subject is:
Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Darkness for Creativity, Healing, and Transformation
Dr. Holecek is an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner in Tibetan Buddhism and other nondual wisdom traditions. He is the Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, and a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University. His work involves studies on dream yoga and the practice of dark retreat. Dr. Holecek is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the author of nine books, and a concert pianist. He has completed the Tibetan Buddhist three-year retreat and is a frequent subject in scientific studies on meditation and lucid dreaming. His work integrates ancient wisdom traditions with contemporary perspectives, aiming to help individuals navigate spiritual challenges and end-of-life experiences. He is currently writing a book on “gray” retreat—a more gradual approach to dark retreat. He holds degrees in classical music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery. You can find him at: https://www.andrewholecek.com/
Retreat Centers:
- Sky Cave / Oregon: https://www.skycaveretreats.com/
- Dark Havens / Vermont: http://www.darkhavens.org/
- Chamma Ling / Colorado: https://chammaling.com/
- Menla / New York (coming soon): https://menla.org/
Other Books by Holecek:
- Dreams of Light
- Dream Yoga
- Lucid Dreaming Workbook
- Preparing to Die
- I'm Mindful, Now What?
- Reverse Meditation
- The Power and the Pain
- Meditation in the iGeneration
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
What if every meal began with a moment of intimate connection? In this episode, I offer a short practice for thanking your food, a blessing that moves through the plants, water, sun, animals, and human hands that brought your meal to you. Simple enough to carry in your mind, deep enough to quietly change how you eat. May it nourish your soul!
Music and sound mixing by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This brief meditation encourages you to find moments of connection to yourself and to Spirit throughout your day, no matter what challenges you’re facing. The act of pausing supplies the calm clarity we need to address our challenges wisely. Be attentive to portals to presence, and observe the observer within. The meditation concludes with a quote from the 12th century Christian mystic Meister Eckhart about the unity of love. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
There’s a lot going on—in the world, in us. So how do we hold it all? This meditation grew out of a friend’s morning and evening prayer: “whatever” and “oh well.” Simple, honest, maybe even a little funny—but also surprisingly profound. Together we explore what it means to release ourselves into the present moment, to notice what’s well and good even amidst what’s broken, and to make our hearts big enough to hold it all. Includes a reading of Rumi’s “The Guest House" and the Serenity Prayer. I hope you enjoy.
Thank you creative genius, Eric Fischer, for the inspiration.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Yoga Nidra relaxes your body into deep restorative sleep while your mind, like a night-blooming flower, opens to formless awareness. Over the course of these 8 hours, the guiding voice softens into ocean waves, yet remains barely audible to guide you back to sleep should you awaken during the night. Drawn partly from the teachings of Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, this practice includes a complete body relaxation, 61-point exercise, and ascending breath practice. Yoga Nidra relaxes the body and mind, and unhooks the neuro-conditioning that keeps you stuck. Studies show regular practice alleviates stress, PTSD and improves wellbeing. I wish deep, restorative sleep.
Audio engineering and remixing: Eric Fischer
Music: Christopher L Clarke
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
In this special episode of Heart Haven Meditations, Tess Callahan speaks with author George Saunders abou the intersection of meditation, writing, and his Buddhist practice. Drawing from his new novel Vigil, Saunders reflects on attention, revision as a form of meditation, and the challenge of inhabiting another person's consciousness with honesty and care. Saunders emphasizes the value of cultivating “a quiet mind” in writing and in life.
George Saunders is the author of thirteen books, including the novel Lincoln in the Bardo, which won the Man Booker Prize, and five collections of stories, including Tenth of December, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and the recent collection Liberation Day. Saunders hosts the popular Story Club on Substack, which grew out of his book on the Russian short story, A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. In 2013, he was named one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People by Time. He teaches in the creative writing program at Syracuse University.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This contemplative meditation draws from the fourth century BCE Taoist master Chuang Tzu, as retold by Thomas Merton. Through the ancient parable of wind moving through ten thousand holes in the earth, we listen to nature’s voice—a symphony of mooing, roaring, and whistling that emerges when the invisible breath of life moves through all things. The voice of the wind becomes a powerful metaphor for the higher power many seek in recovery and spiritual practice: an unseen presence speaking through us, singing the music of our lives. What is it that blows through these ten thousand holes? This teaching invites you to rest in stillness, to listen deeply, and to surrender to the mysterious power whose voice awakens all beings. Perfect for those seeking presence, peace, and connection to something greater than themselves.
Based on “The Breath of Nature” from The Way of Chuang Tzu by Thomas Merton.
Music by Eric Fischer and Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This talk/meditation invites you to access inner wisdom through sleep and the liminal spaces between waking and sleeping. In many ancient traditions, monks, yogis, and shamans dreamed worlds into being. These dreamed realms, called Pure Lands, Buddha Fields, and Fields of Spirit, exist outside of ordinary time and can be visited in meditation and dreams. They are, in essence, the Kingdom of God within you. This practice invites you to set an intention to visit these realms in dreams, releasing any expectations, and preparing the mind and body for deep, restful sleep. The meditation guides you into state of deep coherence and surrender. Relax and enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is a guided relaxation meditation for promoting restful sleep. If possible, aim for a dark, quiet, cool sleeping environment. The meditation invites you to recall a moment of gratitude from you day, followed by a full-body relaxation scan, and a short round of 4-7-8 breathing (inhaling for four seconds, holding for seven, and exhaling for eight). Then, you release your breath, letting the body breathe naturally as you visualize the heart and mind mingling. The main focus is on surrendering the mind to deep, peaceful sleep. The session ends with five minutes of ocean wave sounds. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is the final episode of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. It recaps the previous meditations and encourages you to challenge yourself to see the face of God in all people, all places, all animals, and all situations. Awakening is not for the faint of heart, but it leads us to experience life in ways beyond our wildest imagination.
The 30 practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 30. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This forgiveness practice is number 29 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. When you forgive someone else, you release yourself from them. When you forgive yourself, you release yourself from the past. Forgiveness is about letting go. While feelings as they arise have a right to be felt and anger can often be justified, persistent states of hatred, rage and resentment are corrosive to our wellbeing. They are hindrances on the path to insight. Here you are invited to forgive as a way of freeing yourself.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 28. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 28 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This practice is simple, pointed, and powerful. It takes courage to love, to be honest, to understand another person, and yourself. Here you're invited to notice your sticking points, places where you hold on, become overly insistent, or pull back too far, and to meet those places with courage.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 28. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Music and audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 27 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode, drawn from the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, invites you to seek to understand yourself and others before seeking to be understood. When you understand yourself deeply, the demand that others understand you begins to melt away. Your heart and mind open, and you enjoy life more. Demanding that others understand BEFORE you try to understand them can block awakened consciousness from streaming through you. By seeking to understand, you open energetic pathways within yourself through which your own insight can flow.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 27. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Music: Lovingkindness by Six Missing (used with permission).
Audio: Eric Fischer.
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 26 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to bring a sense of spaciousness into your conversations, to get curious about the tiny but impactful turns inherent to all dialogue, and to bring an intention for peace into those moments. It's a practice of deep listening to yourself and another.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 26. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Music and audio by the stupendous Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 25 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. It includes some imagery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but it's not necessary to be Christian to enjoy the metaphor. My previous episode was about telling the truth, but truth without love is hollow. Here you are invited walk through your day leading with your heart -- a simple but utterly transformative experience. I hope you enjoy.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 25. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 24 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to do something radical, namely to tell the truth, with kindness, all day today, both in your conversations and in your head. As we seek to grow, we often confront holdouts, those parts of us that aren’t sure they want to change. Noticing when we shade or twist the truth brings us to the cutting edge of our growth, the nitty gritty of enlightenment. If being authentic evokes fear, get curious. Lean into what's happening inside you. Telling the truth is a deceptively simple and incredibly powerful tool for spiritual growth.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 24. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 23 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you root yourself in Presence. The more present you are, the more you experience your sense of aliveness. Practicing presence opens up energetic pathways in your subtle body through which consciousness, and therefore joy, can flow.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 23. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Music by Six Missing.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 22 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to become conscious of what you are thinking about your experience. How you relate to your thoughts determines the quality of your being in the next moment. You have the power to gently choose what to focus on, and thereby to dramatically shift your relationship to whatever life brings your way. It's surprisingly simple. You can change the quality of your being.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 22. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
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Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 21 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode is about going from nothing to everything and beyond. It invites you to see life as one continuous whole and to experience infinite potential.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 21. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Join debut novelist Carrie Birde author of A Small Tale of Uncommon Grace (Blydyn Square Books) as she discusses her creative process, her road to publication, and the unique spiritual and artistic practices that help her transmute suffering—her own and the world’s—into daily acts of beauty. A literary fairy tale, her novel explores themes of community, connection, and communication. Carrie shares her personal rituals, including yoga, Qigong, and creating paper cranes, which help her manage anxiety and connect with her environment. She offers advice for aspiring writers to stay true to their heart and maintain a sense of aliveness in their creativity.
Carrie is a poet, fiction writer, artist, and amateur photographer. Like many characters in those stories, she has personal friendships with wild animals, especially birds, who know her by face.
I also interviewed Carrie in written format on Substack where she further explored these topics. I hope you enjoy this heartfelt interview about things ordinary and extraordinary.
Attend Carrie’s virtual book launch Friday, September 19, 2025, 7:00pm via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84707033106. Attend her live event at the Boonton Coffee House Saturday, Octboer 11, 2025 at 7pm. Learn more about her work at CarrieBirde.com. Follow her on Instagram.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 20 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to rediscover innocence, to let your senses be like that of a newborn, every moment as a new creation.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 20. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Join novelist Paula Saunders as she discusses her moving autobiographical novel Starting from Here, just out from Penguin Random House. A stand-alone sequel to The Distance Home, the novel follows 15-year old René through the challenges of adolescence within the pressure cooker of cultural and socioeconomic stressors. Saunders draws from her own experiences as a ballet dancer. A long-time practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism, she shares how a Catholic nun introduced her to the work of Thich Nhat Hanh. Paula describes how writing has helped her integrate the past, and instilled in her a more compassionate relationship to her younger self and her family of origin.
Paula grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota. She is a graduate of the Syracuse University creative writing program and was awarded a postgraduate Albert Schweitzer Fellowship at SUNY Albany, under Schweitzer chair Toni Morrison. Her first book, The Distance Home, was longlisted for The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize and named one of the best books of the year by Real Simple. She lives in California with her husband. They have two grown daughters.
Learn more about her work at paulasaundersbooks.com.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 19 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to find yourself by losing yourself. This is something we cannot “do” but rather “allow.” We let go of the notion of self that has no independent reality in order to experience our true identity, which is paradoxically personal and universal. What is truly me is no other than what is truly you, and what is truly all.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 19. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Music: "Lovingkindness" by Six Missing.
Nature sounds added by Eric Fischer.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 18 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to take a leap into the realm beyond description, a leap of love, born of your care for yourself, others, and the planet. We let go of who we imagine ourselves to be in order to experience who we really are.
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 18. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by the stupendous Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 17 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to relax and let go of ideas, assumptions, agendas, and self-orientation---to be what Christ called, "poor in spirit." This relinquishment allows you to enter the dark core of your being that is always and forever in direct contact with the mysterious, unknown dimension of Being. In this way, you become the space through which Eternity gazes into the world of time. Your eyes are the eyes of Eternity.
The first of eight beatitudes taught by Jesus at the Sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" implies that through the surrender of self-preoccupation, we experience heaven in real time, here and now. Heaven is not "out there." Adyashanti echoes Christ's message: "The kingdom of God is within you."
These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 17. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio & Music by the stupendous Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 16 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to relinquish all struggle, release yourself into awareness, and rest into the dark mystery of your being. It can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 16. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio & Music by the stupendous Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 15 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode guides you into entering the ground of your being, the silence, stillness and peace beyond all understanding that rests in your depths, and which can be accessed even in life's most turbulent moments. It's always there.
This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 15. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio & Music by the stupendous Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 14 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to rest in the paradox of "being" and "becoming." It encourages you to bring the energy of the spiritual heart into your conversations and interactions throughout your day.
This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 14. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 13 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to let your human heart be soaked in the presence of your spiritual heart, allowing it to restore and reorient your whole being to completeness and wholeness.
This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 13. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 12 of a 30-day meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode is a reflection on the Buddhist saying, "This very body is the Buddha." Your body, your being, is an expression of life becoming conscious of itself through you. This meditation can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 12. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Music and audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is number 11 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This heart-centered meditation focuses on experiencing yourself and the world around you as pure energy, and touching into the unity of existence. This practice can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 11. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
As part of a 30-day series of short enlightenment practices, this meditation focuses on awakening your spiritual heart, and mixing it with your senses, (touch, sight, hearing, smelling, tasting). The spiritual heart is your perceptual center. It lies dormant in most human beings, but wants to be stirred awake. This practice can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 10. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Music and audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
As part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices, this meditation focuses on devotedly abiding in the silent presence of the heart. It can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 9. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices. This particular practice helps you connect not just with your emotional heart--which opens and closes--but with your spiritual heart, the sacred heart, that is always open and vast as awareness itself. The sacred heart connects us all. Use this meditation in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. The practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 8. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 7. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 6. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek, Pema Chodron, and Eckhart Tolle. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 5. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 4. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.
Music and audio by Eric Fischer.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 3. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of short awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 2. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is part of a 30-day series of awakening practices that I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. This meditation correlates to Day 1. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
This is an introduction to a 30-day series of short practical meditations I will be posting over the next few weeks. They can be used in the morning, at bedtime, or on the spot in the course of your day. They build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, but if there is one in particular that speaks to you, feel free to stick with it. Loosely based on the teachings of Adyashanti, they can be used alone or as a companion to his audio series, The 30-Day Wake Up Challenge, or his book, The Direct Way: 30 Practices to Evoke Awakening. In some cases, the meditations are also loosely inspired by the teachings of Andrew Holecek and Pema Chodron. I hope you enjoy.
Music and audio editing by Eric Fischer of Audi-Refined.com.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Internationally renowned speaker, physician, and author Dr. Samra Zafar speaks with Tess about her new book Unconditional: Break Through Past Limits to Transform Your Future, which explores breaking free from old conditioning and embracing self-acceptance. She shares her journey from an abusive marriage to building a better life, emphasizing the importance of meditation, visualization, and unlearning. Zafar highlights the concept of "parts work" therapy to understand and heal different aspects of oneself. She stresses the significance of solitude, self-compassion, and community in personal growth. Zafar also underscores the power of self-trust, mentorship, and the courage to pursue dreams, despite fear, to achieve unconditional self-acceptance.
Dr. Zafar has been recognized among the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada and the Top 25 Canadian Immigrants. Her memoir A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose, was a national bestseller. She is the founder and executive director of Brave Beginnings, a national charity that provides mentorship to women who have escaped abuse. Her work has impacted millions and has been featured in national and global media. Samra Zafar’s speaking portfolio includes four successful TEDx Talks and many leading organizations around the world. You can find out more about her work at: www.samrazafar.com. Samra's huge heart and depth of wisdom are evident in this fascinating conversation. Enjoy!
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Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
In moments of personal or collective anxiety it is easy to feel thrown. This meditation offers an opportunity to cultivate calm clarity through attuning to your heart. Life requires us to walk through many portals, some more challenging than others. Hard times allow us to discover who we are, to find our mettle. This meditation invites you to open to whatever life presents you in this moment, to feel the weather in your heart, to be curious. When we allow the inner waters to become still, we find the clarity we need to respond to life with wisdom and agency. The track begins with a 6-minute introduction. The meditation starts at 06:20. Enjoy!
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio editing by Eric FIscher of Audi-Refined.com.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Award-winning novelist, teacher, and podcaster Manda Scott talks with Tess Callahan about her shamanic spiritual practice, her new Thrutopian novel ANY HUMAN POWER, and her highly acclaimed podcast Accidental Gods. Tess and Manda discuss dreams, visions, and the liminal states between waking, sleeping, life, and death. Manda encourages writers to create new narratives that will pave the way to the systematic changes our world needs.
Best known for the Boudica: Dreaming series, Manda's previous novels have been short-listed for the Orange Prize, the Edgar, Wilbur Smith and Saltire Awards, and won the McIllvanney Prize. Her latest novel, Any Human Power, is a mytho-political thriller which lays out a Thrutopian roadmap to a flourishing future we’d be proud to leave to forthcoming generations. With degrees in veterinary medicine and a Masters in Regenerative Economics, Manda Scott hails from Scotland and now lives in England with her wife and podcast co-creator, Faith Tilleray.
Explore these links to learn more about Manda's writing, her podcast, and her Thrutopian Master Class for writers.
Manda Scott's Website: https://mandascott.co.uk/
Accidental Gods Podcast: https://accidentalgods.life/.
Thrutopian Master Class: https://thrutopia.life/
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Novelist, screenwriter, and founder of LA Writers' Lab Alan Watt tells host Tess Callahan his extraordinary experience of recovering a childhood memory through meditation. This memory from infancy, preverbal and terrifying, had already begun to surface through the writing of his novel, Diamond Dogs. Watt asserts that the desire to write is connected to the desire to evolve. He first began meditating decades ago to help with insomnia. His practice calmed his nervous system, lessened anxiety, and helped him sleep. With his mind stabilized, the repressed memory was able to surface and be healed. In spirituality and in writing, Watt is all about inquiry. In this interview, he encourages you to give yourself permission to write, to exorcise whatever within you wants to be freed, to be clear on your boundaries, and to release limiting beliefs about yourself and the world. A brilliant teacher, Alan talks about bringing a sense of trust and mutual respect into his online courses, and discusses the challenge of balancing teaching and writing.
Alan Watt is an L.A. Times best-selling author, screenwriter, and consultant to Hollywood writers and producers. He has won awards for his novel Diamond Dogs and his feature film "Eddie, Kill the President." His popular books on writing include The 90-Day Novel, The 90-Day Memoir, The 90-Day Screenplay, and The 90-Day Rewrite. Alan is the Founder and Creative Director of L.A. Writers' Lab, where he teaches online workshops to writers throughout the world.
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Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Drawing from ancient wisdom traditions and inspired by Ram Dass, this timeless meditation invites you to bathe in liquid love, release sadness and loneliness from your heart, and become an instrument for peace, light, and love. The meditation begins with a relaxing body scan before focusing on the heart. You are invited to visualize a wisdom figure whose heart connects to yours. This being lovingly receives any old energies and patterns you wish to let go of. The meditation ends with a lovingkindenss practice. Relax and enjoy this gentle alchemical experience.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio editing by Eric FIscher of Audi-Refined.com.
Support the show
Host: Tess Callahan
Substack: Writers at the Well
Interview Podcast: Writers at the Well
Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Music (unless otherwise noted above): Christopher Lloyd Clark
Audio Editing: Eric Fischer
By tapping "like" and "follow" you help others find the show.
Thank you for listening!
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening. The views expressed in this podcast may not be those of the host or the management.
Friends, this episode is a departure from my usual offerings. I will return to meditations and occasional interviews after my mini book tour, but today I'm talking about my novel DAWNLAND, and what IT has to do with meditation, particularly the question: Do we sometimes meditate by accident? And if so, what’s happening there? Inadvertent meditation might seem like an oxymoron. We usually associate meditation with intention and focus. Even devotion. But I think there are moments when life meditates us. And the more we practice, the more we open ourselves for this to happen spontaneously. The characters in DAWNLAND don’t meditate in a traditional sense, but they each have their own way of connecting inwardly. I describe examples in case they resonate with you. This talk invites you to relax your grip on "solving" and "fixing," to be radically open to the silences that emerge in your day, to notice when life meditates you. Savoring those moments, even for a breath, allows a sense of spaciousness to seep into your mind and your body, a spaciousness that allows the responses you need in any given moment to arise on its own. Thanks for listening!
You can find DAWNLAND at Bookshop.org, Amazon or Audible.
Audio by the magnificent Eric Fisher of audio-refined.com.
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Creativity flows when our hearts and minds are open, and tightens when we grasp onto particular ideas of outcome. It tends to hide from us when we take ourselves too seriously. Lightness of spirit is key. "Lila" is a Hindu term that has many layers. It describes the effortless play between the relative world and the absolute. Lila manifests when when fullness, unable to contain itself, spills over into creation. This episode includes a 7-minute talk about creativity that alludes to Carl Jung's method of Active Imagination and the benefits of paying attention to our dreams. If you wish to skip over the talk, the meditation begins at about 7:40. Relax, enjoy, and have fun!
Music & audio engineering by the fabulous Eric Fischer: audio-refined.com
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Open awareness is a non-referential meditation, meaning you don’t use any reference point such as the breath or the body to keep your mind focused. Those focal points are useful as first, but as you progress, they can hold you back. In open awareness, your attention rests with everything that’s happening. To this end, you meditate with your eyes gently open. Normally our eyes are trained to focus on a single object. Here, you softly take in everything in your field of vision simultaneously, particularly the periphery, the way you might gaze at a wide expanse of ocean.
In this way, you go beyond sitting in mindfulness to expand your meditation to embrace your daily life. The practice of openness can feel challenging at first because our minds are so habituated to contracting—around our problems, our storylines, our ideas—but the more you practice, the more you realize that openness is actually your natural state, and contraction is the source of suffering. Openness is the key to your freedom.
This meditation is partly inspired by one offered in the book REVERSE MEDITATIONS by Andrew Holecek. Relax and enjoy!
Music & audio engineering by the fabulous Eric Fischer: audio-refined.com
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Join novelist, essayist, and canoe adventurer Mar’ce Merrell as she unpacks her spiritual and creative toolbox, sharing how she uses meditation to move through stuck places in life and on the page. Mar’ce describes the steppingstones of her journey from the moment her therapist first suggested meditation to a literal “breakthrough” experience at an MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Retreat with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli at Mount Madonna Center. The breakthrough encouraged her to “show up for herself” in radical ways. She undertook an Outward Bound Woman of Courage Canoe trip, during which she wrote a prophetic letter to her future self. Mar’ce’s spiritual and creative explorations then took her to Greece, where she participated in a GoodWorld Journeys Writing Salon taught by George Saunders and Mary Karr—another life-changing experience. In the course of the interview, we discuss George Saunders’ story "Victory Lap," and how the surrendering of old beliefs has been a through-line of Mar’ce’s journey. Finally, Mar’ce describes some of her extraordinary life-and-death moments in the canoe, how she learned to work with water and not against it, and how her life has unfolded in the gap between the impossible and the possible.
Mar’ce is the author of the novel Wicked Sweet, a Barnes & Noble Best Summer Read pick for Young Adults. Her stories and essays include: “Water Calls, Water Holds” (Embrace Your Divine Flow), "Architecture as Reconciliation" (Fold Magazine), and "Variations in a Living Thing" (Hags on Fire Magazine). She holds an MFA from Sierra Nevada College and lives in Ghost Lake, Canada, where she “writes to observe and record the natural world and the wilderness in our minds.” Mar’ce currently facilitates online creative writing circles or “Nests” whose participants hail from all over the world. Mar'ce is on Instagram. You can find out more about her work and her mentorship at www.marcemerrell.com.
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
This is a shorter version of Episode 71 "Tranquil Ocean Shamatha," with a bit less instruction. Shamatha or “peaceful abiding” helps stabilize the mind by cultivating a steady awareness of the object of meditation, in this case, the breath. You can do the same practice using alternative anchors such as bodily sensations or sounds. Staying present to an anchor provides scaffolding or training wheels to help keep your mind focused. Over time, practicing Shamatha meditation steadies you inwardly. You learn to calmly witness your thoughts without being triggered by them. Eventually, this leads to a natural decrease in unhelpful thoughts. Very freeing! This meditation is partly inspired by one offered in the book REVERSE MEDITATIONS by Andrew Holecek. Relax and enjoy!
Music & audio engineering by Eric Fischer: audio-refined.com
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Shamatha, which means “peaceful abiding” or “tranquility," is the foundational meditation of Buddhist practice. It helps stabilize the mind by cultivating a steady awareness of the object of meditation, in this case, the breath. You can do the same practice using alternative anchors such as bodily sensations or sounds. Staying present to an anchor provides scaffolding or training wheels to help keep your mind focused. Once you become proficient at Shamatha, you no longer need an object of meditation. Meditating without an anchor or reference point is known as Open Awareness. Over time, practicing Shamatha meditation steadies you inwardly. You learn to calmly witness your thoughts without being triggered by them. Eventually, this leads to a natural decrease in unhelpful thoughts. Very freeing! This meditation is partly inspired by one offered in the book REVERSE MEDITATIONS by Andrew Holecek. Relax and enjoy!
Music & audio engineering by Eric Fischer: audio-refined.com
Photo by Jordan Steranka
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Lovingkindness, also known as "metta," is a Buddhist practice of cultivating good will and positive regard toward yourself and others. The practice invites us to expand the good will of our hearts to reach ever widening circles, extending to loved ones, neutral acquaintances, difficult people, animals, and the planet itself. A longer version of this meditation can be found under the title "Lovingkindness Deep Immersion." Whether done on the meditation pillow or spontaneously in the course of a day, metta has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety and increase compassion for oneself and others. It is a powerful life affirming practice. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Join sculptor and poet Don Freas, author of In-Between: Creativity Set Free and Swallowing the World: New and Selected Poems, in a rich exploration of the relationship between meditation and creativity. Don describes how his practice of Liangong, a form of Qigong, deepens his somatic awareness in the studio and in life. He explains how his process of journaling, partly inspired by Robert A. Johnson’s book Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth, has deepened self-inquiry, and thereby, self-compassion. Don lets us in on his decades-long conversation with an inner wisdom figure he calls Sophie, a voice who regularly encourages his intuition and questions him when he goes off track. He describes Sophie as “a voice from the long history of humanity, or of the universe.” Don shares insights gained from many sources, including spiritual teacher Byron Katie, physicist David Bohm, Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson, and Akashic Records teacher Linda Howe. Don takes us on a deep dive into the “material meditation” of making art. “When you look back,” he says, “your own accrued shape appears in the spaces between the things you’ve fashioned.”
Don holds an MFA in Poetry from Bennington College and lives in Olympia, Washington, where an upcoming exhibit of his sculpture will take place at Childhood’s End Art Gallery. Visit www.DonFreas.com to learn more and follow Don on instagram@donfreas and FaceBook@donfreas.
Audio Engineering by: https://www.audio-refined.com/
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Metta is a Buddhist practice of cultivating good will and positive regard toward yourself and others. A Pali word, metta means lovingkindness. The practice invites us to expand the good will of our hearts to reach ever widening circles, extending to loved ones, neutral acquaintances, difficult people, animals, and the planet itself. Whether done on the meditation pillow or spontaneously in the course of a day, metta has been shown to decrease stress and anxiety and increase compassion for oneself and others. It is a powerful life affirming practice.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Support the show
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
A rerecorded, remastered version of Episode 41, this guided visualization is based on a near-death experience described by Carl Jung in his memoir Memories, Dreams, and Reflections. Jung experienced this vision as he hung on the edge of death after a heart attack. Following a brief relaxation exercise, you will be guided through this vision as if you are experiencing it for yourself. Feel free to replace the particularities of this vision with your own and let it unfold as it wishes. This meditation is a deep dive to be undertaken with care. If you have a history of schizophrenia or psychotic disorder, consult with your doctor before using this meditation.
Relax and enjoy and the journey!
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio engineering by Eric Fischer.
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Inspired by the work of Carl Jung, this practice of cultivating a "waking dream" helps you to access the wisdom of your subconscious. In Jungian psychology, this technique is called “Active Imagination." Episode 6 of this podcast offers a similar version of this guided visualization with different music. Jung recorded his waking visions in his extraordinary illustrated journal, The Red Book. His meditative technique was recreated by MJ Dorian on his podcast Creative Codex. For deeper instruction, read "Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth" by Robert A. Johnson. This meditation is a deep dive to be undertaken with care. If you have a history of schizophrenia or psychotic disorder, consult with your doctor before using this meditation. Relax and enjoy.
Tess Callahan, Ed.M., MFA, is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and author of the novels APRIL & OLIVER and (forthcoming) DAWNLAND. She invites you to attune to your own creative powers through intimate inner listening. Her meditations draw from wisdom traditions, modern science, and teachers such as Adyashanti, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Andrew Holecek, Carl Jung, Byron Katie, Thomas Merton, and Jack Kornfield. You can find her novel writing at: https://tesscallahan.com/.
Music Credit: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer.
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
This is the 3rd of three progressive meditations inspired by Dr. Patrick MacManaway’s book Cultivating Your Light Body. It builds on the strength and stability developed in the first and second practices. Here, we continue cultivating heart-centered awareness in a cycle of witnessing, blessing, and renewal, and we take the further step of using these qualities to restore right relationship to current challenging issues in our lives. We restore a healthy relationship in the pathways of energy that connect us to other people, places, and times. This practice can be demanding on your energy and attention, particularly if it is new to you, so please be gentle with yourself, and create time to practice when your energy and attention are good, and your time is spacious. Regular use and practice will allow you to remain increasingly heart-centered when contemplating and renewing your relationship with stressful or distracting issues. Over time, you'll find that the radiant blessing and renewal of the heart opens you to the possibility of miracles.
Tess Callahan, Ed.M., MFA, is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and author of the novels APRIL & OLIVER and (forthcoming) DAWNLAND. She invites you to attune to your own creative powers through intimate inner listening. Her meditations draw from wisdom traditions, modern science, and teachers such as Adyashanti, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Andrew Holecek, Carl Jung, Byron Katie, Thomas Merton, and Jack Kornfield. You can find her novel writing at: https://tesscallahan.com/.
Inspiration: https://patrickmacmanaway.com/
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined.com
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
This is the 2nd of three progressive meditations that build on each other, though each can also be done separately. They are inspired by practices taught by Dr. Patrick MacManaway in his book Cultivating Your Light Body.In this meditation we develop our awareness of heart-centered consciousness to include our primary alignment, the center spindle, or vertical axis of our personal globe of consciousness and intelligence, connecting those parts of us that belong to the realms above and below, these energies align and center themselves in our heart, and when in alignment and dynamic balance, keep us both clearly connected and presently engaged in the world. Once heart-centered, clearly aligned, and conscious of self to the edge of self, the practice uses a cycle of witness and blessing to specifically heal and renew patterns of trauma and displacement that we may be holding within or around us. With use, this practice has great benefit in helping us heal, and in keeping us healthy.
Tess Callahan, Ed.M., MFA, is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and author of the novels APRIL & OLIVER and (forthcoming) DAWNLAND. She invites you to attune to your own creative powers through intimate inner listening. Her meditations draw from wisdom traditions, modern science, and teachers such as Adyashanti, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Andrew Holecek, Carl Jung, Byron Katie, Thomas Merton, and Jack Kornfield. You can find her novel writing at: https://tesscallahan.com/.
Inspiration: https://patrickmacmanaway.com/
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined.com
Support the show
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
This is the first of three progressive meditations that build on each other, though each can be done separately. Inspired by a practice taught by Dr. Patrick MacManaway in his book Cultivating Your Light Body, this initial meditation is simple and introductory in nature, but subtle and profound in effect. It is designed to guide your awareness toward the heart, and then to bring your awareness within the heart. From this point of source radiance, the practice then expands and integrates your awareness of self throughout your body and into your personal energetic space around you. It’s designed to refresh, renew, and balance your core energies, your feelings, and your thoughts, leaving you in state of vibrant balance and creative potential. Results deepen with practice. Relax and enjoy!
Tess Callahan, Ed.M., MFA, is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and author of the novels APRIL & OLIVER and (forthcoming) DAWNLAND. She invites you to attune to your own creative powers through intimate inner listening. Her meditations draw from wisdom traditions, modern science, and teachers such as Adyashanti, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Andrew Holecek, Carl Jung, Byron Katie, Thomas Merton, and Jack Kornfield. You can find her novel writing at: https://tesscallahan.com/.
Inspiration: https://patrickmacmanaway.com/
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined.com
Support the show
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Inspired by Byron Katie, Al-Anon, and 12-Step, these simple affirmations encourage a fresh rewiring of old conditioning. Making the quality of your consciousness your highest priority is the most life-changing action you can take. Moment to moment, are you on autopilot or responding with intention and presence? The more we stop wasting energy trying to control others, the more personal agency is available to us, offering greater clarity and autonomy over our choices and habits. We stand in our own sovereignty--a powerful place to be.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined.com.
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
It's easy to forget who we really are, to rush through life without pausing to experience our true essence. Yet when we take this pause, we gain clarity, groundedness, and wisdom from which to respond to life wisely rather than reactively. Eckhart Tolle uses the phrases “Little Me” and "Deep I" to distinguish the part of you that runs around on the surface of life from the timeless presence at the core of your being. This guided visualization leads you down a hall of sheer silken rainbow veils that gently peel away the outer trappings of life and lead you to the doorway of your true self. Enjoy this journey to the truth of who you are.
Music: "Intention II" by Six Missing
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined.com
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Slip into sleep bathed in the golden light of gratitude. Collect and savor three small moments from your day. Studies show that a simple practice of gratitude can improve well-being, increase resilience, strengthen relationships, and reduce stress and depression. Plus, it's a sweet way to drift off to sleep! Relax and enjoy.
Music: "Lovingkindness" by Six Missing
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
This luminous Yoga Nidra practice invites your body into deep restorative sleep while your mind, like a night-blooming flower, opens to formless awareness. Based on a similar meditation offered by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, this includes a complete body relaxation, 61-point exercise, and ascending breath practice. Yoga Nidra deepens meditation and unhooks the neuro-conditioning that keeps you stuck. Studies show regular practice alleviates stress, PTSD and improves wellbeing.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined. com
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Studies show that a practice of gratitude greatly enhances overall wellbeing. This talk offers a simple on-the-spot way to bring yourself into a state of grace, of flow, of alignment, whenever you need it in the midst of your day. I learned this technique from a teacher named Patrick MacManaway, and I heartily encourage you to give it a try. It is surprisingly powerful!
Inspiration: Patrick MacManaway: https://patrickmacmanaway.com/
Music: "When the Trees Sleep" by Six Missing
Audio Engineer: Eric Fischer of audio-refined.com/
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Friends, I'm taking a short break from posting meditations as I work on a deadline for my novel, DAWNLAND, due out next year. During this hiatus, I will post short talks from time to time when the spirit arises, inspired by whatever I happen to be grappling with at the moment. I wish you well.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Mario Dobelmann.
Audio Engineering by Eric Fischer.
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DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Friends, I'm on a little break from posting meditations while I finish edits on my forthcoming novel, Dawnland, but will post talks from time to time. This short encouragement offers a simple way to check in with your heart as you endeavor to process difficult events in the world or in your life. I invite you to be gentle with the movements of your heart. Be kind to yourself.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Audio Engineering by Eric Fischer of https://www.audio-refined.com
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Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Thank you for listening !
DISCLAIMER: Meditation is not a substitute for professional psychological or medical healthcare or therapy. We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred by you acting or not acting as a result of listening to this recording. Use the material provided at your own risk. Do not drive or operate dangerous equipment while listening.
Friends, I'm taking a short break from posting meditations as I work on a deadline for my novel, Dawnland, due out next year. During this hiatus, I will post short talks from time to time when the spirit arises, mostly inspired by whatever I happen to be grappling with at the moment. If there's something you'd like me to talk about, feel free to reach out. Keep in mind that I'm not an expert on anything, just a fellow human who wishes you well.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Mario Dobelmann.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This morning prayer invites you to delight in your human existence and to freely call out for divine assistance. It is based on a Tibetan Buddhist daily practice called "Nectar of the Path" taught by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. It includes The Four Thoughts, Refuge & Bodhichitta, and Guru Yoga. In some cases, I have put the prayers into my own words to make them relatable to a non-buddhist. The original text is available through Tergar.org.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Nick Fewings.
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This guided visualization invites you to call to mind a wisdom figure or spiritual guide, to merge your heart with theirs, and together to take wing over the many landscapes of the planet for a soaring experience of expansiveness and gratitude. Bless the land, bless others, and bless yourself in this journey of intimate connection.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Alex Wigan.
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Inspired by Adyashanti's book "Guided Meditations" this compliments the earlier "Pure Potentiality" & "Divine Ground" meditations. Using a background of Tibetan om chanting, it is designed to evoke awareness of the divine ground of your being as it emerges into form with each breath you take. If you like this meditation, I highly recommend Adyashanti's books. He has been an important teacher for me. I wish you a full heart and grounded spirit.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Josh Hild.
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This is a shorter version of my meditation "Pure Potentiality" inspired by Adyashanti's audiobook, "Guided Meditations." Recorded during a group meditation, it is designed to evoke awareness of the divine ground of your being, which Adyashanti calls the "unknown self." If you like this meditation, I highly recommend his books and teachings.
Music by Christopher LLoyd Clarke.
Photo by Luis Graterol.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Based on a practice taught by Dr. Patrick MacManaway, this meditation attunes you to the magnetic field of your heart, which not only envelops every cell of your body but has been shown by sensitive magnetometers to extend out in all directions into the space around you. It influences your environment and those around you. Through meditative stillness, you can experience this energy field, bless it with your love, and bring greater coherence to your life.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
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Based on the teachings of Tibetan Buddhist monk Pema Chödrön, this meditation builds your capacity to cultivate stability and foster a friendly relationship with your mind. It uses breath, posture, and mindful awareness to strengthen your inner stability and wellbeing. I highly recommend all of Pema Chodron's books. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clark | Photo by Abhijeet Gourav
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Based on a meditation in Adyashanti's "Guided Meditations," this offering evokes heart connection, restoration, and remembrance of who you are. Adya says "redemptive love comes from the dark womb of the unknown and flows into the core of our being as redemptive grace." He invites us to meet all life, all sorrow, with love. The key to this meditation is to relax into a receptive mode. Simply let the words wash through you, restoring you to wholeness.
Music: C. Lloyd Clarke
Photo: Davide Cantelli
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This meditation offers guided spiritual hygiene to purify your heart and mind for sleep, followed by the setting of an intention for a lucid dream, and ending with a 21-breath sequence to help you drop off to sleep effortlessly. Inspired by lucid dreaming teacher Andrew Holecek, the combined practices do not guarantee lucidity on the first try, but over time they will cultivate deep restorative sleep and greater lucidity in life and in sleep.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Indra’s Net is a Buddhist metaphor for the interconnectedness of the universe, or what modern physics might call the quantum field. Alan Watts said: “Imagine a multidimensional spider’s web in the early morning covered with dewdrops. And every dewdrop contains the reflection of all the other dewdrops. And so ad infinitum." Meditating on Indra’s Net reminds us of our unity with each other and all of creation. Let yourself bask in this deep connection.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Thomas Bishop.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This practice transforms the corrosive aspects of worry into healing energy for you and the person you worry about. It is useful when you feel helpless to relieve their pain, and invites you to notice your projections around it. The practice can be used to offer healing energy to a family member, friend, stranger, pet, landscape, or the planet itself. Drawing from the teachings of Adyashanti, the key is to radically trust the other’s journey as well as your own.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Nathan Dumiao.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This simple meditation is inspired by the words of Dr. Joe Dispenza and is designed to spread love within and around you. Relax into this healing experience. Enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Jamie Street.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
In the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen, “taking and sending,” you visualize taking in the pain of another on the in-breath and sending out healing energy on the out-breath. The process deepens your heart, widens your circle of compassion, and frees you from the mire of pity. You cultivate love, and begin to access the open dimension of your being. This meditation emulates the style of Tonglen taught by Pema Chödrön.
11hz alpha wave music by Nature’s Eye.
Photo by Lahiru Supunchandra
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This meditation is inspired by one in Adyashanti's audiobook, "Guided Meditations." Using a Tibetan singing bowl and gentle words, it is designed to evoke awareness of the divine ground of your being, which Adyashanti calls "pure potentiality" or the "unknown self." If you like this meditaion, I highly recommend his books. He has been an important teacher for me. I wish you a calm mind and an awakened heart.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This track includes a 2-minute introduction followed by a meditation on your intimate connection to the Earth and your part in the unfolding consciousness of the planet. It includes a quote from Eckhart Tolle adapted from the 12th-century mystic Ibn Arabi. When challenges arise, it's useful to remember your connection to the greater fabric of life. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clark | Photo by Joseph Barrientos.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Let your heart bloom with life. This healing meditation is inspired by the words of Dr. Joe Dispenza and the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. It invites you to feel more alive today than yesterday and to never forget that you are a divine being waking up in this lifetime. The lines from Rilke are translated by Joanna Macy. Relax into the healing theta binaural beats. Enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This guided visualization is based on a near-death experience described by Carl Jung in his memoir Memories, Dreams, and Reflections. Jung experienced this vision as he hung on the edge of death after a heart attack. Following a brief relaxation exercise, you will be guided through Jung’s vision as if you are experiencing it for yourself. Feel free to replace the particularities of his vision with your own and let it unfold as it wishes.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Stillness of the body invites stillness of the mind. Inspired by a breath practice taught by Adyashanti in his audiobook, "Guided Meditations," this style of meditation has been used by humans for thousands of years. It is extraordinarily simple, yet yields profound inner peace, clarity, and ultimately enlightenment. Practiced daily with or without the recording, the effect on your inner life and consequently your outer life will be transformative. Give yourself this gift.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Use this guided visualization to move effortlessly into your own innate stability and groundedness. Let the deep unshakable rootedess of a tree guide you to the peace at the core of your being. From this place of calm stability, you will be more able to respond wisely and effectively to life's challenges.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Access the stillness and serenity already within you. Let this calming body scan sink you into gentle relaxation for deep restorative sleep.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Benjamin Suter.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Notice, savor and bask in the love that resides in your heart. Inspired by Dr. Joe Dispenza's heart coherence work and psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson's research on self-nurturing, this practice invites you to reach through time to support yourself at difficult moments in the past and future, bathing yourself in tender awareness when you need it most. The ocean of love that dwells in your heart wants to be noticed. When prompted to call to mind a person you love a pet works equally well. Relax and enjoy.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Tim Mossholder
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Strengthen your inner balance and deepen your sense of interconnectedness through the practice of equanimity. This meditation draws from the Buddhist teachings of Alan Wallace and Jack Kornfield. It includes a short breath practice, a guided visualization to expand consciousness, and ends with a prayer from the Christian mystic Teresa of Avila, "Let Nothing Disturb You." Relax and enjoy.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Denis Altindas.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Seed your future with three questions: What would I love to receive? Who do I want to become? What mark do I want to make on the world? Based on a loving-kindness meditation from THE ATTENTION REVOLUTION by Buddhist scholar Alan Wallace, this practice invites you to visualize and step into a more intentional and fulfilling life.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke: https://enlightenedaudio.com/
Photo: Daniel Öberg
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Have you ever had your life flash before your eyes? This meditation gently invites you into that experience not by chance, but by choice. With intention, curiosity, and compassion, witness your life in reverse, reaching back through time to offer your younger self some loving support. If you do this practice regularly, you will likely find different memories arising each time. Enjoy the ride.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Patrick Fore.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Notice your habitual mind state operating below conscious awareness. Once seen, old emotional patterns circling within you like eddies in a river can be freed. By reclaiming energy spent on anxiety and despair, you strengthen your life force and invite wisdom and clarity. This meditation invites you to offer this practice for yourself and others. It is partially inspired by a compassion exercise in the book THE ATTENTION REVOLUTION by Alan Wallace.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This guided visualization invites you to call to mind a wisdom figure or spiritual guide, to merge your heart with theirs, and together to take wing over the many landscapes of the planet for a soaring experience of expansiveness and gratitude. Bless the land, bless others, and bless yourself in this journey of intimate connection.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Alex Wigan.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Enjoy this invocation from your "Inner Council" to wake up, take heart, and trust yourself. This meditation was indirectly inspired by the poet Joy Harjo's mention of her "inner council" to author Cheryl Strayed on the podcast Dear Sugars.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Designed for the solstice, this meditation can be enjoyed anytime you wish to offer healing energy to the Earth, and feel her healing power in return. Inspired by a Marko Pogacnik LifeNet Telepathic Workshop, the practice invites you to connect your heart and mind with others across space and time in a gesture of love for the planet and all its beings, human, animal, elemental, and angelic. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
A clean request generates its own organizing power. When your desire aligns with your soul's purpose, the universe wants to conspire. But you must ask in order to receive. Inspired by Eckhart Tolle's conscious manifestation teachings and Clare Dimond's "Three Principles" work, this meditation opens your heart to germinate the abundance already within.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Yoga Nidra relaxes your body into restorative sleep while your mind, like a night-blooming flower, opens to formless awareness. Based on the teaching of Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati this short version offers a 61-point body scan. See the long version if you also want the additional practices. Yoga Nidra deepens meditation and unhooks the neuro-conditioning that keeps you stuck. Studies show regular practice alleviates stress and improves wellbeing. Enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This guided visualization invites you to rest in a peaceful garden deep in your heart. In this tranquil protected place, you may call upon an inner wisdom figure to offer you insight or simply be present with you in the beauty and stillness. Rest, relax, and drink deeply from your own innermost wisdom.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke;
Photo by Johannes Plenio.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Drawing from Adyashanti, Jon Kabat-Zinn, and Ira Progoff, this technique for decision-making and inquiry embraces Einstein's premise that no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. Here you will identify a question you've been carrying and drop into the depths of your inner well. When the analytical mind exhausts itself, the deep waters of intuition can yield spontaneous insights when and where we least expect.
6HZ Binaural music;
Photo: Koen Emmers
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Life asks a lot of mothers. This short practice is meant to support you at your weariest and most demanding moments. It can be practiced on the meditation pillow or in the midst of the day. By offering yourself compassion, you gradually shift from reactivity to responsiveness as you meet each new parental challenge. Quoting Thich Nhat Hanh, this meditation encourages you to tend to your own flame in order to nurture your child’s. May this practice offer you strength, serenity, and sustenance.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
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This gentle relaxation practice supports your sense of wholeness and helps you taste the fullness at the core of your being. When you are in touch with your true essence, you no longer reach for that which can never fill you. Your soul is vast, radiant, and lacks nothing. Give up bottomless cravings and let yourself taste the splendor at the core of your being. Once you see the fullness within, you can never un-see it.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
This meditation supports your sense of wholeness and helps you taste the fullness at the core of your being. When you drink from your inner well, you no longer reach for that which can never fill you. Look within for what you seek. Your soul is deep and radiant. The more you taste the fullness at the core of your being, the less you crave what can never satisfy. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Meditation helps you to center and ground yourself so that you can respond to challenges in your life and in the world with wise action. Based on the Tibetan Buddhist practice of Tonglen as taught by Pema Chödrön, this meditation guides you in channeling the healing energy of your heart to those suffering in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.
Photo by Sunguk Kim.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Tess on Insight Timer Tess on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tesscallahan.com/
Based on a practice taught by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, this simple ascending breath meditation relaxes your mind and body for deep restorative sleep. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Matt Houghton.
Relax into the mysterious words of Albert Einstein, the Indian sage Ramana Maharshi & the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart, as well as Adyashanti and Jesus Christ. Simply listen and see what their insights evoke in you. The Buddhist notion of the universe as illusory is often misunderstood. Quantum physics tells us the physical world exists simultaneously as particle and wave. Matter and energy. Form and spirit. You are both at once. Close your eyes, listen and experience your true nature.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Our brains are wired to be Teflon for the good and Velcro for the bad, says psychologist Dr. Rick Hanson, which can lead us into sinkholes of depression and anxiety. But you can rewire that programming by cultivating sympathetic joy for others and savoring your own happy moments. This meditation, inspired by THE ATTENTION REVOLUTION by Alan Wallace, trains your mind to be limber to change and your heart to be open to joy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Noah Silliman.
This guided visualization invites you to experience the presence of your deceased loved one, to drink deep their love, and express whatever you wish to express to them. Grief carves out our hearts, making them bigger vessels for love. May this meditation fill your heart with balm and offer you solace.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Matt Benson.
This compassion practice offers support to help reorient you at times when you feel your life is not as you wanted or you are not as you hoped. When we can cut through our projections and negative self-talk to be radically present to our hearts, we are more able to take wise and constructive action to respond to the moment at hand. This practice is indirectly inspired by one of my meditation teachers, the wonderful Tara Brach.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Михаил Секацкий
Take a few minutes to drop deeply into your life as if you were visiting yourself from a higher perspective. This guided visualization invites you to see yourself within the wider context of the living, breathing planet. It encourages you to sense your connection to the landscape, to other human beings, and to the scared heart that connects us all. This meditation is indirectly inspired by one of my meditation teachers, the wonderful Jack Kornfield. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
It's our reflex to contract around pain, physical or emotional, but when the contraction persists it hampers healing. Beauty has the opposite effect. When you allow it in, it opens your mind and expands your heart. This simple technique invites you to breathe in beauty, marinate it in your heartspace, and exhale it out to whatever part of you feels contracted or in pain. May this meditation soothe your suffering.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Anxiety can sap our life energy and thwart our dreams, but by stepping back to observe it, it can become a portal to awakening. Dissolving anxiety enables us to respond to life's challenges with greater insight, clarity, and calm. Inspired by the teaching of Byron Katie, this meditation invites you to see through the veil of your projections to experience the love that permeates every moment of life. Fully embraced, this practice can set you free.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Mike Newbry.
Travel the years of your life from birth to present one breath at a time, bringing compassion to each year, remembered or not, and experiencing the whole movement of your life. People who have near-death experiences often report seeing their lives flash before their eyes, offering clarity that redirects their future. There's no need to wait. Try the recording and then practice on your own if you like. New insights may emerge each time you take the voyage.
Photo: Mohammad Ali Mohtashami
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Inspired byAdyashanti's audiobook Guided Meditations, this practice teaches you to disable "autopilot" and enable true agency in your life. Moment to moment throughout your day, the choice to love is always present. You only need to recognize it. Relax and enjoy this soothing meditation.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Jonathan Borba.
Inspired by Adyashanti's audiobook Guided Meditations, this is a 5-minute talk followed by a 15-minute meditation that teaches you to work skillfully with difficult emotions. When you sit down to be with yourself in meditation, it’s inevitable that a range of feelings will arise. As your consciousness goes deeper into your own being, you begin to touch upon the more difficult parts of your experience. You develop the courage to become present in the midst of life’s pain. Freeing these feelings lightens your being and vitalizes your body-mind by reintegrating your own splintered off vital life energy. Very empowering. Relax and enjoy.
Eckhart Tolle uses the terms “Little Me” and "Deep I" to distinguish the part of you that runs around on the surface of life from the timeless presence at the core of your being. This guided visualization leads you down a hallway of sheer silken rainbow veils that gently peel away the outer trappings of life and lead you to the doorway of your "Deep I." Drop your labels and step inside to taste your true essence. Relax and enjoy.
Music: Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo: Efe Kurnaz.
By taking a few extra seconds to stay with a positive experience, you help turn a passing mental state into lasting neural structure, says neuroscientist Rick Hanson. Our brains are Teflon for the good and Velcro for the bad, but we have the power to change that wiring. This simple practice created by Dr. Hanson strengthens your resilience, heals past wounds, and resets your system for joy and wellbeing.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Photo by Classy Amin.
When things fall apart, Tibetan Buddhist teacher Pema Chödrön teaches us how to find stability. This meditation, based on one offered in her audiobook "Pure Meditation," helps you to stabilize your mind while fostering a friendly attitude toward yourself. We use breath, posture, and mindful awareness to infuse strength and stability into life's most challenging moments. I highly recommend her books. Relax and enjoy.
Music by Christopher Lloyd Clark
Photo by Dingzeyu Li
“Active Imagination" is a technique designed by Carl Jung to access subconscious wisdom. Jung recorded his waking visions induced by active imagination in his extraordinary illustrated journal, The Red Book. His meditative technique was recreated by MJ Dorian on his podcast Creative Codex. For deeper instruction, read "Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth" by Robert A. Johnson. This meditation is a deep dive to be undertaken with care. If you have a history of schizophrenia or psychotic disorder, consult with your doctor before using this meditation. Relax and enjoy.
Tess Callahan, Ed.M., MFA, is a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher and author of the novel APRIL & OLIVER. She invites you to attune to your own creative powers through intimate inner listening. Her meditations draw from wisdom traditions, modern science, and teachers such as Adyashanti, Tara Brach, Pema Chodron, Joe Dispenza, Andrew Holecek, Carl Jung, Byron Katie, Thomas Merton, and Jack Kornfield. You can find her novel writing at: https://tesscallahan.com/.
Music Credit: Christopher Lloyd Clarke
Take a few moments to unhook from past and future, from ideas of who you are, even from your name, your gender, your age, and bask in your pure essence. Be the living field of awareness that drinks in the moment at hand. Taste the immense inner quiet that always resides within you, the love that you are. This meditation is partially inspired by Adyashanti and Eckhart Tolle. It concludes with a metta prayer for all beings and especially people suffering from mental illness. Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke.
Leave your busy life in the valley below and take refuge beside a high mountain lake where your heart can blossom in stillness and quiet. With each exhalation, invite your mind to settle like silt in the lake, and with each inhalation invite your heart to rise up and bloom. Let the fragrance of your refuge drift down to sweeten the landscape below and your own everyday life. Inspired in part by Jack Kornfield and Jon Kabat-Zinn. Enjoy this soothing respite.
This meditation invites you to gently and non-judgmentally connect with your inner and outer landscapes, your physical, mental, and emotional environments, to notice what you have been carrying. It includes a gentle body scan and a tender awareness of your heartspace. It is an invitation to remember who you are. The meditation ends with a short expression of goodwill toward all beings. Music by Christopher Lloyd Clarke. Relax and enjoy.