Moved To Meditate Podcast

In today's episode of the podcast, I'm discussing the most common meditation myth: the idea that you need to get rid of your thoughts. You'll hear about Mindfulness of Thinking, how thoughts fit in to meditation practice, what we can learn by observing those thoughts, and some techniques to try. I'm hoping that if you've heard this meditation myth, you've also had someone tell you it's false! But...

In today's episode, we're talking about green exercise and mindfulness in nature! My guest, Jessica Patching-Bunch (JPB) fills us in on all the benefits that moving outside can provide to the body, brain, and our general well-being. Green exercise is deliberate movement in a natural environment – everything from hiking or biking outside, to Tai Chi in the park, to swimming, and many other activiti...

Today's episode of the podcast is a little different than usual, because it's about a book! I'm talking about why awe is good for us, drawing from what I learned by reading Dacher Keltner's new book,  Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How it Can Transform Your Life . In case you didn't know, researchers are studying awe - as in the feeling of amazement or wonder, the experience of having...

This week, we have an inspiring podcast conversation with Sharon Shelton about the benefits of learning meditation in community, through mindfulness mentor groups. Sharon is a mindfulness and dharma teacher and certified life coach, and one of the founding teachers at Cloud Sangha. You'll be energized by Sharon's passion, as she describes the power of mindful connection. She explains how exploring...

In today's podcast episode, I'm talking about Yin Yoga Meditation. Not only is this slow, mindful yoga practice a fantastic gateway to sitting meditation, but it can truly be a meditation practice in itself - if you practice with that intention. You'll hear how Yin Yoga might be a more approachable way to learn meditation, and exactly how you can develop meditative skills within your Yin Yoga pose...

If you're someone who's dabbled with mindfulness practices, but struggled to create a real meditation habit, today's episode is for you! My guest is Chris McDonald, and in this episode, we're discussing the ins and outs of how to develop a meditation practice that sticks. Chris McDonald is a holistic therapist, which means she integrates practices like yoga and meditation into her mental health th...

This week on the podcast, we have a conversation with Jill Weiss Ippolito, a leader in the field of yoga activism for social change. Jill is the Founder of UpRising Yoga, a non-profit known for its trauma-informed work with incarcerated youth. We talk about the beginnings and recent evolutions of Jill's work through UpRising Yoga, and how she sees their programs as more than "just" yoga classes, b...

In today's podcast episode I reflect on my take-aways from the changes and transitions of the past year. I will share four tips for mindfulness in challenging times, along with some uplifting stories and lessons I've learned along the way. This isn't a "new year, new you" podcast episode - instead, I hope it will offer some companionship for any time you find yourself immersed in a tough experienc...

Is it better to be mindless, rather than mindful, in some situations? Well, that would depend on what you mean by mindful vs. mindless – and apparently, we're not all talking about the same thing! In this podcast episode, we will look at these terms - mindful vs. mindless - and how they might apply to movement practice. I recently came across an article in Scientific American entitled "Sometimes M...

My guest today is Maria Jones, author of The Chair Yoga Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Chair-Based Yoga . In this conversation, Maria also shares her perspective as a person living with Systemic Lupus, and talks about how Chair Yoga benefits those with chronic illness. You'll hear about Maria's journey with auto-immune disease, getting diagnosed with Systemic Lupus, and dealing with s...

In today's episode, I speak with Dr. Tracey Meyers about her new book Yin Yoga Therapy and Mental Health . We discuss how Yin Yoga can be a particularly useful - and even transformative - practice for supporting different kinds of mental health challenges, from anxiety and depression to PTSD and traumatic brain injury. Tracey describes how Yin Yoga became her go-to practice for supporting clients...

Today's podcast episode is about how slow mindful yoga can help us be more present for our lives. By learning the art of slowing down in a variety of ways through mindful movement, we can develop tools that serve us far beyond the mat – where it really counts. While busy-ness and activity are praised by our culture, many of us actually harbor a deep longing to slow down. Life can feel so full, wit...

In today's podcast episode, I talk about something that used to be quite controversial in the yoga world: Yin Yoga props. While it's (hopefully) not the hot debate it once was, the misconception is still out there that we don't use props in Yin Yoga. In my continuing effort to dispel the myth, I'll talk about all of the ways I think props fit in to the Yin Yoga practice, why it's important, and wh...

Today's podcast episode is about learning to meditate, and the pros and cons of using meditation apps. I'll talk about how I think the apps are best used, and what else you might want to look for to support your growing meditation practice. These days many people are getting interested in learning mindfulness or other forms of meditation. We've been hearing about the many documented benefits to ph...

In today's episode, I talk about intensity and why it might be revealing to take a look at its role in mindfulness and movement practice. Whether you notice that you tend to crave intensity on the mat, or you tend to avoid it, it's something you can learn to work with skillfully. Of course, life itself is intense sometimes, and we can't really avoid that. But if we see our practice as a kind of la...

I'm happy to be back today with a new episode about mindful movement! There was an unexpected hiatus, because I had to travel to Alabama and spend 3 weeks helping with some significant family health-related challenges. A silver lining of that very difficult trip was seeing how much my meditation and movement practices made a difference in my ability to make it through that experience. And so in th...

Today we have a warm and inspiring conversation with Kristin Vikjord about her book, Inner Spark . We talk about re-kindling your own light and inner guidance, especially at times in your life when you feel a bit lost or burned out.  Kristin is a clinical psychologist, based in Bodø, Norway, and since she's also a yoga and mindfulness meditation teacher, we met several years ago when we were in tr...

In this week's episode, we're exploring a new Deeper Dive theme - grounding. For the month of August, we'll be emphasizing practices that help us find steady ground in the present moment. Many of us have an intuitive sense of what we mean by "grounding." I'll unpack several factors here that I consider part of grounding - from present moment awareness, to connection with external surroundings, pay...

This episode is a conversation with the wonderful Qigong teacher, Mimi Kuo-Deemer. We discuss this beautiful mindful movement and energy practice from China, and how it invites us to harmonize with the elements of the natural world. You'll hear Mimi's fascinating description of Qigong's history, including her insights from analyzing the Chinese characters for Qi (energy) and Gong (work/skill). We...

Today we have a really interesting conversation with Diana Zotos Florio, one of the founders of Threes Physiyoga. We talked about awareness and embodiment, yoga and physical therapy, and how all these practices can support us to live life fully. Diana talks about re-thinking the paradigm where we go to physical therapy episodically to "fix" injuries, rather than engaging in smart movement practice...

It's time for a new Deeper Dive theme! For the next month, we'll be exploring Focus, or the practice of concentration. This is all about how we pay attention to where our attention is going, either in stillness and meditation, or in a yoga/movement practice, or going about our day. Focus is a really powerful tool, because it gives us more choice in what we give our attention to - and that can have...

In today's episode, I talk with Emilie Reid, founder of Seasonal Intentions. Emilie helps her students and coaching clients find balance through seasonally-focused self-care routines that draw from Yoga, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and more. This is a really fun and inspiring conversation that we somehow happened to record just before the Summer Solstice (or, Winter if you're in the Southern Hemis...

Today's episode is a continuation of the bodyfulness theme, picking up from two episodes ago when I introduced this Deeper Dive topic. Bodyfulness is also called "embodied mindfulness," "somatic awareness," or "mindfulness in the body." In this talk, I get a little more specific on some practices and inquiries we can use to explore and develop embodied mindfulness. I talk about how I had an early...

Today's conversation is with Kristine Weber, the founder of Subtle Yoga. Kristine is a leading world authority on the neuroscientific benefits of slow, mindful movement and an advocate for the use of these practices as a solution to the healthcare crisis.  Recently, the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control) put out new guidelines for the medical profession about chronic pain and the use of opioids,...

In today's episode, I'm introducing the theme of bodyfulness, or mindful embodiment, which will be our MTM Deeper Dive for the next month! We'll talk about what "bodyfulness" means, how it relates to mindfulness, and why it's something that can enrich your life and your practice, if you pay attention to it. Embodiment is a huge topic - it's a subject that's looked at through different lenses by re...