Elephant Journal: The Mindful Life With Waylon

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about the trap of positivity and how it can actually do the opposite of what we think, and result in us turning away from the outside world and instead showing up in the world in a more cold or withdrawn manner. Instead, if we are accepting, and powerful, and courageous, and brave, and vulnerable, by opening up to the world around us as it is—reality—we can hear, and learn from it and instead of sitting in stress or fear of hearing it, we can say, how can I help? How am I a part of this? And those are good questions to ask, because they then allow us to look at solutions. "Our hearts are not available if we're concerned first with feeling happy and relaxed. When our loyalty is to feeling happy and relaxed, it's actually a very stressful place to be because we're constantly trying to push away negative things and cling to positive things." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about being a new father and the need to provide a livable planet for our children to thrive on for generations to come. Now is the time to resist and not to give our power away, and we can do this by dozens of minute, mindful actions we can take every day, and by being  Buddhist (not religiously) in the sense that we're being kind to ourselves. "We need a habitable planet for Willa, and all our children, to live on. I know we know this, but we don't really act like it. " ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about not giving up our power. Last week's podcast was on the theme of reclaiming our power, and this week he digs into this a little more in-depth.  Some folks may ask, "Who cares if I do something environmentally-responsible or not?" Well, every little thing does matter to someone or something. And, billionaires' actions matter much more. But, still, too, every little thing we do matters—because there's billions of us. And, it's the right thing to do—the kind thing to do. "Powerlessness is actually convenient for our egos. The truth is that we have power. Most of us may not have a lot of power, but we have power. We have power to inspire. We have power to upset, and to depress. We have power for neurosis. We have power for sanity..." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about using our collective power for good. "Reclaim your own power—do what you can with where you are, now, starting now. Put more love and healing into our dear world and take out some of the aggression and casual, speedy, destructive selfishness." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about the 2025 election and the power of small-d democracy in action. "So much to celebrate last night. Meaningful victories for public servants who will serve us and US, across the board. The beginning— just the beginning—of a repudiation of Donald Trump's corruption and willful destruction of democracy. But most of all: a reminder that most of us are good caring people. Let's do this!!" ~ Waylon H. Lewis

This is a challenge for most of us. Be kind to yourself. We have to work with our own thing—open up, be wakeful and available first, then we can help the world. There is nothing more intimate than working with family. That is a path of meditation or mindfulness. This is our practice.

Walk the Talk Show with Waylon Lewis presents: our 300th Podcast! Waylon speaks with the founder of Boulder, Colorado-based Peak State Coffee, Danny Walsh, about what we should look for in our daily cup of joe and why we might want to re-empower our buying power and support a eco, ethical coffee companies.  Danny Walsh: " When I was going into business, I was like, 'I'm not gonna start just another business in this modern age unless it's better than what's out there from an environmental and sustainability perspective.' Not all coffee is created equal." Their conversation jumps from the misnomer that "coffee is coffee," to growing practices, to certifications, to flavor, cost, and the basic ethics and labor behind your cup of coffee.

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about a Buddhist teaching that will always bring you back to the truth, especially when things  are at their hardest and it feels like the world is going to crap. Lean on this notion. “Impermanence is a teaching that reminds us that when we can’t find any ground, when there’s chaos…that’s actually good news because we’re living in the truth that there is no solidity. That who we are doesn’t really stop with who you are and doesn’t really stop with this tree over here or with the sky above. Impermanence actually makes us an environmentalist because we care about everything—the greater good—including ourselves.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks with the Elephant community about a Buddhist method to apply toward making decisions in our lives—big, or little. Suggested Reading: Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind ~ Shunryu Suzuki Read more about "don't-know mind": https://www.elephantjournal.com/2012/04/i-dont-know-do-you-know/

We're seeing a lot of talk about being Christian and the Rapture and all. Most of it is missing the point: Jesus' message of compassion was radical for his time, and clearly still is today.

What was your favorite Redford film or two that you’d recommend to others here? RIP, Bob. Thank you, Mr. Robert Redford, for being an iconoclast—an example particularly to so many young men like myself of humor and strength and kindness and integrity in a world of unoriginality, greed, willful harm, and suffering.   Read the full article with more context from Waylon, here, on Elephant Journal: A Personal Goodbye to Robert Redford. ~ Waylon Lewis {+ Podcast, Walk the Talk Show video}

Breathe through the Big Moment. Easier said than done, right? Serious psychological issues, trauma, or deep-seated issues...those require a different approach. But this conversation is an opportunity to talk openly about the Buddhist approach to our everyday stress and anxiety that we’re all experiencing—perhaps more in 2025 than ever. "I'm talking about sort of surface everyday stress and anxiety. You're speedy. You're not getting enough done. You're lazy. From a Buddhist point of view, laziness is a reaction to busyness where you want to take a break, but you tune out in a way that isn't actually relaxing." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon shares a wish for our sweet, sweet (endangered) place in the solar system: Imagine if we could celebrate Halloween without trashing our planet and teaching our children that it’s okay to do so.

What we *All* (especially Parents, hopefully) Want. Waylon shares a reminder that while we all want nice air to breathe, healthy water to drink, a stable planet for our children to grow up on, and for our children to be safe...we vote for politicians and support corporations that do the exact opposite. Again and again. "We gotta walk our talk. So that's the name of this video series, Walk The Talk Show. It's exhausting. It's exhausting to talk about the same thing. So this is just a reminder, if you do care—let's deeply care. Let's be willing to care, willing to expose our hearts and actually make some changes." ~ Waylon H. Lewis ~ "The vast majority of Americans want to take action. Thoughts and prayers are a great start. Nothing's wrong with thoughts and prayers, but if that's where it ends, everything's wrong with thoughts and prayers." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon shares with Elephant Readers, our community, and everyone listening, a simple plug for love in a moment when the GOP / MAGA is again looking to take away gay marriage rights. "Ultimately, we all want to be happy, whatever that looks like. We need to remember that when people are in love, that's one of the greatest contributors to societal happiness and stability." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon shares a counter-intuitive, Buddhist-inspired tip for those struggling to find motivation—whether you're an entrepreneur, a parent, a teacher, or simply a human who has to "produce something." If we have to do something, have to earn something, want to accomplish something...well, we all sometimes struggle. " If you’re struggling to 'produce' at work, take a step back. Pressure won’t help. That’s burnout and doesn’t create great work or good leadership. Rediscover your motivation. Do something fun or kind for yourself. Then jump back in, with mission harnessed to motivation. You got this!" ~ Waylon H. Lewis

Waylon speaks about four (plus a bonus fifth!) methods we can use to clean our minds in these times that are, to put it kindly, a little nuts. " We need to actively clean our minds, and by that I don't mean we need to be pure. I mean that we need to come back to our basic human goodness." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

This week on Walk the Talk Show, Waylon speaks about how Superman is an ideal Buddhist hero. "Growing up, Superman was a hero of mine. Kind. Caring. He used his strength, his power, not for evil or hurt or selfishness but to protect those in need, children, the vulnerable. He wasn’t grim, like Batman. He was, in Buddhist fashion, vulnerable himself (Kryptonite) and unafraid to smile, to romance, to fly high and celebrate this magical life and world from a lovely yet noble and appreciative, loving point of view. I’m glad to see his example back. We need kindness as heroism, now." ~ Waylon H. Lewis

As some have guessed. And our dear friends and neighbors and family already know. And Winnie I think knows, as he now settles in a ball at Kelsey’s feet, always. We’re pregnant. Mostly Kelsey, as I like to say/acknowledge/dad joke. I felt our little one move in momma’s belly for the first time on my first father’s day...

Paradigm Shift? Not so easily. This week, Waylon speaks about the responsibility all generations have to take steps to invest in kindness, honesty, and planet-saving actions such as avoiding plastic. It’s not the role of one, lone generation to solve the problems created by those who came before them. "One of my least favorite blind spots among Boomers, or older folks, is a sort of lazy nihilism where they say, ‘Oh, you know, the next generation is so beautiful and they’re gonna they’re going to change everything and save everything, and they care about our earth and everything will be fine.’ I feel like it’s a lack of accountability, a lack of responsibility, and they believe the next generation will fix everything we’ve messed up. It’s a fake way of blaming themselves without actually caring.” ~ Waylon H. Lewis