Mettle Brain

Today's guest is Sarah Jenan. In this conversation we discuss mantra, specifically her experience with the Japji Sahib. Sarah also shares her experience with kundalini yoga.Sarah discusses her beautiful thoughts on mantra and the ability it brings to shut down the mind's default mode network.  We discuss what she believes happens to the brain subconsciously when  it has mantra, meaning mind wave.I specifically loved hearing about Sarah's experience of practicing this kind of mindfulness. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is a short Monday Morning Musing. This is coming to you on the cusp of Thanksgiving. I give you this small labor of love this Thanksgiving holiday. I value the ideas in this so much and wanted to share them with you. I share an experience involving a broken fish bowl and some moving moments that happened in response. Thank you for listening! Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is a Monday Morning Musing with me, Heather Brockbank Miller. This is a short 10 minute episode on Hans Christian Andersen's rough beginnings. Did you know Hans Christian Andersen had four failed career attempts, and a horrible experience in school? These included: three failed apprenticeships, a dead end in the theater, and a very rough experience in school owing to the fact that he had a cruel and disparaging teacher. He experienced a deep depression, and almost gave up on writing! In this musing I recommend a few short stories of his like "The Tallow Candle", "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling", and "The Little Mermaid." I pose a few questions to you listener that will hopefully inspire you to read Hans Christian Andersen and keep trying in all aspects of your life despite any failures. If Hans can do it, so can you! Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is a 10 minute Monday Morning Musing with me (Heather Brockbank Miller). I share how I found what fed my spirit this last week. Surprisingly,  my mind felt fine, my body felt fine, but my spirit might as well been out of gas. This is the 'Monday Morning Musing' on beauty. I found a deeper realization that beauty is one of the things that elevates me out of the ball pit of the not self/neurotic ego/shadow or as I introduce in this morning musing: the shrieking crow. I share the language we use at home when we make mistakes. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

When it comes to being true, be true to you! Don’t think it through, you know what to do, just do it too! This episode is a short 10 minute Monday Morning Musing sharing my opinions about being yourself and finding that clear lens. Today’s episode is another Monday Morning Musing on perspective. I recently found some renewed clarity and then simultaneously found my missing pair of sunglasses, very ironic. I use this story of finding my lenses as a framework to the idea of being yourself:  run your "M.O." and you'll find clarity. I think deep down we all know what works for us and how to be ourselves.  In the last few minutes I share some words from John Muir to serve as a reminder of the restorative power in nature.  Keep trusting in running your M.O, or as I mentioned in the episode, your dharma. Keep doing the things that make you happy (like my example of sweeping). There is so much wisdom remembering that you just have to be the best you! Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Magnus Toren is the Director of the Henry Miller Memorial Library, which is tucked away in a spectacular redwood grove in Big Sur, California.  Born in Sweden, we discuss a few highlights of Magnus's journey through life, including leaving Sweden for an epic seven years of sailing around the world. Magnus opens up about and what he's learned from nearly 30 years running the library and meeting people from all around the world. He shares a few book recommendations and what values has served him finding his way through love and life.  Wow, did he have an answer! Don't miss it! This episode is just over 33 minutes for your easy listening pleasure. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

In this episode I share my experience trekking in the Himalayas with my family and muse on this quote from William Blake: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things tho’ narrow chinks of his cavern.”    –William Blake.  Through the course of writing this episode I searched for answers to this question: how do we cleanse our doors? I share what I have gathered in this  Monday Morning Musing.  Please feel free to share your experience cleansing your doors of perception at heathermiller@metttlebrain.com. I am considering doing a follow up interview in a few months sharing listener's results. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is with Chris Blum creator of the podcast, Spirited Soul.  Chris shares sound baths on her podcast that she records in her home, episodes range anywhere from 10-30 minutes.  Chris started the podcast when she could no longer give her sound baths baths in-studio due to the pandemic.  I sat down wanting to learn more about sound waves, and what is happening to your body during a sound bath? In this episode we discuss how sound rebalances the brain and what happens as sound is carried from the bowls and into your body. Chris explains why many feel initially uncomfortable in sound baths. Chris shares her journey becoming a sound practitioner and the huge breakthrough she had quieting her mind. Chris answers the signature questions of this podcast: what has seen you through hard times, and my favorite, what do you love about yourself? Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is a short 13-minute Monday Morning Musing on soaking up all the goodness in your life through sincere gratitude. I share a metaphor involving a certain Parisian chair that showed me how easy it is to pine for something  you already have but lack the awareness to see it. In this episode, I pose the question to the listener: are you pining for something outside of your life experience that perhaps you already have but haven't recognized? This episode is a reminder to breathe, stop,  look, really look, and ask yourself: "Where am I?"  "What am I experiencing?" Can you see someone else's experience and still soak up your reality without any outside validation, and sincerely be grateful without mental bypassing that is so common in self-optimization rituals. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is with the ever charismatic Will Wood. Wil is a family man and business owner. He owns the shop Love to Cook with his wife Lauren Wood. Wil discusses his life learnings both personally and professionally.  Wil is honest and open about his health: his journey with ADD,  two very hard years he experienced after suddenly losing his energy after a race and flu  triggered a downward spiral, and what gives him so much of his energy now--joy and fun!  Wil shares his journey getting  up and out of that place, the role his marriage played in helping him through that period and the value of putting in the painful work. Wil lives in Cache Valley, UT with his wife Lauren and his three kids. Check out their store, Love to Cook for kitchen equipment and cooking classes. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

In this episode I discuss a little about life with three different animals: rabbits, a bird, and our miniature golden doodle Little Ann. I also share a piece I've written called the cala lilly paradox about unrecognized growth. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This episode is a Monday Morning Musing on some interesting ideas from poet and author Robert Bly and Jungian analyst Marion Woodman. The poet  Antonio Machado wrote, “All things die, and all things live forever; but our task is to die, to die making roads. Roads over the sea.” Woodman and Bly use this poem throughout their work to reference what it's like working with the unconscious, it's like building a road onto the sea. The unconscious is exactly that-completely unconscious. Woodman and Bly use the power of myth and story because it’s flexible, and not literal. Woodman and Bly do workshops together and have written books and even made a film together. Woodman recommends writing and reflecting on your dreams.  In the book, The Maiden King by Marion Woodman co-wrote with Robert Bly the reader is taken through a journey to  reunite the masculine and feminine. In this episode I share a few ideas that Woodman and Bly lay out in the chapter, The Inner Marriage  from "The Maiden King." Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This episode is a short 10-minute Monday morning musing with me, Heather Miller. I read a poem by Antonio Machado called, "The Wind, One Beautiful Day." It goes like this. The wind, one brilliant day, called to my soul with an odor of jasmine. 'In return for the odor of my jasmine, I'd like all the odor of your roses.' 'I have no roses; all the flowers in my garden are dead.' 'Well then, I'll take the withered petals and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain.' The wind left and I wept. And I said to myself: 'What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?' In the last half of this episode I share my thoughts on the pandemic and loss, a few metaphors on growth, and give a recommendation for Jungian analyst Marion Woodman and Robert Bly’s work. It’s vast. Finally, I share a thought on interdependence and what can happen when we come together. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This is a short 10 minute 'Monday Morning Musing' on three key grounding ideas to keep in the front of your mind as you pivot in new directions this 2021 year. First, find peace amidst the continual battle with the entropy of life. I share my own struggle with accepting the reality that yes, the second law of thermodynamics is real, the kitchen unfortunately will not stay clean. Money will be made; money will be spent. I discuss finding peace alongside the never-ending process of the doing and undoing that is this ephemeral life. Secondly, the power focusing on our dreams has in our lives  to bring us back to life and how we create the value to those dreams. I share a stanza from the iconic Dave Matthews song Grey street and the question how do we keep our lives rich with color when we feel grey? The third and final idea comes in a form of a question: can you believe in happy endings? How do you perceive your life? What stories do you tell yourself about it? Is it working? Is it not working? Do you ever say to yourself, "I have the most amazing life!" Don't drink the Kool-Aid of false narratives. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's morning musing is a re-release of one of my personal favorite Monday morning musings that I love revisiting from time to time. I discuss the idea of collecting and connecting to yourself. What does your internal morning sweep look like? Where is your awareness? Are you plugging into yourself or do you have displaced emotion landing on others. Today's short 12 minute musing is about owning yourself fully and how to do that. This episode promotes finding our individual infinite "okayness" and then loving others from that place. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This is a short ten minute musing on the wonders of the gingko tree. You may see gingko trees often lining your streets, but did you know that the gingko tree is actually one of the oldest species of tree or plant on earth? The gingko is sometimes referred to as a living fossil as its species is prehistoric.  In this episode I share a few details on what makes the gingko tree so remarkable from a scientific and symbolic perspective.  In Japanese culture the gingko is revered after surviving the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.  The 170 gingko trees were among the few living things to survive the blast and each are named and dedicated with their own plaque. The gingko tree is not only a physical relic from the dinosaurs but a living symbol not too different from the legend of the Phoenix. Its rise from ash however is not myth but truth,  everyone mistook the trees for dead until Spring for until then the exterior of the trees were completely dead. Gingkos have a highly structured cell system at their core called cambium which saved just enough energy for new growth . Check out Peter Crane's beautifully illustrated book, Gingko: The Tree That Time Forgot. I share a poem Crane includes in his book by Johann Goethe about the gingko. This musing is dedicated to my dad who deeply loves the Japanese people and their culture. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This episode is a short speech intended for anyone who has ever felt up a creek without a paddle. Today in this morning musing I share my belief that if you love what you have and use it-- with that mindset it will be enough. I share an experience I had fishing with my boys: my fellow fishermen on the dock said, "I didn't have enough line to catch fish"- in fairness the line I did have wasn't very long-with little to spare but we kept at it and ended up catching a lot of fish. Despite multiple recommendations to quit we didn't, someone lent us some slightly better bait and voila, success! Remembering this day brings me a lot of optimism when I feel flooded and doubting, "is what I have enough?" I find it very easy to defer to the authority of others and let someone else determine, "is this enough, can I enter the arena?" I love the thought enough is as good as a feast, and as Julie Andrews poignantly observed in an interview with her daughter "if we can be grateful in our life for what is working amidst trying to tackle what isn't life feels a lot more bearable." I've started thinking now, "if you feel up a creek without a paddle- use what you got and maybe see if you can borrow someone's chair!" Don't let anyone say you can't try! Nobody puts baby in a corner and if you ask me, I say you have it! Believe it!Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This episode is a short fifteen-minute grab bag of ideas: a book and recipe recommendation, what I've been reflecting on these last two weeks, and the wonders of a handheld massager. Yes, you read that correct, where have you been all my life handheld massager? Does everyone but me know how grounding that is? I discuss briefly Atul Gawande's book, Being Mortal and the blog piece on Dylan Thomas from Maria Popova. I've read it three times this week. Check it out! The last two elements go hand in hand and facilitates a critical head space that isn't always natural to be in. I arrived here serendipitously and wanted to pass it along. Enjoy!  Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

Today's episode is a morning musing on my recent move to the Central Coast of California and a few ideas that I have been reflecting on over the last month, i.e., "we all need to be carried sometimes". I share a thought from a new friend in passing that "there is a seat at the table for everyone." I recall a quote from a previous interview, "I love my mistakes" and one of my favorite treasures the idea "mistakes are allowed." I reflect on my longing for the feeling of community after weeks of missing those seemingly meaningless but meaningful moments with people you think you don't know yet gleam so much connection from. Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)

This episode is a Monday Morning Musing (recorded on a Friday for some extra enthusiasm). I have two beautiful thoughts to share with you to give you a boost in your week. The first is a recommendation from a podcast series that I am loving called, "this movie changed my life" which is a mini-series from On Being Studios. The episodes are short, and the content is fantastic. I really enjoyed the 'Toy Story' episode. The next is my own movie recommendation about a movie that has changed my life, the 1964 classic Mary Poppins. Have you seen it recently? I share my awe for this film and what I have come to notice that makes this film go from a diamond, to a diamond mine. It's all too easy for all of us to lose our way on occasion. Revisit it! Support the show (http://www.mettlebrain.com/contact-1)