Viral Mindfulness the Podcast

Join me for an early morning cup of coffee next to a cozy campfire in Copake, New York. We'll discuss joy as an opportunity, even a "calling -- precisely in a moment like this" (Krista Tippett). My joy dances intimately with the pain, struggle and impermanence of modern life. Can you create space to hold joy while you're navigating difficulties? I'm home in Southern California and integrating Summ...

Behind the scenes of my Spring Piano Recital and Watercolour Series: Romance With Rainwater. Harvey Rose and John Harvey Cates pop in with a little audio fun from their garden in New City, NY. All things Alexander → viralmindfulness.com → Get your tickets for my recital next weekend. XXOO Yours Bluely

In this 20 minute guided meditation we'll explore a garden within your heart and mind's eye, as we simmer on the words of Maria Papova: "The life of a garden is a vivid reminder that anything of beauty and radiance takes time, takes care, takes devotion to seed and sprout and bloom, gardens have long been living cathedrals for the creative spirit. And, suddenly, the flower emerges not as this pret...

Kitty girls, squirrel friends and soul siblings! We just hit 20,000 downloads on the podcast. Thanks for the love! Are you ready to sashay your way along the trails with me? Honey, we're talking about Flagstaff, Arizona, and Santa Fe, New Mexico, serving you trail realness. As I make my pilgrimage to Taos, New Mexico, this episode is a journey packed with adventure, and conversations on fear. I'm...

LIVE from Santa Fe, New Mexico | Conversations On Fear by Alexander Smith | Mindfulness Teacher

This is the second year I'm celebrating the New Year at the Spring Equinox. I thought March 25th, being the full moon and all, would be the perfect beginning. Do you know about my Guided Meditation Starter Kit? I'll tell you about it. Don't just take my word for it, Bryce Orvin recently left me a comment after practicing one of the guided meditations: "What a soothing, gentle introduction to makin...

Watch the CNN interview, explore pictures from my World AIDS Day Keynote (2011), and learn more about Dime Stories (today's reading) → blessyourvirus.com

Winter's Edge: My Melancholy and a Public Service Social Worker Announcement (PSSWA) by Alexander Smith | Mindfulness Teacher

In this episode I talk about my Midwinter Melancholy and how music is at the top of my "treatment plan." I read an essay I wrote in 2002 applying for an international Summer practicum in Eastern Europe (Bulgaria). It's called, MUSIC LESSONS. I got the internship and had an epic summer (circa 2002). I finish the episode offering you a blessing from John O'Donohue entitled: As A Child Enters The Wor...

Snotty tales of mucus, textiles (my new bedding) and cashmere of course. I've emerged from a January whirlwind. Let's start with the cold/flu/covid which drop kicked me into bed for seven days. Thank Goddess I bought new flannel sheets and two down pillows (with Mulberry silk cases) in December. I'll share a juicy quote from Katherine May's WINTERING and details about Midwinter Wise Circles which...

Make sit happen under the stars of nighttime in Yosemite National Park.

Make sit happen under the stars of an early morning in Yosemite National Park.

I'm not sure forgiveness is real. I like to think of it as a riddle. May this guided meditation encourage ideas related to "forgiveness." It's a process, not a decision or an event. You don't have to forgive everyone. Here are the three phrases we'll work with: 1. I forgive you for the harm you have caused 2. Knowingly or in ignorance, you were suffering and lost 3. I forgive you

"If everything around seems dark, look again, you may be the light" (RUMI). I'm writing on Winter's Eve to remind you that your light matters. The darkness and sorrow within my life is the reason I can hold authentic joy, peace and playfulness. Lebanese-American poet and philosopher Kahlil Gibran suggests "the deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain." May you trust...

I've been a little quiet here on the podcast as I've been processing big events, including time with Dad, in my Desert of Dementia (Arizona). He's been living with dementia since 2015 and this was our first time face to face where he didn't know who I was most of the 5 days. This episode presents in a "Blue's State of the Union Update" highlighting quick plot points from the past 8 weeks. I answer...

Let me intimate my response and thoughts on a few sentences from Gabor Maté's book, 'The Myth Of Normal.' Inside you. Think of your trauma as an inner injury. “Trauma is not what happens to you but what happens inside you.” Details about Late-Fall Wise Circles which start the week of November 13 and run for five weeks. Early bird discount on tuition available through November 1. All of the details...

While visiting Yosemite I did some reading about John Muir and his adventures in the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite. I found a phrase by an author named Gretel Ehrlich that left an impression; she was referencing John's early life and his lack of "intellectual interludes." I carried the word interlude with me along the trails and rivers of Yosemite National Park, and found a way to integrate it...

Make Sit Happen: Healing Trauma, A Guided Meditaion Journey, Written by Belleruth Naparstek by Alexander Smith | Mindfulness Teacher

Swap your brown noise, green, white, or violet for this unique Yosemite waterfall. Blue Noise, an offering from Foresta Falls, which is deep on the edge of Yosemite National Park (in Foresta, CA). Recorded live, on location, Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 6:02PM PT.

Enjoy the beautiful voice of Crane Creek in Foresta, California. On the edge, right in Yosemite National Park.

I spent last week in Yosemite National Park for 7 nights. I have some ideas I want to share with you. Details about Fall Wise Circles. Piano Recitals With Watercolour Giveaways THIS WEEK. Four to choose from. 45 minutes on ZOOM. Thursday, Sept. 21, 7PM-7:45PM PT, Friday, Sept. 22, 6PM-6:45PM PT, Saturday, Sept. 23 (First Day of Autumn), 2PM-2:45PM PT and Sunday, Sept. 24 (My Eight Year Sober Anniv...

I’m home from Summer on the East Coast, ready to begin Second Summer in Southern California (find out what this means). I talk about my big blue birthday party on Broadway and the surprise visitors who flew across the country. In this episode I welcome new listeners I met (in-person) in Boone, North Carolina through Laura McKowen’s weekend retreat at Art of Living Center. I answer questions, discu...

I'm simmering this summer with two words: MUSCULAR HOPE. Krista Tippet has inspired this adventure in idea.⁣ ⁣ "I talk about hope being a muscle. It’s not wishful thinking, and it’s not idealism. It’s not even a belief that everything will turn out OK. It’s an imaginative leap, which is what I’ve seen in people like John Lewis and Jane Goodall. ⁣ ⁣ These are people who said: 'I refuse to accept th...

In a snack-size, Summer's almost here episode, I share one of my favorite four-letter words. COAX always arrives, right on time, and encourages me. Coax is like a mantra, or prayer, that influences a shift, with gentle persuasion, flattery, etc. Even cajole! Only one more rainwater poppy painting available to purchase: viralmindfulness.com/gallery

Question from a Potential Wise Circle Traveler: "I have been subscribed to your newsletter for a bit, and also interested in what group therapy might offer me. I've been exploring the stuff on your wise circle. Could you explain a little bit about how this functions as group therapy, and what makes it different?" Welcome to Dear Alexander! Share insight, beauty and aha's. Ask me a question: viralm...