Heart Haven Meditations

Novelist and short story writer Alice Elliott Dark talks with Tess about long-term grief not as something to fix, but as an access point, a thin veil between us and the people we've lost. She shares her creative process, sunrise practice, the quiet art of becoming "receptive" rather than forceful, and why she believes it's okay to simply live inside grief rather than rush to mo...

Ayad Akhtar, Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and novelist, author of American Dervish and Homeland Elegies , joins host Tess Callahan to talk about his new novel, The Radiance. The book follows a writer (also named Ayad) who wakes from a hit-and-run accident into an unbidden state of heightened perception that unfolds over eight months as he navigates an academic scandal in a politically divided...

Wake up at night with your mind racing? Or have trouble getting to sleep to begin with? This guided meditation uses breathwork and a gentle river visualization to help you let go of the day and drift back to sleep. Picture yourself releasing worry, heartache, and tension into the softly flowing water, until there’s nothing left but stillness. Audio editing and music by Eric Fischer. Support the sh...

This guided meditation invites you to ride the waves of your life, the grief and the joy, the storms and the sun, trusting Life to hold you throughout.  I hope you enjoy. Music and editing by Eric Fischer.  Support the show Host: Tess Callahan Substack : Writers at the Well Interview Podcast : Writers at the Well Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https://tessc...

Healing music designed to gently guide you into deep restorative sleep. Composed by the fabulous Eric Fischer, the notes are literally imbued with love. May you feel safe, protected, and free to relax into sleep. Support the show Host: Tess Callahan Substack : Writers at the Well Interview Podcast : Writers at the Well Meditations on Insight Timer Meditations on YouTube Tess's novels: https:/...

Alternate nostril breathing or Nadi Shodhana is breathing technique from yoga that promotes relaxation, clarity, and stress relief. It involves inhaling and exhaling through one nostril at a time, alternating sides, and can benefit the cardiovascular, respiratory, and nervous systems. It aids in lowering blood pressure, improving heart rate variability, enhancing lung function, and activating the...

Though Savasana (or shavasana), the “Corpse Pose,” is a relaxation practice often used at the end of a yoga session, it can be done anytime to cultivate rest, rejuvenation, and wellbeing. It invites you to release tension, surrender to gravity, and allow the body-mind to come into a state of ease. Imitating a corpse helps you to release your grip on the impulse to alter or fix the present moment i...

Dr. Andrew Holecek discusses Dark Retreat—a Tibetan Buddhist practice of spending extended periods in complete darkness—and its transformative effects on creativity, healing, and spiritual insight. Dark Retreat is “big medicine” not to be undertaken lightly. Like any retreat, its power relies on its integration. His new book on the subject is:  Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Da...

What if every meal began with a moment of intimate connection? In this episode, I offer a short practice for thanking your food, a blessing that moves through the plants, water, sun, animals, and human hands that brought your meal to you. Simple enough to carry in your mind, deep enough to quietly change how you eat. May it nourish your soul! Music and sound mixing by Eric Fischer. Support the sho...

This brief meditation encourages you to find moments of connection to yourself and to Spirit throughout your day, no matter what challenges you’re facing. The act of pausing supplies the calm clarity we need to address our challenges wisely. Be attentive to portals to presence, and observe the observer within. The meditation concludes with a quote from the 12th century Christian mystic Meister Eck...

There’s a lot going on—in the world, in us. So how do we hold it all? This meditation grew out of a friend’s morning and evening prayer: “whatever” and “oh well.” Simple, honest, maybe even a little funny—but also surprisingly profound. Together we explore what it means to release ourselves into the present moment, to notice what’s well and good even amidst what’s broken, and to make our hearts bi...

Yoga Nidra relaxes your body into deep restorative sleep while your mind, like a night-blooming flower, opens to formless awareness. Over the course of these 8 hours, the guiding voice softens into ocean waves, yet remains barely audible to guide you back to sleep should you awaken during the night. Drawn partly from the teachings of Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, this practice includes a complete bod...

In this special episode of Heart Haven Meditations, Tess Callahan speaks with author George Saunders abou the intersection of meditation, writing, and his Buddhist practice. Drawing from his new novel Vigil, Saunders reflects on attention, revision as a form of meditation, and the challenge of inhabiting another person's consciousness with honesty and care. Saunders emphasizes the value of cu...

This contemplative meditation draws from the fourth century BCE Taoist master Chuang Tzu, as retold by Thomas Merton. Through the ancient parable of wind moving through ten thousand holes in the earth, we listen to nature’s voice—a symphony of mooing, roaring, and whistling that emerges when the invisible breath of life moves through all things. The voice of the wind becomes a powerful metaphor fo...

This talk/meditation invites you to access inner wisdom through sleep and the liminal spaces between waking and sleeping. In many ancient traditions, monks, yogis, and shamans dreamed worlds into being. These dreamed realms, called Pure Lands, Buddha Fields, and Fields of Spirit, exist outside of ordinary time and can be visited in meditation and dreams. They are, in essence, the Kingdom of God wi...

This is a guided relaxation meditation for promoting restful sleep. If possible, aim for a dark, quiet, cool sleeping environment. The meditation invites you to recall a moment of gratitude from you day, followed by a full-body relaxation scan, and a short round of 4-7-8 breathing (inhaling for four seconds, holding for seven, and exhaling for eight). Then, you release your breath, letting the bod...

This is the final episode of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . It recaps the previous meditations and encourages you to challenge yourself to see the face of God in all people, all places, all animals, and all situations. Awakening is not for the faint of heart, but it leads us to experience life in ways beyond our wildest imagination. The 30 practices build on each other, so yo...

This forgiveness practice is number 29 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . When you forgive someone else, you release yourself from them. When you forgive yourself, you release yourself from the past. Forgiveness is about letting go. While feelings as they arise have a right to be felt and anger can often be justified, persistent states of hatred, rage and resentment are corros...

This is number 28 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . This practice is simple, pointed, and powerful. It takes courage to love, to be honest, to understand another person, and yourself. Here you're invited to notice your sticking points, places where you hold on, become overly insistent, or pull back too far, and to meet those places with courage. These practices build on...

This is number 27 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . This episode, drawn from the Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi, invites you to seek to understand yourself and others before seeking to be understood. When you understand yourself deeply, the demand that others understand you begins to melt away. Your heart and mind open, and you enjoy life more. Demanding that others unders...

This is number 26 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . This episode invites you to bring a sense of spaciousness into your conversations, to get curious about the tiny but impactful turns inherent to all dialogue, and to bring an intention for peace into those moments. It's a practice of deep listening to yourself and another. These practices build on each other, so you can...

This is number 25 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . It includes some imagery of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, but it's not necessary to be Christian to enjoy the metaphor. My previous episode was about telling the truth, but truth without love is hollow. Here you are invited walk through your day leading with your heart -- a simple but utterly transformative experience. I h...

This is number 24 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . This episode invites you to do something radical, namely to tell the truth, with kindness, all day today, both in your conversations and in your head. As we seek to grow, we often confront holdouts, those parts of us that aren’t sure they want to change. Noticing when we shade or twist the truth brings us to the cutting edge...

This is number 23 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti . This episode invites you root yourself in Presence. The more present you are, the more you experience your sense of aliveness. Practicing presence opens up energetic pathways in your subtle body through which consciousness, and therefore joy, can flow.  These practices build on each other, so you can listen consecutively, bu...

This is number 22 of a 30-part meditation series inspired by Adyashanti. This episode invites you to become conscious of what you are thinking about your experience. How you relate to your thoughts determines the quality of your being in the next moment. You have the power to gently choose what to focus on, and thereby to dramatically shift your relationship to whatever life brings your way. It&ap...