Black Zen and the Weekly Wellness
130 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 43 ratingsThis podcast is a weekly discussion on selected wellness topics designed to make you laugh, provide insight and support meditation-based practices.
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Episodes
E124_Top 10 Most Likely To Help You Grow
December 25, 2020 03:18 - 30 minutes - 21.6 MBWe hope everyone has been well and pushing through this crazy time in a thoughtful and peaceful way. Over the last few months, we’ve had quite a few partnerships with businesses and schools looking to introduce guided meditation in a virtual way, to help students and adults alike cope with this new environment. In an effort to continue this work and really stay true to our mission of bringing meditation to the masses, something has to give. The need right now is working with our partners to ...
E124_Top 10 Podcasts Most Likely To Help You Grow
December 25, 2020 03:18 - 30 minutes - 21.6 MBWe hope everyone has been well and pushing through this crazy time in a thoughtful and peaceful way. Over the last few months, we’ve had quite a few partnerships with businesses and schools looking to introduce guided meditation in a virtual way, to help students and adults alike cope with this new environment. In an effort to continue this work and really stay true to our mission of bringing meditation to the masses, something has to give. The need right now is working with our partners to ...
Our Response to the Murder of George Floyd and So Many Others...
June 08, 2020 13:46 - 13 minutes - 8.98 MBWe can't even begin to describe how your girls have been affected by recent events. We've been in Minneapolis for some time and the feeling in this city is fraught with anger, frustration and ultimately a heavy heart. The murder of George Floyd has confronted us with the important question of how do we, as peaceful meditators, manage our rage and handle all of the other emotions that we experience living in a world that too often doesn't make sense, while also holding on to our core values of...
The Murder of George Floyd and So Many Others...
June 08, 2020 13:46 - 13 minutes - 8.98 MBWe can't even begin to describe how your girls have been affected by recent events. We've been in Minneapolis for some time and the feeling in this city is fraught with anger, frustration and ultimately a heavy heart. The murder of George Floyd has confronted us with the important question of how do we, as peaceful meditators, manage our rage and handle all of the other emotions that we experience living in a world that too often doesn't make sense, while also holding on to our core values of...
E124_Some BZ News & The Top 10 Episodes Most Likely To Help You Grow
May 11, 2020 17:15 - 30 minutes - 21.6 MBWe hope everyone has been well and pushing through this crazy time in a thoughtful and peaceful way. Over the last few weeks, we’ve had quite a few partnerships with businesses and schools looking to introduce guided meditation in a virtual way, to help students and adults alike cope with this new environment. In an effort to continue this work and really stay true to our mission of bringing meditation to the masses, something has to give. The need right now is working with our partners to ...
E123_Foods That Heal
April 27, 2020 19:13 - 26 minutes - 17.9 MBThis is definitely one to get your pen ready for taking notes! The more we looked at how to start viewing food as medicine, the more information we found. In our final episode of this month's topic, we provide you with the Cliff's Notes version ;) We highlight the every day foods we can incorporate into our diet that not only help prevent sickness and disease, but can also heal certain ailments over time. Listen in now to find out the obvious (and surprisingly, not so obvious) things we can e...
E122_The Real Danger Behind Toxic Foods
April 20, 2020 16:01 - 13 minutes - 9.9 MBNow that we have a handle on some of the great foods we should be incorporating into our diet, we decided to use this week to find out which foods to avoid to ensure we’re living our best life. We also uncovered some surprising things about junk food that even we were shocked to find out! Food is so integral to our bodies, our mood and our health, so it only makes sense that being more aware of what we eat can have a profound effect on our day to day experience…
E121_Foods That Support the 4 Happy Hormones
April 13, 2020 16:02 - 21 minutes - 15.9 MBLast week we discussed the 4 happy hormones that keep our spirits up and our lives feeling healthy and full. We’re following that up this week with the low cost, easy access foods we can incorporate into our daily meals to help keep all those good vibes going! This is also the episode where your Black Zen team may have cracked under the pressure of shelter-in-place. In this episode we’re definitely at our silliest, but always serious about making sure that our community begins incorporating s...
E120_The 4 Happy Hormones
April 06, 2020 16:27 - 21 minutes - 15.4 MBLast month Jas and I talked about creating your own personal wellness and meditation retreats and we hope you’ve been able to implement that in your home, especially now! One of the most direct actions we can take post-retreat is to start becoming more intentional about our food choices. This may seem like a small thing, but the foods we eat affect our energy and moods a lot more than we think. We now have the time to cook at home as we stay in place, so tune in to find out about the 4 happy ...
E120_April - Part I: The 4 Happy Hormones
April 06, 2020 16:27 - 21 minutes - 15.4 MBLast month Jas and I talked about creating your own personal wellness and meditation retreats and we hope you’ve been able to implement that in your home, especially now! One of the most direct actions we can take post-retreat is to start becoming more intentional about our food choices. This may seem like a small thing, but the foods we eat affect our energy and moods a lot more than we think. We now have the time to cook at home as we stay in place, so tune in to find out about the 4 happy ...
E119_March - Part V: How To Navigate In This New Normal
March 30, 2020 16:16 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBWith all this extra time on our hands, your girls were digging through the archives to find things that would help us all navigate this "new normal". This week's podcast includes 3 of the most important clips we found relevant to creating a home retreat, whether that's watching what we consume in our newly found free time, tips to building that meditation practice or what we've been personally putting into place, trying to make lemonade out of lemons. As a reminder, for the rest of March (you...
E118_March - Part IV: The Meditator's Response to Covid-19
March 23, 2020 16:00 - 14 minutes - 11.2 MBWith all that's going on in the world right now with the corona virus outbreak, it's definitely putting all of our inner-peace skills to the test! In this week's podcast, we take a detour from our regularly scheduled program to address what's happening in our nation and the world around us. We talk about how we as meditators can meet this challenge and come out peaceful and whole on the other side. Listen in now to get a free perk and to find out how to create the boundaries necessary to guar...
E117_Your Personal Retreat - Part III: Navigating Your New Self in Your Old Life
March 17, 2020 16:00 - 19 minutes - 14.1 MBIn this week’s conversation, we continue discussing how to get the most out of your personal meditation or wellness retreat. One of the trickiest parts about taking time out to center yourself and find balance, is that eventually you have to go home, or back to work, or end up right smack dab in the middle of all the problems or circumstances that you thought you’d left behind. How do we keep up the momentum to change after the retreat is over? And how do we find time for wellness given every...
E116_Your Personal Retreat – Part II: A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating Your Retreat Experience
March 09, 2020 16:38 - 19 minutes - 14.5 MBIn this week’s conversation, we discuss the most crucial ingredients you need to craft a thoughtfully planned personal wellness retreat. We take the guess work out of what to prepare, how to find the time off work or from other obligations, and even share tips on how to make sure you get the most out of the time you set aside. Whether you have a few hours, a full weekend or even longer to spare, we share all the details on how to set up the best environment for your personal growth! Tune in n...
E115_Your Personal Retreat - Part I: Setting The Expectation
March 02, 2020 17:05 - 14 minutes - 11.1 MBThe Black Zen Team has been debating for the last few days about meditation versus wellness retreats and the benefits of each. After numerous discussions about our own personal experiences, we did come to one shared conclusion. Every style of retreat has to have some component that helps us drown out the noise of life to give us the space to find and hear our inner voice. And when we say drown out the noise of life, we’re talking about both the internal chatter within our mind and the externa...
E114_Relationships - Part IV: How to Make It Last!
February 24, 2020 17:34 - 26 minutes - 20 MBDon’t you hate how every romantic comedy stops right at the end of the “meet cute” moments? This week we wanted to find out what happens once we’re finally in relationships and passed the honey moon phase? In our final installment in this month’s series on relationships, we take some humorous and surprising advice from couples who have been together for over 20 years to find out the best ways to make our relationships last the test of time…
E113_Relationships - Part III: How Does Your Partner Stack Up to These Crucial Measurements?
February 18, 2020 16:11 - 16 minutes - 12.1 MBWhen it comes to choosing a partner or determining if the one we're with is right for us, how do we know what to look for? On this episode, the Black Zen team spills some personal tea from past relationships and narrows down a few key things to pay attention to when trying to figure that out. Listen in to find out how your relationship stacks up when we look at a few crucial indicators that let us know we're with a true partner that can stand the test of time...
E112_Relationships - Part II: The Subtle Thing That Might be Damaging All Your Relationships
February 10, 2020 17:00 - 8 minutes - 6.68 MBIn part two of this month’s series on relationships, we take a look at the unfortunate side effects of putting your relationship to the test and discuss the 1 subtle thing that could be damaging your relationships over time…
E111_Relationships - Part I: The 2 Most Important Elements in Every Relationship
February 04, 2020 17:00 - 18 minutes - 14.4 MBSince February is always associated with love, we thought it was the perfect month to take a deep dive into relationships! In Part I of this topic, we include the 1 key thing to remember about all of your relationships and we humorously break down the most important element that holds every great relationship together…
E110_Power: How to Know What to Focus On to See Results
January 27, 2020 17:00 - 10 minutes - 7.6 MBNow that we know that each of us has power, which is the ability to impact or create change - what do we do with it? How do we know where to focus our power to see the most impactful results in our life? The surprising thing we uncover in this week’s final episode on January’s theme is that usually the thing that needs to change is often not what we think it is! Tune in for the final conversation of this month’s theme to start your year off with power…
E109_Power: The Top 3 Things To Do To Wield Your Power Wisely
January 21, 2020 17:00 - 12 minutes - 9.56 MBTo continue the conversation on this month’s theme, we talk about how to double down on the power that you have or how to get it back if you think you’ve lost it in a certain situation in your life. This is the key to navigating this year and actually getting results!...
E108_Power: Who Has It & Why?
January 13, 2020 17:00 - 15 minutes - 11 MBTo continue the conversation on this month’s theme, POWER, we used this week to look closer at what happens when we unknowingly give ours away – whether it’s thinking we’re stuck in a situation, letting other people control our moods, or even worse, believing that we don’t have any. This week is all about how to recognize the power that we do have, and how to use that to create the change we want to see in our life. 2020, let’s go!! Listen now to dive in to part II of this topic…
E107_New Year, New Offerings & What Power Looks Like
January 06, 2020 17:00 - 22 minutes - 16 MBWe're back! Another year, another day, another opportunity for a fresh new start. Speaking of fresh (shout out to the 80's babies!), you may have noticed our new website (blackzen.co) but the most notable shake-up is that our Weekly Wellness editorial is now the Monthly Meditation. We heard you when you said you love our content, but found it hard to incorporate everything all at once. To help alleviate the overload, we’re going to focus on one topic for the month to give you plenty of time t...
E106_2019 Year End Recap - Part II
November 25, 2019 20:40 - 27 minutes - 20.3 MBIt's official. Your BZ Team is on its annual December break. As you know we take wellness seriously, so incorporating mindful pauses into our business is not only true to form, but we find it necessary in keeping our content interesting and helpful to you. Last week we mentioned wanting to leave you with a ton of resources to get you through the rest of the holiday season. We also want to help set you up for the year ahead. In addition to 20% off of the BZ Beginner’s Guide to Meditation workb...
E106_The Best Advice of 2019 - Part II
November 25, 2019 20:40 - 27 minutes - 20 MBIt's official. Your BZ Team is on its annual December break. As you know we take wellness seriously, so incorporating mindful pauses into our business is not only true to form, but we find it necessary in keeping our content interesting and helpful to you. Last week we mentioned wanting to leave you with a ton of resources to get you through the rest of the holiday season. We also want to help set you up for the year ahead. In addition to 20% off of the BZ Beginner’s Guide to Meditation workb...
E105_The Best Advice of 2019 - Part I
November 18, 2019 17:35 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MBFor the folks that have been with us for a while, you know that we take a holiday hiatus for the month of December and devote that time to our personal wellness. We use that time not only to rest and recharge, but to evaluate how we can continue to help and support you. Now with the sudden realization that there are only two weeks left in November, we wanted to leave you with a ton of resources to get you through the rest of the holiday season. To do this we've reviewed all of our past wellne...
E104_Meditation in the Current Political Climate
November 12, 2019 17:00 - 12 minutes - 9.58 MBIf we look throughout history, every generation before us thought the world was going to hell in a hand basket. And yet, here we are. Our lives continue to evolve and the most important things like love, purpose and the ability to move forward still remain. When we meditate we give ourselves a chance to see society's problems on a much larger scale, our personal view gets a wider perspective, and we become equipped with a lens that sees all possible outcomes rather than just focusing on the c...
E103_One of the Most Surprising Things Impacting Your Well-Being
November 04, 2019 17:32 - 15 minutes - 11.6 MBIt may come as no surprise that the same person who invented water torture for prisoners also came up with sleep deprivation as another form of punishment. Fam, the struggle is real! This week we’re giving you the tools you need to get your zzzz's back on track. We wanted to uncover the easiest and most effective ways on how to get consistently better sleep. Just like consistent meditation or regular exercise, good sleep is vital to our well-being. When we're getting enough of it, it allows u...
E102_When Life Has You "On The Ropes"
October 28, 2019 16:05 - 15 minutes - 12.2 MBNo one likes to feel like their back is against the wall, whether it’s literally or figuratively. Being physically pinned in a corner, or “caught on the ropes” to borrow a well-known boxing term, can often leave us feeling like we’ve already lost the fight. This same situation can be true in life. When we’re in a match between our goals and our reality (which may be taking a bit longer than we’d like to catch up with our vision), it can make us feel like we’re trapped. Rather than take the be...
E101_Who Is In Your Winner's Circle?
October 21, 2019 16:00 - 19 minutes - 13.8 MBAt Black Zen, we consistently look for ways to create the best conditions for our success and our peace, and the most important factor we've found in achieving this has been surrounding ourselves with amazing, ambitious and authentic people who inspire us to be our best. It's these folks who truly make up a winner's circle. When selecting your team it's also important to know when to trim the fat. There are some people in our lives who just aren't all that positive. While we would never cut t...
E100_What Is Zen?
October 14, 2019 19:26 - 27 minutes - 20.5 MBWe’re celebrating our 100th episode of the Weekly Wellness podcast! In honor of this milestone, we’re taking some time to answer some of the most frequently asked questions about meditation. As we continue to grow our organization and move our mission forward, we hope each Weekly Wellness is an opportunity for you to enhance where you are, let you know that you've been seen and give you the motivation and the humor to keep on moving towards your best life! Humbled to be your partners in pro...
E99_Present While Planning
October 07, 2019 16:00 - 20 minutes - 13 MBAs people interested in meditation or for those of us with a developed meditation practice, we tend to hear a lot about being "present". Generally, we equate being present with mindfulness in our daily activities and noticing our lives as they are happening in real time. But what does being present in the day-to-day actually look like when you’re also an ambitious person working to put important plans in place for your future? In this Weekly Wellness, we set out to find examples of what bein...
E98_Less Work, More Play
September 30, 2019 16:23 - 16 minutes - 11.9 MBI'm going to go ahead and date myself here and say I miss the 80's! Gone are the days when I can hop on a bike and head to the Boys and Girls Club after school. There I would squander my days away with Chinese jump rope competitions and tetherball battles (more of a slaughter since Jasmine stopped growing in grade 2, lol). Reflecting on it now, I think I just miss being playful. And while we touched on this back in June in an effort to bring back the idea of a traditional summer vacation, I s...
E97_The Two Words to Avoid When Talking About Your Big Dreams
September 23, 2019 16:00 - 18 minutes - 13.4 MBRecently someone asked me, "What do you want out of life?" and my immediate (conditioned?) reply was, "To just live comfortably and be happy." It wasn't until the "to just" came out of my mouth that I realized how small and limiting "to just" can look like in real life. The person I was speaking with nodded and seemed to agree with this sentiment which leads me to think this is the accepted and expected dream of most people. Fam, the dream of "to just" is not enough! When we start our expecta...
E96_The Butterfly Effect
September 16, 2019 17:05 - 24 minutes - 17.5 MBThe butterfly effect concept was articulated best by meteorologist and mathematician Edward N. Lorenz. His theory stated that the flapping of a butterfly's wings has potential to cause a hurricane on the other side of the world. While this may not generally be the case, it's a good example of the idea that tiny changes in complex systems can cause huge and unknown effects. If we think of ourselves as the system being altered, how large of an impact could we potentially have in affecting our t...
E95_How to Answer, "What Are You Up To?"
September 09, 2019 16:33 - 10 minutes - 8.78 MBI'm not sure why the "What's going on in your life?" question leaves me unnaturally inarticulate, but it does. It makes me question what the hell I've been doing for the last year and if anything has changed in what feels like quite a bit of time. Even without the holiday season looming, I'm sure we've all gotten questions from distant friends or new acquaintances asking, "What are you up to?" The clarity we provide for ourselves is an important step to being able to convey this information t...
E94_The Connection Between Yoga & Meditation
September 03, 2019 16:42 - 15 minutes - 12.3 MBI imagine all good habits from working out to eating right starts with a plan. When I started doing yoga, my only plan was to shrink the arse following me and to lose an extra chin. It was never my plan to learn a skill set that would prepare my mind and body for meditation, but that's exactly what happened. As it turns out, this is truly what the practice of yoga is all about…
E93_Less Talk, More Action
August 26, 2019 16:00 - 9 minutes - 5.92 MBLet's be honest. You know what you need to do to move forward on your goals. So the question is not, "What do you need to do?" but rather, "Why aren't you doing it?" You've read every "do better" article out there and probably have a stack of self-help and success books in the corner of your living room right now, but if all this knowledge leads to no action - what's the point?…
E92_The Prison of Perception
August 19, 2019 16:24 - 17 minutes - 13.1 MB"Most people live their entire lives in prison, not physically but mentally, a mental prison of their own making, the mental prison that you have accepted to be confined in. You hold the keys within you to escape, a prison break must take place, let the one you want to be break you free from the cell of conformity that wants you to remain who you are. Project your mind forward and see the self-made successful [person] that you want to become. That individual, that vision, that dream is what c...
E91_How To Overcome Any Fear
August 12, 2019 16:00 - 17 minutes - 12.9 MBIn the spirit of confronting our fears, this Weekly Wellness is all about how to name what we're afraid of so we can finally put it to rest - or at least have it close enough in our view that we realize it's not as scary as we think. Naming our fear loosens its foothold on us. It frees us up to move about our lives with confidence and ease. The dreaded difficult conversation or circumstance we're fearful about is understandably uncomfortable, but it's usually only scary because our imaginatio...
E90_The Room of Requirement
August 05, 2019 16:00 - 15 minutes - 10.6 MBIt's been a minute since your girls have completely nerded out on a Weekly Wellness, so let's get into it! In this week's post, we're studying The Room of Requirement. If you are not a Harry Potter fan and have no idea what we're talking about, The Room of Requirement supplied the students of Hogwarts with whatever they needed in that moment. How great would it be to need something and then instantaneously have the means to acquire it? I know what you're thinking, and no, this is not a post a...
E89_Hurry Up and Wait
July 29, 2019 16:15 - 26 minutes - 17.5 MBThe keys to a more balanced way of life are none other than patience and equanimity. Equanimity is a $400 word defined as mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation. It's keeping our cool even when it looks like the needle hasn't moved on our progress or when unexpected emotions come up in our meditation practice. Once we learn patience with ourselves, it's that much easier to extend that patience to the people around us...
E88_What To Do When Life Feels Bland
July 22, 2019 16:00 - 17 minutes - 10.3 MBImagine for a moment going into the store and getting every ingredient for the perfect meal. You come home excited to cook because you’ve already thought through all the steps to make sure this meal is epic! There’s just one problem. As you start putting all of your flavors together, you realize you’ve forgotten the most important ingredient of all – salt. Sometimes, this is how life without a meditation practice can feel. It’s like you’ve got all the right elements in place, but something cr...
E87_How To Think About Money Mindfully
July 15, 2019 16:00 - 16 minutes - 10.7 MBYou may be asking, "What do my personal finances have to do with wellness?" In short, it’s about having peace of mind. When I first began meditating, the common theme that ran through my thoughts were around money - not having enough of it to live comfortably, how I could make more of it, and what experiences I was missing out on because I didn't have enough. I knew then that to get the most out of my meditation time, I had to either develop a peace about where I was financially and/or change...
E86_Embracing Imperfection
July 08, 2019 16:00 - 18 minutes - 12.4 MBEmbracing imperfection in ourselves is about looking at our internal cracks and personal quirks without disapproval, and instead seeing them as an opportunity to paint those perceived flaws with something wonderful. It’s a gentle process and it happens when we step away from the business of life to truly see the canvas we’re working with. Before our break we encouraged you to truly rest and enjoy the summer, and even to take a break from striving toward your goals if that's what you needed. W...
E85_Summer Break!
June 03, 2019 16:15 - 16 minutes - 10.2 MBThink back to when you were in school, there were really only two important days - the first day of school and the last day of school. I distinctly remember organizing and re-organizing my pencil box and Trapper Keeper in anticipation! Fast forward to June and your girl was spent; I couldn't wait for that last bell to ring. While summer was uneventful (imagine your girls living in jammies watching The Price is Right and playing Monopoly for an entire two months), it did come with the promise ...
E84_Age Is An Illusion
May 28, 2019 16:00 - 13 minutes - 8.92 MBThe most surprising discovery at any stage of life is that we're still in the process of creating our story. Given the average age of life expectancy in the U.S. is now 81 for women and 76 for men, once we reach our 40's we most likely still have another lifetime left to live! This Weekly Wellness is all about acknowledging that we are never too old to do something we want to do and are never too young to live life in the 60+ range when you have the freedom to do what you want, and are armed ...
E83_What To Focus On Now
May 20, 2019 16:00 - 22 minutes - 14 MBI found myself curiously unable to sleep last week. For those that know me, this is especially rare as I've been known to sleep standing up, or if really exhausted, even in mid-conversation! So staring at the ceiling at 2 a.m. only amplified a steadily growing and nagging feeling. As I laid in bed, my thoughts drifted between decisions about my future (both personally and professionally) and whether those decisions would align with the outcomes I was hoping to achieve. These thoughts started ...
E82_Time To Shine!
May 13, 2019 16:05 - 24 minutes - 19.2 MBI don't know if it's the weather changing or watching all the dry trees sprout new leaves, but there's something in the air right now and it's got your Black Zen Team feeling like it's time to shine! And when we say shine, we mean walking tall and proudly in our accomplishments, which goes well beyond an Instagram post or an updated Facebook status. This is the time to boldly stand out and put all of our wonderful uniqueness and growth on display. If not now, when? We've been working on plant...
E81_How We Create Our Story
May 06, 2019 16:00 - 17 minutes - 13.8 MBThrough our previous experiences we've developed habits, defenses and thought patterns to deal with the rough spots. We continually create habitual responses to certain circumstances, people and situations (both good and bad). Now is the time to examine those automatic reactions and see if we're responding in a way that truly moves us forward. Whether we know it or not, we have full authority over our thoughts, the words we say, and the choices we make. These are the things that shape what w...