This episode of the podcast is a guided meditation-in-motion, intended as a dynamic (yet gentle) way to explore Metta or Lovingkindness Meditation. You might think of it as a complement or alternative to the traditional seated Metta Meditation practice.

(The meditation itself will start at ~ 3:30 after a brief introduction.)

Metta means lovingkindness, goodwill, friendliness, or benevolence. We'll be using simple Qigong-inspired movements to invoke and express kindness for ourselves and for others.

Classic Metta Meditations often use the repetition of phrases like "May I (or you, or all beings) be safe, May I (you/all beings) be happy, May I (you/all beings) be healthy, May I (you/all beings) live with ease." Our movements themselves can be done in a way that promotes the sense of safety, happiness, health, and ease, AND I will invite you to layer in the phrases along with the movements to strengthen the intention.

The movements in this meditation will include a Qigong form called "Waterfall," in which we'll imagine gathering goodness, and then showering ourselves with that benevolent energy. Then, with "Pebble in the Pond," our movement will symbolize sending our Metta wishes out as ripples in the peaceful water.

My goal was to describe the movements clearly enough so you could follow along with just the audio. It's definitely ok to just approximate what you imagine I'm describing - the spirit of kindness and goodwill is what we're trying to bring forward here, rather than precise, perfect movements. It's meant to be more like a guided meditation that just happens to involve moving your body.

This meditation can be done either standing or seated in a chair. You can have your eyes open or close them, but if you're standing, you may find that keeping them open (with a soft gaze) helps your balance.

I hope you will enjoy this moving meditation, and that it will invite a sense of kindness, embodiment, connection, and ease.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

The Mindful Movement Teacher Training is returning this Fall, and applications will open at the end of July! Learn more about this unique program and join the interest list at movedtomeditate.yoga/mmtt.

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).

In this episode of the podcast, I'm talking with Francine Ang about the joys and challenges of teaching yoga and mindful movement during tumultuous times. Francine shares what it's been like leading classes in her community since they were impacted by the recent LA Fires, and we reflect on what it means to find ground through practice.

You'll hear about Francine's background growing up in a Chinese Buddhist family in California, and how she ended up spending a year at a monastery in Tibet. We talk about her path to becoming a yoga teacher and how she's now integrating Qigong alongside Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga.

Since many yoga, movement, and meditation teachers these days are grappling with how to hold space in the midst of the current political intensity, divisiveness, exhaustion, and constant uncertainty, we thought it would be useful to discuss our experiences of teaching through other times of change and chaos.

We share some guidance and stories, including:

• The importance of meeting people where they are and giving them space to step back from the noise
• Acknowledging loss and uncertainty, but also staying open to goodness and beauty
• How Francine found being in class together following the Eaton Fire was a way to bring back some normalcy
• Examples like Addie's story of how the Spiral Path Yoga community handled the sudden passing of a teacher/co-owner right after we opened the studio.

We also talked about going on retreat, and why we both value the opportunity for more dedicated practice times. Francine makes a useful distinction between retreat as an escape vs. retreat as an experience of arriving, and she shares how being in silent presence with others can be incredibly grounding.

This is a conversation with lots of heart, and plenty of laughs! We hope you'll find some steadiness, inspiration, and connection by hanging out with us in this episode.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

To learn more about Francine Ang, visit her website at francineang.com or find her on Instagram at @soulful_om_om.

Get the details on the in-person RETREAT that Francine and I are offering in Los Angeles, September 3-7, 2025! There will be meditation, yoga, Qigong, soundbath, delicious food, good company, and ample time to rest or enjoy the natural surroundings. Info here: https://www.francineang.com/2025retreat

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).

Yes, AI meditation is a thing now.

So, in today's episode, I'm taking a look at how the current rapid expansion of AI tech is reaching the meditation world…and why I don't think human meditation teachers are going to be replaced by these tools anytime soon.

Like me, you may be immediately skeptical that AI can play a role in a deeply human activity like meditation. However, there are several ways that AI has entered the meditation scene already, including AI-generated meditation scripts, AI voiceovers for guided meditations, AI-based meditation apps, and more. There are even AI tools being used by online content creators (with little to no meditation experience) to churn out a high volume of guided meditation recordings for platforms like YouTube.

If you have a favorite meditation app that you use, have you checked to see what their AI policy is? Have you thought about whether this matters to you and how much AI you're comfortable with in your practice? For example, maybe you're ok with AI search tools that help you find content, but not sure about being led through a meditation that was created by generative AI.

AI itself isn't inherently good or bad, and there may be many possibilities for innovation if AI is used responsibly. However, there are many ethical concerns to consider as this tech is rapidly becoming part of our everyday life. To name a few, there's the issue of AI being built off the intellectual property of writers, teachers, authors, and artists without compensation or credit. There is the potential for AI to eliminate jobs and entire industries before society has a plan to mitigate the economic fallout. And, there is the increase of energy resources needed to sustain the massive amount of computing that AI requires, and a lack of meaningful discussion about how this is affecting our climate already.

Specifically within the field of meditation, there are questions of how AI meditation guidance could possibly be trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, or even effective without the benefits of human connection.

In this episode, we'll contemplate:

• Issues of accuracy, reliability, quality, and authenticity
• Potential risks for beginners who may turn to an AI tool to try meditation
• The limitations of learning meditation from a tech that doesn't share your human experience, stressors, emotions, or aches and pains
• The benefits of nervous system co-regulation that we receive when we practice meditation with other humans
• How human meditation teachers draw from their understanding, intuition, empathy, and training to offer nuanced and attuned guidance
• The vulnerability of being led through a meditation that can affect us mentally and emotionally, and who we trust to guide us.

As this new tech is being purposed for meditation, I hope you'll find it useful to discuss the implications, and how we might talk to others about the importance of human connection, human experience, and human insight in this field.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Threads at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).

Happy All The Holidays! It's almost the solstice and the end of the calendar year, so it felt like a natural time to pause and reflect.

In this short episode, I recap some of my favorite podcast moments from the past year. A few themes really stood out across multiple conversations:

• the symbiotic relationship of mindful movement and meditation practices
• what it looks like to integrate (or de-compartmentalize) practices like yoga and sitting meditation
• the reasons we practice and how we've found mindful movement and meditation beneficial
• the accessibility of movement and meditation practice for diverse bodies and neurodivergent minds.

I also pull back the curtain a bit to update you on some of my projects, including my work-in-progress book and new plans for the coming year. This includes some thoughts about how the elephant-in-the-room (aka political climate in the US) is shaping my intentions and what I want my work to look like going into 2025.

I don't always adopt a "word of the year," but right now, it feels like a little extra compass to navigate the unknown. So, listen and hear what I've chosen as my 2025 word – and let me know if you have one, too!

And, thanks for listening to the podcast this year - I so appreciate knowing that there are others out there interested in these heartful, mindful, bodyful practices.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

Holiday Sale: Use discount code HOLIDAY24 before December 24th to take 24% off the 8-hour Yin Yoga Poses + Props Training (normally $149)!

Or the Ease In To Meditation course (normally $98), currently 24% off with the HOLIDAY24 discount code!

And, info on the Inner Stillness, Outer Flow retreat in September 2025! I'm teaming up with Francine Ang to teach this 5-day mindful movement and meditation (and so much more) retreat in Los Angeles. Learn more and reserve a spot here: https://www.francineang.com/2025retreat

As always...feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Threads at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).

This episode is an EPIC conversation with my friend Nyk Danu about the question of if, when, how, and why we use yoga props in Yin Yoga.

Nyk is the host of A Yin Yoga Podcast, and she reached out to propose this crossover episode to share on both of our shows, because the no-props-in-Yin myth is a topic near and dear to both of our hearts. So what you'll hear here is less of an interview and more of a back and forth, or "fireside chat" (as Nyk calls it) where we really unpack this sometimes-controversial Yin subject.

As you'll hear, the question of whether (or how) to use props in Yin Yoga touches on issues like accessibility, able-ism, trauma-informed teaching, and all kinds of cultural conditioning that sneaks into our practice. We talk about what it means to be true to a style or lineage, and how we align with the principles that make a Yin practice "yin."

As we explore where the anti-props misnomer comes from, Nyk and I also reflect on our experiences training with the founders of the Yin Yoga style, and how the functional approach to yoga requires that we adapt poses to individual bodies. We also give several specific examples of how props have helped our students get more from the practice, and debunk the assumption that you'll outgrow using props as your practice advances.

There are also some practical suggestions for situations where minimal props are available, or where propping is too complicated or unable to solve a student's challenge with a pose.

So, pull up your favorite blankets and bolsters, get comfy, and enjoy this fun and informative Yin Yoga conversation!

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Guest Bio: Nyk Danu is a certified Yoga Therapist, Yin Yoga Teacher Trainer, and Yoga business mentor. She's a fiercely independent sagittarius, misfit, introvert, bookworm, cat charmer, crow whisperer, Buddhist, seeker of truth, and long term pro-activist who's not-so-secretly out to save the world. In 2007 she fell madly in love with Yin Yoga and has since done 500+ hours of Yin Yoga training with Paul Grilley. Her passion for Yin Yoga sparked a deep resonance and curiosity for Traditional Chinese Medicine. This then drew her to study 2300 hours of Traditional Chinese Medicine at Pacific Rim College. Nyk has since combined her Yoga Therapy Training, Yin Yoga training and Traditional Chinese Medicine knowledge to create a unique Therapeutic Yin Yoga teacher training program, and she is also the host of A Yin Yoga Podcast.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

Holiday Sale: Use discount code HOLIDAY24 before December 24th to take 24% off the 8-hour Yin Yoga Poses + Props Training (normally $149)!

To learn more about Nyk's work, visit her website at nykdanu.com, or check out her Yin Yoga Podcast!

Follow Nyk on Instagram at @nykdanuyoga

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Threads at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).

This week's episode of the podcast is a short post-election reflection - just me sharing some of what's currently on my mind and what's sustaining me right now.

This one is a little different, because I don't really hide my political views, but I also don't usually make them a focal point of my teaching. While I certainly have opinions and I care deeply about the issues, I also respect my students' autonomy and I try not to make too many assumptions about the views they may hold. I want to hope that we can all practice together and find common ground more often than not.

The thoughts I'm sharing today are for others like me who are upset about the election, and who are feeling confused, discouraged, and shaky. And I especially want to speak to my fellow movement, yoga, and meditation teachers out there, who are holding space for others during challenging times.

So, if you're usually a fan of this podcast but realizing your politics is different than mine, you can listen to this and try to understand my perspective, or you can skip this episode and move on.

I promise it's not going to be an angry rant or recitation of fearful possibilities, and it's not going to be an artificial 'look on the bright side message' either. I'll be sharing a few quotes and ideas that are helping me to orient to this moment, as well as a story about how I'm finding connection and light in my local community.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

The class for a nervous system Freeze Response (mentioned in this episode) is available in the Moved To Meditate Class Library. Sign up for your "Free Library Card" to access a rotating selection of 5 classes each month, plus this bonus session.

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Threads at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).

This episode of the podcast is a conversation about overcoming Imposter Syndrome. I'm speaking with meditation teacher Lou Redmond, and together we explore this very common fear that often holds good people back from truly expressing their creativity, leadership, and potential in the world.

Imposter Syndrome is a form of self-doubt that causes us to worry about being enough, knowing enough, or having someone expose us as a fraud. We talk about how Imposter Syndrome often comes up when we are trying something new, stepping into a leadership role, or pioneering in an area that others haven't developed yet. This secretly-not-good-enough feeling arises in our professional lives, but can also be present in more personal domains like relationships, parenting, spirituality, etc.

Lou and I each share examples of when we've dealt with Imposter Syndrome in our work, and how we moved through those doubts.

You'll hear about:

• leaning into action and gaining experience to grow your confidence
• working with a mentor, coach, or therapist to unpack beliefs about your worthiness
• recognizing your integrity and that imposter syndrome may be arising because you care and don't want to cause harm.

We also touch on the topic of self-improvement, and how (like Imposter Syndrome) it can be driven by a sense of lack or inadequacy. This conversation highlights how inner work and meditation practices can help us recognize our inherent wholeness and trust ourselves more fully.

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Guest Bio: Lou Redmond is a meditation teacher, life coach, and inspirational speaker. His meditations have been listened to over 1 million times and his online courses have enrolled over 60,000 students. Lou is the host of The Art & Business of Meditation podcast, where he helps people make an impact and income using meditation. Lou is also the author of Find Your Truth: A Modern Day Story About Letting Go of Addiction and Finding Life's Purpose.

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For more links and resources mentioned in this episode, find the show notes at movedtomeditate.yoga/podcast.

To learn more about Lou's work, visit his website at louredmond.com, and sign up for his free Meditation Script Mastery Course here.

Feel free to reach out through my website with any episode requests, topics you'd like to hear about, or guest interview suggestions. You can also connect with me on Instagram or Threads at @addie_movedtomeditate (for mindfulness, movement, pictures of Pacific Northwest nature, crocheting projects, and my adorable kitty, Mustache).