Elephant Journal: The Mindful Life With Waylon

Waylon talks with Keith Martin-Smith about being a writer, addressing attachement and ego, his new book, When the Buddha Needs Therapy. As Keith says, no human being can awaken what they can't see. "If you think you don't have shadows or attachment or trauma issues...you probably have really big ones." ~ Keith Martin-Smith Read the full article on Elephant Journal. Keith Martin-Smith is an award-winning author of several books, a writing coach, and a Zen priest. He has a strong interest in Integral theory, psychological shadow work, and the awakening process. 

Marianne Williamson talks with Elephant’s Waylon Lewis of Walk the Talk Show about why she’s running for President as a Democrat in 2024..! She’s a best-selling author, political activist, spiritual thought-leader, and, yes, a presidential candidate. They debate, agree, discuss, all respectfully and with honesty and passion. “No amount of personal transformation will deal with the fact that the planet is becoming uninhabitable if we don’t stop fossil fuel extraction. You can drink all the green juice in the world, but they’re poisoning the water and the air and the food. You can do all these things and transform yourself. But the zeitgeist of this moment isn’t just about yourself. A lot of higher consciousness work had circled around into a kind of atomized narcissistic ‘it’s all about me, it’s all about me.’ The transformation of the planet isn’t all about you. The transformation of the planet is about us.” ~ Marianne Williamson Read the full article on Elephant Journal. Marianne and Waylon have previous

Let this be a little encouragement for you to honor this finite, precious life and every moment in it. Waylon Lewis on Birthdays:  “Whether life is short or long, every day we have is precious. Mark that preciousness. From a Buddhist point of view, birthdays are sacred. They’re a wonderful opportunity to celebrate, and mark, and honor the passing of time—similar to [what] Robin Williams [talked about] in Dead Poets Society.” “I wanted to offer a little reminder and a little bit of encouragement. From a Buddhist point of view, honoring impermanence, this precious life, and the opportunity it gives us every day, every minute that we’re here to make use of that life to be of benefit to all sentient beings (including ourself). So on the next birthday you have, let’s put some love into it.”

Waylon talks with Sharon Salzberg about her new book, Real Life, her aspirations for our world, and their mutual passion for voting and being an active, caring citizen. Sharon is a longtime friend of Elephant. Read an excerpt of Real Life on Elephant Journal. “Some of your other books have focused on how to be a part of, as my Buddhist community likes to say, creating enlightened society. How to be a helpful part of change. If I have it right, this book is focused on living a meaningful life and dealing with all the challenges and obstacles and difficult emotions that come up.” ~ Waylon Lewis Read the full article on Elephant Journal.

Waylon talks with Adam Carney of Wisdom Medicine and EAST+WEST Yoga and they talk about, well, a little bit of everything: functional medicine, chronic illness, telemedicine, entrepreneurship, leadership, yoga, travel, and being of benefit. Don’t miss out on this compelling conversation between two mindful gents, experts in their fields. Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal. Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

Waylon gets wowed by Scott Berman of Sky Cave Retreats. Just…watch…it’s unique (understatement) and inspiring and earthy and healing. “There’s this period of novelty where it’s just like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. I don’t have to do anything. Nothing’s bothering me.’ And that might last for like the day, or it might last for a minute. Typically it doesn’t last for the whole day, but some people get by enjoying the novelty for the day. Right? And that’s what happens for everybody. No matter how well prepared somebody is or how advanced they feel that they are, there’s the discomfort that arises because we almost never allow discomfort to come in the moment.” ~ Scott Berman Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.

Mindful Mondays, with Waylon Lewis: On the importance of pausing and celebrating our lives.  “Sometimes, often all we have to do is pause and really look for two seconds. Maybe…three. And, as Buddhists love to say, nothing happens. When nothing happens, we start being present with our world, and our life. We start breathing again.. We start smiling, and feeling our sadness, and feeling brave enough to feel—to be present in our own life.” ~ Waylon Lewis  Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal. 

I sat down with author Anjie Cho on feng shui! This stuff inspires me! 90% of it is easily applicable. "I'm so honored to be here: when I first started as an entrepreneur, I submitted my articles in 2015 and 2016 to Elephant and they're still there. You started posting them and I was like, oh my gosh! What we say doesn't go away. Right? These [articles] are still relevant and I'm not embarrassed of what I wrote. It's full circle." ~ Anjie Cho Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.   Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

I’m here to talk about writing today. The virtue of writing. We need to open the prison door and let writing out of just being for this limited thing that is called writers. Writing is for anyone with a voice. And that’s you, and me. Some people will always tell us we aren’t good enough, smart enough, knowledgeable enough. That’s their problem. Writing is getting to know our experience—and in so doing—turning it into wisdom that is helpful to self and others. That’s what we practice in Elephant Academy. If you’ve been thinking about joining—take a leap, if so inspired. Summer enrollments end soon.

Waylon with his inspiring friend Shoshanna Raven on…women’s leadership, pre-judgement, optimism/caring, balance, and Living Brave. “I want to say thank you because when we met, I did not have a business. I did not have ‘Living Brave.’ I didn’t have my brand. I just had words and experiences and emotions that I wanted to share through writing. Writing was a vessel for me to really learn who I was, and then be able to impact people with my words. Elephant was one of the first places that I ever wrote.” ~ Shoshanna Raven Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

This week Waylon chats with meditation teacher, psychologist, and (sometimes Elephant author) and author Tara Brach. They talk broken hearts, loneliness, living with integrity, exploring safe spaces in community—and stretching beyond those spaces of safety to connect with others. Tara is a co-founder of Cloud Sangha. Find out more about their offerings and RSVP for a free open house session to explore human connection and foster a sense of belonging. "...stretching to be vulnerable. Stretching to quiet our own minds so we can listen to each other. Stretching to speak with those that we don't agree with because we really can include each other and learn from each other." ~ Tara Brach Read the full article on Elephant Journal. 

Waylon Lewis talks with guiding meditation teacher, psychologist and author Tara Brach. ⁠They speak about loneliness, the need for social connection, and the importance of relationships by diving into the root causes of the current epidemic of loneliness, isolation, and disconnection. Tara Brach is a meditation teacher, psychologist and author of several books including international bestselling Radical Acceptance, Radical Compassion and Trusting the Gold. Her popular weekly podcast on emotional healing and spiritual awakening is downloaded 3 million times a month. Along with Jack Kornfield, Tara leads the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP), and is a co-founder of Cloud Sangha. Find out more about Cloud Sangha and RSVP for a free open house session to explore human connection and foster a sense of belonging.

This week Waylon hopes that our recent natural disasters and toxic wildfire smoke will help folks to wake up and make necessary changes. “We’ve had toxic wildfires and wildfire smoke here in Boulder for maybe 10 years. It’s really unhealthy, it’s awful for businesses. Right now, today, New York and most of Canada is going through what we’ve gone through for many years. It’s good to see it on the cover of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Here I am at my local café thinking maybe people will wake up….” ~ Waylon Lewis  Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

Waylon talks with Rachelle Robinett on…Herbs, Wellness 101, Healthy Traveling, Doughnuts, Coffee, Maintaining a sense of Delight, & her Final Frontier (for now). ⁠⁠ “You can guide people into a healthy place. But of course, there’s also a ton of capitalization on trends with the wrong motivations for quick sales.” ~ Rachelle Robinett Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

So the other day I wrote something sweet and vulnerable and open and…clearly annoying…and a longtime Buddhist pal laughed at me and told me to shut it.  Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

Waylon talks with co-host and managing editor of Daily Blast Live, Sam Schacher, on gun violence—& doing something helpful about it. {Video & Podcast} Sam and Waylon talk over gun safety—and if you’re in Colorado, join her (and thousands of others) on June 5th. Listen to the conversation for what’s at stake. On June 5th, the organization Here 4 The Kids is starting a national movement, beginning in Colorado. Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

This week on Mindful Monday, Waylon addresses the evironmental impacts of our choices. The quote he was trying and failing to properly recall: “Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.” ~ Cree Indian Prophecy Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

On the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder: Yogi & Peace Activist Reggie Hubbard has a message for ALL of us.

This week Waylon talks about one aspect of our speedy, "to-go" culture that alarms him and a simple, practical way that we can address it in our everyday lives...that he learned, by example, from his Mama. As he says in the video, this isn't news to anyone listening, but it is a mindful reminder that we can all benefit from hearing. "We can get back to community and supporting one another very simply by doing something my mom taught me by example, which is buying secondhand." ~ Waylon Lewis Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal.  Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.

Waylon talks with Ellie Laks, founder of The Gentle Barn Foundation, a national organization that rescues and loves unwanted animals, and heals people with stories of abuse and neglect. They talk about the work she and her team do at The Gentle Barn(s), how it all started, and the #1 way we can help without leaving our homes. ⁠⁠ Read the accompanying article on Elephant Journal. Thanks for listening. Hope you're getting a lot out of it. If this was of benefit, the full conversation is on our indie platform that supports & continues our work: elephantjournal.com/videos You can subscribe, listen, watch, & participate there—and when you do so you'll keep these mindful videos and podcasts going.