Following the Aliveness

Join Janine for a final episode as she steps away from the podcast for the foreseeable future. More than just the close of a season, this moment marks a turning point—an honoring of the ways this past year has reshaped her, and a response to the pull in new directions. In the spirit of following the aliveness , Janine shares candid reflections on change, uncertainty, and trusting life’s unfolding....

Today's mid-week breather offers a guided meditation designed to help listeners explore multiple, co-existing planes of reality. We’ll explore the emotional landscape, our sense of space and time, the underlying stillness beneath it all—and how these layers interweave into a single, lived experience. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full atte...

“Awareness spread out across all time and space, into the Eternal Now where the mystics dwell.” In this episode, we explore multiple dimensions of existence—reflecting on the emotional landscapes that shape our inner worlds, the interwoven realities of human and geological time, the sacred stillness that underlies experience, and the unfolding present moment, among other subtle planes of being.  T...

Today’s Mid-Week breather aims to help listeners deepen their awareness of their environment through their senses, fostering a richer connection with the present moment. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wait until you're in a safe environment. 🙏🏼 Explore the “Following the Aliveness” website at: https://www.followingthealive...

“I realize that searching for what’s hidden is quite different from opening up to the unseen.” Join Janine on a Forest Walk as she shares how opening her senses allowed her to connect with the forest’s hidden surprises. Today’s contemplative reflection, “Hidden in Plain View” was written by Janine Schipper on September 9, 2024. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re dr...

Join us today for a Mid-Week Breather Reharvest —a fresh practice drawn from a past offering that continues to invite reflection and connection with the aliveness in your everyday life.  Today's mid-week breather offers an extended version of the closing meditation from this past Sunday's episode titled “These Wild Thoughts.”  May this meditation help you to connect with the sacred in ev...

Join us today for a Reharvest — fresh insights from a favorite past episode.  “I wonder, as with the ways of the forest, might the thinking mind simply reflect the wild within?” In today’s episode, Janine delves into the wild terrain of thoughts, drawing parallels to the untamed nature she encounters on her morning walks. Join us as we explore the wild nature of our thoughts. Please listen in a qu...

This guided meditation guides you from “witnessing consciousness” to the subtle, luminous presence to what Janine calls the “light of being.” This is a gentle exploration that invites listeners to sit in the radiant stillness of your own being. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wait until you're in a safe environment. 🙏🏼 Expl...

“In pondering these trivial moments, I wonder, are they any less valuable than the moments of profound realization that tap into a greater sense of wholeness?” In this episode, Janine reflects on how a search for something more profound led her instead into a deeper attention to the fleeting and often overlooked moments of daily life—where she began to encounter the sacred in the small. Today’s co...

Today's mid-week breather invites you to connect with the unseen, subtle energy that exists in each of us—the life force that shapes our thoughts, feelings, and actions, yet often goes unnoticed. It encourages you to embrace the mystery of what’s hidden beneath the surface, and to honor the depth within. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full...

“From within, we are magnificent. We are life ever-flowing, surging with the deep power of a thousand suns.” Join us today as Janine explores the nature of inner aliveness through a dream of yellow leaves and the challenge of expressing what can never be fully seen from the outside. Today’s contemplative reflection, “Yellow Leaves” was written by Janine Schipper on April 26, 2022. Please listen in...

In this meditation, we embrace uncertainty, allowing space for insight to arise naturally without the pressure to resolve it. A chance to rest in the unknown with patience and trust.   Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wait until you're in a safe environment. 🙏🏼 Explore the “Following the Aliveness” website at: https://www.fo...

“I feel like a mad scientist, consumed by the enigma, feverishly in search of resolution. But just like scientific or mathematical puzzles, breakthroughs in understanding usually come when the mind relaxes and lets go.” Join us as we explore the practice of relaxing into our questions rather than chasing answers. Through reflection and a short meditation, you'll be invited to sit with your ow...

Today's midweek breather invites you into a full-circle meditation that connects deeply with the heart of this podcast, guiding you to follow your aliveness and explore what that looks like for you. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wait until you're in a safe environment. 🙏🏼 Explore the “Following the Aliveness” website...

“We must have been a curious sight. Four forest adventurers, binoculars in hand, engaged in passionate discussion; and one trailing wanderer, eyes tilted toward the heavens.” Join us today as Janine shares a reflection on birding and how it sparked a deeper connection to her own aliveness with the turn of spring.  Today’s contemplative reflection, “Birding” was written by Janine Schipper on April...

Today’s mid-week breather invites you to experience yourself as the cosmos, expanding beyond the boundaries of self to feel the interconnectedness of all that is and rest in the vastness of existence itself. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wait until you're in a safe environment. 🙏🏼 Explore the “Following the Aliveness” web...

“It’s a whole other level of “wow” when we have paradigm-shifting experiences, experiences that shift not only what we think is real, but who we think we are.” In today’s episode, Janine reflects on a moment of communion with the sun that sparked a deep sense of gratitude and expanded her awareness into a broader cosmological consciousness. Today’s contemplative reflection, “Bowing to the Sun,” wa...

In this Mid-Week Breather, we dive into the power of imagination to unlock a deeper sense of connection and Oneness. This guided meditation will help you step into a peaceful, expansive space where you can engage your senses and experience a sense of connection to the world around you and beyond. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wa...

“I had let my imagination run wild as a little girl, trying to cast my mind beyond the horizon of the universe.” In this episode, Janine explores the shift from thinking about Oneness to experiencing it directly. Join her as she shares how imagination and playful curiosity can unlock the doors to perception, allowing us to experience a deeper sense of connection in our lives. Today’s contemplative...

If you’re too busy to listen to this… well, that’s exactly why you might need it. Sometimes, the best way to make space for something isn’t to add more time—it’s to shift how we show up in the time we already have. So if you can, take a breath, tune in, and enjoy the next 15 minutes as a small pause in your day. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need fu...

“I have learned over time that following the breath does not only help calm the turbulent mind. The breath is also a sacred portal.” Join us for today’s episode as Janine explores the journey inward—beyond the waves of thought and into sacred spaces through the power of the present moment.  Today’s contemplative reflection, “Sojourner into the Sacred” was written by Janine Schipper on February 17,...

Today's mid-week breather offers a deep dive into awareness itself. When we become aware of the ever-present awareness that we are, we awaken to the truth of our deeper selves, beyond the layers of identity and illusion, discovering the boundless essence that has always been with us, waiting to be fully realized. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or n...

“We’re in a dance of life, the world and me, swinging each other around like partners on a dance floor.”  Join us today as Janine reflects on embracing a sense of play and co-creation with the world around us. Today’s contemplative reflection, “Playing with Creation” was written by Janine Schipper on February 10, 2025. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or...

In today’s Mid-Week Breather, you'll gently explore the interconnectedness of your Mind, Body, and Being, guided to experience them as one unified, luminous presence. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can focus. If you’re driving or need full attention, wait until you're in a safe environment. 🙏🏼 Explore the “Following the Aliveness” website at: https://www.followingtheali...

“There was no separation, no boundary between self and world.” Join us today as Janine shares how the Mind, Body, and Light of Being intertwined during a "walking awake" experience through the forest, despite feeling physically tired.  Today’s contemplative reflection, “Walking Awake” was written by Janine Schipper on February 3, 2025. Please listen in a quiet, safe space where you can f...