Meditative Story

As a boy in Oxford, Henry Shukman seeks refuge from a painful childhood by disappearing into poetry, immersing himself in nature. But the beauty and clarity he finds there is only fleeting. A series of visits with a mysterious old family friend help him to understand that experiencing beauty — and its extraordinary gifts — doesn’t have to be a chance encounter. In fact, it could become a guiding p...

Lehua Kamalu captains a vast, double-hulled ocean canoe crafted to the exact specifications of the seafaring vessels used by her ancestors. She and her crew are making a 2,500 mile journey between Tahiti and Hawaii, the same one original settlers of the South Pacific traversed, the same journeys historians once struggled to believe possible without today’s technology. The stakes are high and they...

Today’s episode takes you inside the intimate process behind creating a Meditative Story — and explores the musical wizardry behind each episode.  We hear from storyteller Dallas Taylor, the host of the 20,000 Hertz podcast, who gives us a peek behind the scenes in which Dallas describes his collaboration with the Meditative Story team. This exclusive excerpt comes from his companion podcast,...

Today's storyteller Steven Ho grew up in a strict Vietnamese-American household where the stakes were always high. He felt an overwhelming pressure to walk the straight line set before him — a line of overachieving and excellence. As Steven grew up, he encountered places and circumstances that catapulted him into a deep curiosity and affection for the world around him. Steven began to wonder if th...

Morgan Harper Nichols is a songwriter, poet, artist, and musician who was diagnosed with autism as an adult. Growing up, she yearns to see the wider world outside her rural home, and to embark on adventures like Bilbo Baggins. When she spends a semester studying abroad, she finds herself surrounded by the unfamiliar — and feeling rejected and lonely sometimes. But by stepping into the unknown, she...

Maya Shankar is a cognitive neuroscientist and host of the award-winning podcast A Slight Change of Plans. As a girl, she struggles with taking things too seriously: herself, the sufferings of others, the hypothetical misfortunes she imagines for the future. She turns to her father for perspective — and he takes her on a memorable walk, one that helps her understand her place in the universe (spoi...

In this special episode, we spend more time with a storyteller who recently shared their Meditative Story with us, Sharon Salzberg. Rohan and Sharon wind their way back through Sharon’s story, exploring the key theme: Being kind, loving, patient with yourself. Together, they dive deeper into this idea, in a way that may just open up something special in you. Did you relate to Sharon’s story? Email...

On his podcast and TV show Song Exploder, Hrishikesh Hirway digs deep into the creative process of legendary songwriters. But before Hrishikesh becomes a podcast creator, he's a working musician himself … who finds his ability to create being slowly drained away by self-doubt. He stumbles into a case of songwriter’s block that lasts him nearly seven years. Today, Hrishikesh shares the story o...

By the time Sharon Salzberg is 16 years old, she knows the people around her don’t admit to suffering, much less talk about it. A year later, she makes a life-changing decision to travel alone to India to study meditation. It doesn’t all go as expected. Through the journey’s disappointments, discomforts, and surprise lessons, she finds an unexpected friend: herself. In today’s Meditative Story, Sh...

Gordana Biernat grows up in a household full of mayhem and darkness. But there’s one saving grace: her grandfather, who spins legendary stories of the quirky folkloric magic he sees all around them. In today’s Meditative Story, Gordana talks about reopening herself to the unseen and the “funny rushes of surprise” she encounters all around her when she stops dodging fear and starts seeking new chan...

Growing up on his father’s ranch in Elko, Nevada, Waddie Mitchell watches the cowboys around him with awe, silently absorbing their stories and manners – how to shoe a horse, start a colt, lead a crew and tell a tale. Through the buckaroos he learns that adventure and freedom aren’t things to seek elsewhere – that embedded in the raw materials of his own life, in the sounds and smells of the ranch...

Today, Dallas Taylor is a creative director and creator of the beloved podcast Twenty Thousand Hertz. But before this, he had another life – one that brought immense pressure. He shares the story of how he comes to realize that feeling the weight of anxiety and fear doesn’t mean he’s broken. It means he’s human. Listen to Dallas Taylor's podcast, Twenty Thousand Hertz: ( Apple | Spotify | Web ) Li...

Writer Isha Sesay is happiest when she is caring for others; it’s a lesson she learns from her mother while growing up in Sierra Leone. But as an adult, there’s another lesson her mother teaches her, in quite another way: that even the most caring and giving among us must learn to receive help too. It’s through both giving and receiving that we become whole. Listen to Arianna Huffington's episode...

Every Thursday night, Matthew Mercer leads a merry band through a maze of goblins, spells, and enchantments, as he plays an immersive role-playing game. In our story, Matthew explores what these creative games open up in him and how shining his light into the world gives others permission to do the same. Learn more about Critical Role:  https://critrole.com/foundation/ Listen to Reid Hoffman'...

In this episode — in this experiment — we’re inviting back a storyteller who very recently shared their Meditative Story with us, Kristin Windbigler. Together, Rohan and Kristin are going to wind our way back through Kristin’s story, and talk about the key theme that her story explores: “How can I connect with those who are different from me?” The goal of this experiment: to dig into this theme in...

Like so many of us, Chad Sanders has strived to belong for as long as he can remember — thwarted in the shadows of other people’s judgements of him. Fortunately, life has its way of giving us glimpses into our limitless possibility, when we allow our natural creativity and curiosity to embody our highest expression, regardless of the friction that people and circumstances place upon us. A magical...

Rural California is all Kristin Windbigler knows as a child — its wild, green pastoral landscape, where living off the land and self-sufficiency is a choice to live abundantly. One evening, gathered around the television with her mom and dad, Kristin watches a news report that suggests families like hers, living below the poverty line, are in critical need of help. What the TV journalist miss...

When someone’s having a mental health challenge, helping them early on to seek support can make a lifetime of difference. That’s why campaigns like Mental Health Awareness Month, taking place across the U.S. this month, are so vital. In this meditation from Rohan, you’re invited to take this time to slow down, check in with yourself, and open a conversation with those you love about how we’re all...

As he sits with his wife in the waiting room of the pediatric cardiology unit, actor Joel McHale is struggling to feel anything but helpless. His infant son has been born with two holes in his heart; an operation is underway to repair them. But waiting in that moment, Joel begins to realize the unpredictable journey of parenthood that lies ahead. Life will happen. You just deal with it as best you...

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is the first openly lesbian woman to climb the famous Seven Summits, a bucket list of the highest mountain on every continent. But while preparing for the seventh summit, a peak that has eluded her climb after climb, she realizes that she can’t charge forward with the same conquering mentality. Denali — the highest mountain peak in North America — leads her to discover the im...

“Nothing really prepares you for how to explain what an airstrike is to your six-year-old when waiting at a red light.” Such was the recent experience of our host Rohan Gunatillake. Like so many of us, Rohan is navigating the tragic daily news coming out of Ukraine. He offers words of calm and a simple way to balance our attention when we find ourselves glued to the headlines on our phones. He als...

For the first 22 years of his life, Al Harris singularly focuses on one single goal: to play basketball in the NBA. Although he’s an elite young player, Al’s dream comes to an end when he’s passed over during the 2008 NBA draft. In the ensuing years, Al is recruited to play professional basketball throughout Europe, where he meets and builds bonds with a diverse group of people — which likely woul...

Morgan Saylor is an actor of stage and screen, best known for her portrayal of the teenage Dana Brody in the series “Homeland.” But, before acting, her first passion was mathematics. Morgan unfolds how math has given her a way to approach the unknown with trust and openness, accepting that each moment and every relationship contains infinite possibilities. Listen to Michelle Thaller's episode of M...

When Fred Minnick returns from his military service as a photographer documenting the war in Iraq, he finds himself haunted by what he saw through the lens of his camera. Trauma, as a result of the battlefield and his childhood, holds a grip on him until a bag of barbecue potato chips unlocks something in his brain. An untapped talent — he was born with a remarkable sense of smell — serves as a li...

Jacob Sartorius has been making music and short videos since he was a kid. By age 14, he had millions of social media followers who loved his honest, heartfelt content. But on the flip side of that love, he discovered a darker side to his celebrity — one that took him by surprise and threatened his own well-being. Until a simple technique, and a new friend, helped him find a way back to himself, o...