The Embrace of Your Inner Parent

For the storm you can't stop. Instead of fighting it or bracing against it, sit down in the middle and stay steady. About 8 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice and music underneath. We bring to mind a storm you've known. Someone passing, losing a job, moving house, or the news getting a bit too much. Most of us fight a storm until we're worn out, or brace and wait for it to pass. There's a third way. Picture yourself in a big wise armchair, like the man at the end of the bar who finishes his drink while the fight breaks out around him. You can care and still not engage. We end with three wishes, starting with may I be steady even when I cannot be calm. Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk Thank you for sitting with me. Steven Stevens new course: Finding Peace in Everyday Life (you choose how much to pay) Support Stevens work and links to other podcasts: stevenwebb.uk Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Buy Steven a coffee

When the news lands heavy and there's nothing you can do. Breathe in what's hard, breathe out a wish for them to be safe. About 12 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice and music underneath. We breathe in what's hard and breathe out a wish for people to be safe. It's a gentle form of Tonglen. First we notice where a headline landed in the body, then we breathe a little of that out for you too. Then we widen it. Somewhere someone is making a neighbour a cup of tea, and a nurse is starting her night shift. The fire gets the pictures, but the people carrying the water are out there too, millions of them. We end with three wishes, and the reminder that you can care and still rest. Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk Thank you for sitting with me. Steven Stevens new course: Finding Peace in Everyday Life (you choose how much to pay) Support Stevens work and links to other podcasts: stevenwebb.uk Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Buy Steven a coffee

Tired of being told how to breathe? This one barely says a word. Nothing to get right, nothing to get wrong. About 10 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice and music underneath. Mostly quiet. No one tells you where to put your hands. We just sit together and do very little. Your mind will wander off, to the shopping or what's for tea, and that is fine. That is what minds do. We notice we've been away and come back to this moment. That isn't failing at meditation. That is the practice. Near the end, a minute of just listening, doing nothing with what you hear. Meditation doesn't have to be complicated. It can be done just by becoming aware. Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk Thank you for sitting with me. Steven Stevens new course: Finding Peace in Everyday Life (you choose how much to pay) Support Stevens work and links to other podcasts: stevenwebb.uk Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Buy Steven a coffee

Built a wall to keep the world out, and now it feels like a prison? A meditation for boundaries with a gate. About 11 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice and music underneath. Imagine a wall around you, all the way round, to keep out everything that stings. At first it feels wonderful. Then the strange thing: inside the wall our own strength goes soft, like a leg in plaster. And one day we need people again, and the world never reads our rules. So we try a garden with a gate instead, and tend what grows inside it. A little wisdom, a little strength, a little kindness. Then three gentle wishes with a hand on your heart. May I be safe with my gate open. May I be loved just as I am. May I be strong enough to let the world in. A boundary was never meant to be a prison. It is a garden edge, and you hold the key. The companion talk episode: Gates, Not Thorns: Are Your Boundaries a Prison? Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk Thank you for sitting with me. Steven Stevens new course: Finding Peace in Everyday Life (you choose how much to pay) Support Stevens work and links to other podcasts: stevenwebb.uk Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Buy Steven a coffee

Waiting to hear back, and the mind keeps playing out how it might go? A meditation for the fear of not knowing what comes next. About 11 minutes with Steven Webb's calm voice and music underneath. The mind hates a gap, so it fills it. One version, then another, then another. Not because it is broken, because it cares. But you can't steady the tide by grabbing hold of it. So we sit on a quiet beach and let the days come and go like the weather. A worry arrives like a wave. You don't judge it and you don't grab a surfboard. You watch it go back out. Then one quiet question: who is doing the watching? The thoughts come and go, and the watcher stays. It has seen every day of your life arrive and pass. Three wishes to finish: may I trust myself with whatever comes, may the not knowing within find a little calm, may I know I am held, even here in uncertainty. Treat me to a coffee, keep the podcast free, and get my Weekly Calm every Sunday. It is all on stevenwebb.uk Thank you for sitting with me. Steven Stevens new course: Finding Peace in Everyday Life (you choose how much to pay) Support Stevens work and links to other podcasts: stevenwebb.uk Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Buy Steven a coffee