Meditative Story

In today’s Soul Curriculum episode, Rohan talks with the Paralympian and current world record holder in the long jump Lex Gillette. Lex shares his insights into how music allowed him to define himself on his own terms, and elaborates on his mantra: "No need for sight when you have a vision." Join Rohan for a deeper conversation with the extraordinary Lex Gillette about how to lead ourselves out of...

Russ Ellis has led the kind of life they write books about. The first full-time Black professor at California’s Claremont Colleges. Acclaimed sociologist. Celebrated sculptor and painter. Even a recording artist. But as he reveals in this episode, even the fullest life can be haunted by a single event half a century earlier. Each episode of Meditative Story combines the emotional pull of...

In today’s Soul Curriculum episode, Rohan and singer/songwriter Nataly Dawn invite us all to consider what it is to be a beginner, and why it’s so easy to experience shame when we’re completely new at something. Reflecting on the passage from beginner to mastery, Nataly and Rohan explore the wide range of feelings we can experience when facing the new, and the satisfaction of letting the process u...

Growing up half-Japanese in South Florida, Kino MacGregor spends a lot of time feeling uncomfortable in her own body. But her Japanese grandfather is always there for her, and they spend joyful hours together every day, playing hide-and-seek, cooking and eating, practicing aikido. Behind his joy, she learns only later, hides a profound grief — one that carries down the generations. In Kino’s Ashta...

In this episode of Soul Curriculum, Rohan spends time with Henry Shukman, author and spiritual director of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe. The two dive into the theme of deep listening and what it can open up in us; how to hone our ability to be present to the world around us and to each other; and the importance of finding mentors to guide us along the way. Join us to hear two soulful...

As an author and poet, Mark Nepo has spent decades writing about spirituality and serenity. But his life wasn’t always as calm as it is now. Growing up, Mark feels challenged by the demands of his perfectionist father and struggles to feel seen. Years later, after surviving a battle with cancer, Mark looks back and realizes that watching his father refurbish a boat in their backyard provided one o...

In this episode of Soul Curriculum, Rohan speaks candidly with songwriter, poet, artist, and musician Morgan Harper Nichols about the creation of her Meditative Story. They explore the role art plays in helping her to connect with herself and others, and how to stay open to the unforeseen ways in which a sense of belonging may arrive in our lives. As Morgan reveals, sometimes it takes risk and mov...

Celebrity chef Carla Hall wasn’t always interested in cooking. As a child, she finds that puzzles and play help her to discover her true character. When she falls upon a hard time, she instinctively turns to memories of her grandmother’s kitchen for comfort. In this episode of Meditative Story, Carla shares how sensory play finally allows her to solve her biggest puzzle yet — herself. Listen to Da...

In the UK, Joe Wicks became a household name early in the pandemic with his daily workouts, called “PE with Joe,” that helped millions of us keep moving and laughing. Early on in his own life, Joe learns first-hand how fitness can help people survive hard times, as he runs miles to escape from a chaotic childhood. As he begins his adult life, he embarks on a 2,000-mile bike ride — but this time, h...

Lex Gillette is a 5-time medalist at the Paralympic Games, and a world record holder in the long jump, but he’s more than that too. As he learns to navigate the world after losing his sight, he’s worried about being left out and overlooked — or, just as bad, being seen only in terms of his disability and his athletic gifts. Lex shares the story of how he began to forge his identity on his own term...

When Nataly Dawn’s family moves from the U.S. to a tiny town in the middle of France, she finds herself unable to speak, read, or even play the way the other kids do. It’s embarrassing, being a rock-bottom beginner in 5th grade — but as she slowly learns the language, she finds a new kind of joy in the process of discovery. The singer-songwriter who is one-half of the band Pomplamoose shares how a...

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'...