Mountain Zen Den Podcast

  Do you ever feel like you're just living from pay check to pay check, trying to fill your life with things, attempting to buy your way to happiness…but not really living ? At a time when people in the West have the highest standard of living that we have ever had, why is it that we are so empty and dissatisfied, always searching for more? More things to make us happy? We find ourselves so restle...

What would this world look like if we were the only living beings?" Not counting trees and plants of course. No cheery, warbling birdsong, no interesting movement in the air, on the ground or in the trees. No dogs barking, squirrels or rabbits playing, deer foraging or horses or cattle grazing. No tree frogs or crickets singing in the meadows and marshes, no fish biting and jumping in the ponds, r...

We share the planet with beautiful wildlife and amazing creatures and don't even realize the benefits we receive from them. There is often an intuitive connection that we immediately feel when in the presence of a non-human living being.  One of the things that attracts us to animals and that we especially love about our pets is their authenticity and trusting nature.  What you see is what you get...

Have you ever really stopped to think about and appreciate how amazing trees are? I mean, picture this – what would the world be like if we didn't have them? Well for starters, we'd all be dead because we depend on trees to take our exhaled carbine dioxide and turn it into wonderful, life-giving oxygen that we kinda depend on. There are many more benefits that trees bring to the earth besides prod...

"Why is it when I try to meditate, my mind wanders all over the place and I can't seem to be still?" We all struggle with this annoying little monster in our daily meditation practice.  There's this constant chatter going on in the back of our minds.  The voice and circular, recycled thoughts that won't seem to go away no matter how hard you try. And who is that voice, by the way?  We listen to it...

Research has shown that just 15 minutes in nature can make you happier.  After just sitting outside in a park or forest for 15 minutes people reported that they began to feel psychologically restored. So what are you doing to give yourself that extra boost of Vitamin N here in the dead of winter? Join us for today's show as we continue our adventure in Thoreau's chapter called "Winter Animals" fro...

For some folks, winter-time is a time for personal hibernation, where you just want to crawl under the covers and eat and sleep and watch TV. Getting out in the frigid arctic air and taking a winter's walk and getting some "Nature exposure" is the last thing you feel like doing. If you happen to be one of those kind of people, I have some good news for you!  There are plenty of other ways to get y...

Is there something in particular that is stressing you out right now, at this moment?  There is something you can do about it. Breathe.  Practice breathing every time you are aware that you are feeling stressed and you will begin to feel relief. No, it doesn't necessarily immediately solve the problem, or pay the bill, or fix the relationship or whatever.  But what it does do is give you the balan...

There are as many ways of connecting with Nature as there are people. One of my favorite, most meaningful ways is by keeping a Nature journal – a written record of some kind that captures your thoughts, observations and even drawings if you like, of all the natural world around you. It is interesting to note that the words Journal and Journey share the same Middle English root word – "diurnal" mea...

Nature is so good at bringing us back to the present and keeping us in the moment because she offers so much goodness to observe and experience. To a lot of folks, the winter can seem like a really dead time, where everything lies cold and dormant and Nature is asleep.  And while that is partially true, there is so much life and activity going on unseen to the untrained eye. You can become an astu...