Elephant Journal: The Mindful Life With Waylon

When life gets a little crazy and meditation and mindfulness and yoga and all the wellness foods aren't cutting it, what do we do? What would Buddhist say about that? Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events. Thank you to our mindful sponsor, Klean Kanteen. 

In this episode, Waylon Lewis talks with CEO and founder of Earth Hero, Ryan Lewis, about conscious consumerism—why it matters, how to become a conscious consumer, and examples of everyday products made with the environment and our well being in mind. If inspired by the products you heard about in this podcast, check out Earth Hero's website at earthhero.com and use the code Elephant15 at checkout to get 15% off your purchase. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

“Idiot compassion is the highly conceptualized idea that you want to do good….But that doesn’t mean to say that you have to be gentle all the time. Your gentleness should have heart, strength. In order that your compassion doesn’t become idiot compassion, you have to use your intelligence. Otherwise, there could be self-indulgence of thinking that you are creating a compassionate situation when in fact you are feeding the other person’s aggression. If you go to a shop and the shopkeeper cheats  you and you go back and let him cheat you again, that doesn’t seem to be a very healthy thing to do for others.” ~ Chogyam Trungpa Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

Waylon responds to a listener's question: “What would the Buddha say about when to fight? I don't want to be a pushover but I don't want to spend a second of my life fighting. I wonder, if at times, I have a responsibility to fight to ensure other people aren’t mistreated. I don’t want to fight for myself, but should I fight for others? When should I go to battle and when should I let it go?” Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.  

Waylon talks with dancer Marlo Fisken re: her experience with Jeffrey Epstein, Sexual Assault awareness, #MeToo. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.      

“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr..Waylon answers a question from a listener: "How can we love people who are so evil?" Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.  

Waylon answers questions from the audience—how do you know if you should stay or leave a relationship? How do you handle conflict in a relationship? How do you decide if your relationship needs fixing or if you should just leave it? Do the annoying little habits your partner has really matter? Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

Grief. We all experience it. From a Buddhist perspective, the good news about grief is that we can all let go of it. The bad news is that letting go is hard, and letting go of something or someone we hold very dear to our hearts can be insulting to our egos. But enlightenment is just that—the ultimate insult to the ego. So, we learn to let go and the way to let go is to remember that we are okay. Nothing is fundamentally wrong with us. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon explores the notion that being vegan is something that is only possible for privileged folk, or folk who want to be distinguished and distinctive. Waylon dives into why he is vegan and common misconceptions surrounding a plant-based lifestyle, such as how expensive it is. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

“Remember: the warrior—a peaceful person who is dedicating her or his life to the benefit of all—should always be a little broken-hearted. Broken-heartedness is not something that we are trying to get away from. We want to be broken-hearted all the time, because that leads to empathy. And empathy leads to catharsis. And catharsis leads to joy—genuine joy. Joy is another way of saying love. We cannot experience genuine joy or love if our heart is not open.” ~ Waylon Lewis Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

“From a serious point of view, it is incredibly helpful to be told not to start the entrepreneurial path. If you refuse to stop after hearing everything you are about to hear, then you should proceed.” ~ Waylon Lewis. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon dives into how we can approach having difficult conversations with the people we care most about and why being able to have these difficult conversations is crucial to our overall well being. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

Waylon Lewis celebrated is 45th birthday on July 16th! In honor of doing so, Waylon reflected on aging—the good and the bad of the inevitable process. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon describes the two qualities of genuine love: warmth & independence. Waylon explains the importance of balance between these qualities and how we can create that balance in our relationships. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

This week, we are releasing a bonus episode of The Mindful Life podcast in honor of Elephant Journal's brand new Elephant Academy Course: How to Write, Sell, & Publish the Hell out of your Book {eco-responsibly}. In this episode, Waylon shares what you can expect from this course, the mindset required to fulfill the dream of writing a book, and how this path of publishing will allow you to make a living off of writing. If you're inspired, go to elephantjournal.com/indiebook to check it out! Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon shares his personal tips for more meaningful, present, eco-friendly travel. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon addresses the popular notion that individual actions do not matter in the grand scheme of climate change because corporations are by far the largest contributor to the problem. Waylon highlights that our behaviors drive corporations to make the decisions they do and that it takes altering our daily habits to create real change—which takes a lot of bravery on our part. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

During the era of "self-help" we would be pressed to go a day without being told to "get out of your comfort zone!" In this episode, Waylon discusses just when we should get out of our comfort zones and when we should stay in them. Waylon dives into Buddhist Lojong Mind Training and the idea that we should always trust the principle one first and not to be so predictable. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon presents three everyday life challenges that will help slow you down, bring you back to the present moment, and enjoy your life more each day. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.

In this episode, Waylon explores jealousy—where it comes from, why we feel it, and what we can do about it. Podcast produced by: Vanessa Boehm; Music by Adam Agee, recorded live at Walk the Talk Show events.