Mountain Zen Den Podcast

Ep 137 30-Day Nature Reset Introduction

Welcome to the mountain! How are your New Year’s goals and resolutions holding up? No cause for guilt or shame. No need to feel bad. On the journey toward wholeness, every day is Day 1. A fresh start. Every day offers an opportunity to learn and grow and begin again. Abraham Maslow, (you know - the hierarch of needs guy), observed, “What one can be one must be”. You and I were created for a purpose. And deep within each of us is the desire to grow and fulfill that purpose. We become restless, (o...

Ep 136 Horses and Eating Disorders with Lisa Whalen

Ep 135 Wild Embrace

Welcome to the Mountain! The end of winter and the onset of summer has brought a beautiful lush, green world to us here on the eastern slope of the Colorado Rockies. With more rain than usual, followed by cool mornings and incredible sunny days in between, Nature has given the gift of Paradise for us to embrace, explore and enjoy! I recently had the privilege of narrating and producing an audiobook for my friend Erik Stensland, a well-known and loved, highly respected nature photographer and aut...

Ep 134 Awaken to Mindfulness in Nature

It’s been awhile. Glad to see you back here. Today is a new day. A fresh start to a new you. A great time to ask the question, “Am I awake to this moment? To the here and now? To this moment?” Henry David Thoreau reminds us that the vast majority of civilization leads quiet lives of desperation. Or maybe if he were around today, he would say “noisy lives of desperation” Lives spent trying to be anywhere but here, now. Today I would like to invite you to remember that all we have is this moment. ...

Ep 133 Nature Immersion Through Art Therapy with Sherri Phibbs

No Comments MZD Podcast – Ep. 133 – Nature Immersion Through Art Therapy Since 2009, facilitator, author, and artist Sherri Phibbs has been gaining a wealth of experience in Nature immersion, and to date, has written three books which, among other things, teach the hungry and willing student how to connect with Nature through art and deep sensory Nature immersion. You don’t have to be an artist to enjoy and appreciate the lessons she shares. In fact, Sherri emphasizes that you need absolutely no...

Ep 132 The Big Quiet with Lisa Stewart

Can you hear "The Call" to a Great Adventure in your life? Something you know you were meant to do? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be in a setting where it was just you and Nature for an extended period of time? Imagine yourself as a woman, alone on a horse, 500 miles from home… At age 54, Lisa Stewart did just that. She set out to regain the fearless girl she once had been, riding her horse, Chief, 500 miles home. Hot, homeless, and horseback, she snapped back into every origin...

Ep 131 Calm and Bright

Far too often we pay attention to the loud and brash, which tend to have little meaning, while overlooking the important things that are taking place so quietly and humbly just outside the corner of our eye. ~ Erik Stensland “Whispers in the Wind” At different points in our lives, the Christmas holiday season is marked by stress and anxiety, overwhelm, overindulgence, undernourishment and sadness and depression. For many, it is a hollow season of unmet expectations, disappointment and despair. I...

Ep 130 - Mirrors in the Earth with Asia Suler

“Nature is hungry to interact with us. It wants connection…if you take one step, the world rushes in to meet you.” ~ Asia Suler One of my favorite aphorisms is “Affirm Truth wherever you find it.” It’s a philosophy I have more recently come to hold dear and try to live by every day that I’m alive, because I’m finding that as I seek Truth, capital “T”, on my own “Hero’s Journey” as Joseph Campbell would put it, I am stretched a little out of my comfort zone. There was a time in my younger days wh...

Ep 129 Happy Thanksgiving!

Today, is the day before Thanksgiving, and as I intentionally stop and breathe and just Be, one word comes to mind. Thankful. This past year has been a year of Growth and Gratitude for us. We just want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for choosing to be on this journey of Mindfulness in Nature at Mountain Zen Den , and we pray for your continued growth and well-being. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year because everything hinges on Gratitude. Without it, life would ultimate...

Ep 128 - The Forest of Faith with Chris Highland

What does it mean to be a “Freethinker”? Today, we meet with one who calls himself “The Friendly Freethinker” — Chris Highland. A skilled presenter, Chris Highland has given public presentations, taught classes and led retreats for congregations, business groups, high schools, universities, social service workers and youth leaders. He has taught in Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Pagan, Unitarian, secular and other settings. His educational style is engaging and inspiring, drawing students or audie...

Ep 127 - Living an Awakened Life on Planet Earth with Peter Mayer

Welcome to the Mountain, and another Fireside Friday here at MZD where we meet with guests and share heart-to-heart the joys and benefits of the natural world for mindfulness and personal transformation, naturally! Hey Friends, Brett Wilson here – your host and Trail Guide at Mountain Zen Den, encouraging you to connect with Nature for mindfulness and personal growth – naturally! Come on in… Minnesota singer/songwriter Peter Mayer writes songs for a small planet--songs about interconnectedness a...

Ep 126 Finding Your Purpose

Welcome to the Mountain! Hey Friends, Brett Wilson here – your host and Trail Guide at Mountain Zen Den, encouraging you to connect with Nature for mindfulness and personal growth – naturally! Come on in… How are you? I am so excited to be back with you after an extended hiatus, where we have taken some time to get away, plan, and restructure things at the Den. There is so much to tell you, and I cannot wait to share with you all the incredible human beings and resources we have been meeting and...

Ep 125 On the ANT (Autism Nature Trail) with Gail Serventi

Here at MZD we talk all the time about the beautiful healing powers of Nature and the importance of connecting with Nature for mindfulness and personal growth… Well today we’re going to take you on a beautiful Nature trail in Letchworth State park about an hour south of Rochester, New York. Shaped like an ant from a bird’s eye view, this trail offers a first-of-its-kind experience in nature designed for visitors on the autism spectrum – but appropriate and enjoyable for all abilities and ages. I...

Ep 124 Cultivating Self Mastery

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.” ~ Lao Tzu The ancient philosopher, teacher and Stoic, Epictetus said, “Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not.” It takes wisdom and the habit of thoughtful effort to discern the difference. The things that are within our control are simple and few, but powerful! Our own opinions and behaviors (basically, our res...

Ep 123 Spring

Welcome to another Walden Wednesday , where we spend a few precious moments of our day to reflect on the beauty and goodness of Nature through some of the most enduring Classics ever written. Literary gems by naturalists, philosophers, poets and thought leaders, like Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Muir, Enos Mills and Henry David Thoreau. In honor of the change of seasons, today, we revisit Thoreau’s Walden in one of his thoughtful discourses on Life in the Woods; the chapter titled “Spring”. So put ...

Ep 122 The Adventures of a Rocky Mountain Tour Guide

Welcome to another Fireside Friday here at Mountain Zen Den, where we take some time to share heart to heart the joys and importance of connecting with the natural world for mindfulness and Personal Transformation. Naturally! Do you smell that? That’s the scent of fresh mountain air here in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in the spring. In today’s episode we meet up with an awesome human being, my fellow Rocky Mountain Tour Guide, Ron Francis. Ron has a heart of gold that just shines his love an...

Ep 121 Finding James Herriot

Welcome to another Fireside Friday here at Mountain Zen Den. Come on in… Today we meet with veterinarian Dr. Michael Suit and author of the books, “Finding James Herriot” and the sequel, “Monkey Bars”, as he shares his love for people and animals, along with how he got started as a veterinarian. He enjoys connecting with people and animals and shares his observations of how animals continue to keep giving back to us humans. He also shares the importance of having faith in yourself and of listeni...

Ep 120 Cultivating Playfulness

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” ~ Albert Einstein In the art of living a full and beautiful, meaningful life, there is an element we don’t talk about nearly enough, or put appropriate value on, or even attribute to personal growth, and dare I say, “Success”. And that is, the art of “Playfulness”. We see it in the natural world all around us — puppies and kittens, calves and goat kids, otters, beavers, dolphins, and children on the playground at recess, running and jumping, skipping and ...

Ep 119 Why We Love the Mountains

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity.” ~ John Muir, Our National Parks For this Fireside Friday we talk about why we love the mountains. And about our “Disorder” There is something so invigorating, soul-awakening, renewing, restoring, refreshing and healing about being in the mountains for us. (That’s not the disorder). The disorder we have is the let down and sadness we feel as ...

Ep 118 The Beaver and His Work

Today on Walden Wednesday we continue reading Enos Mills’ classic, Wild Life On the Rockies. Mills was a huge nature lover and nature guide who lived in the late 1880’s, early 1900’s. He wrote his experiences and observations of the West, and mostly about his beloved Rocky Mountains. I love the chapter we are visiting today called, “The Beaver and His Works”. Here, Enos points out the antics, and importance of the beaver, a keystone species that supports the entire biological community. Without ...

Ep 117 Cultivating Humility

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” ~ C.S. Lewis You are to be thanked and congratulated you for being here! Either as a regular subscriber and part of the MZD community, or maybe a first time listener, chances are, you are here for two reasons — you love Nature, and, you have a desire to grow and become the best possible version of yourself for Optimum Personal Transformation. The Greeks had a word for this — Arete´, which roughly translates to Virtue or...

Ep 116 Listening to Your Inner Guide

“True well-being is knowing, trusting, and following your inner guidance.” ~ Paul Hudon Today we meet with writer, speaker, columnist and author of the book, “Your Inner Guidance – The Path to Discovering Your True Happiness”, Paul Hudon. Paul lives just 100 miles or so down the road from us here in Colorado, where, when he’s not writing and speaking, or walking in the woods with his dogs and his wife Jane, he helps her grow and sell flowers as a business. Beautiful life… Paul is a kind and gent...

Ep 115 Story of a Thousand Year Old Pine

Welcome to another Walden Wednesday, where we spend a little time in nature reading the works of some of the greatest thinkers, naturalists, writers, and lovers of Nature the world has ever known. Authors like Emerson, Whitman, Muir and Thoreau. If you are a tree lover, I think you are really going to enjoy today’s time together as we read another chapter from Wildlife On the Rockies by the early 1900’s naturalist, wildlife photographer, and Nature writer, Enos Mills, in his fascinating chapter ...

Ep 114 The Mindfulness Journey

This Fireside Friday finds us exploring The Mindfulness Journey, and how it shapes who we are and where we wind up in life. We also discuss how Mindfulness and Nature are inseparable for us. The Mindfulness Journey is a return home… A few resources we mention include: “You Are Here” by Thich Naht Hanh “ Wherever You Go, There You Are” by Jon Kabat-Zinn “The Nature Fix” by Florence Williams “Vitamin N” by Richard Louv...

Ep 113 Cultivating Patience

Today we’re going to talk about… …Patience. Did you feel the tension in the pause, as your legs got jittery, your toes began to tap, and you wanted me to fill in the word and get on with today’s meditation? Patience is the heart of what mindfulness is all about. It is the embodiment of living in the now. We see examples of patience in nature all the time: Seeds planted in the soil take time to grow and stick their head above the soil, and bloom and grow and bear fruit and flowers and vegetables....

Episode 112 - The Joy of Journaling

“My book should smell of pines and resound with the hum of insects … ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson Welcome to another Fireside Friday here at Mountain Zen Den. Come on in… Today we share one of our favorite Personal Growth tools – Journaling. aka – Scribing, memoir writing, keeping a diary… Ideas include: Why Journal? To slow down and observe and record your thoughts To better Listen For Healing (A cathartic exercise) To better understand yourself and the world To share your view of the world To record ...

Ep 111 Colorado Snow Observer (Part 2)

Here are on this Walden Wednesday, we slow down and spend a few precious moments of our day to truly listen, to the thoughts, ideas, and writings of some of the greatest thinkers, naturalists and lovers of Nature the world has ever known. Writers like Emerson, Whitman, Muir and Thoreau. In today’s time together we continue our visit with adventure naturalist, wildlife photographer, and Nature writer Enos Mills, as he recounts his thrilling and exhilarating adventures as the Colorado snow observe...

Ep 110 Meditation Made Simple

Want to learn how to meditate? It’s simpler than you may have thought. Today we share a bit about our personal meditation journey and practices, and offer a few practical tips that may help you with yours. We also discuss some ideas from a couple of wonderful books we have been reading lately by Hal Elrod, Michael Singer and Ryan Holiday. (See links below). Glad you’re here, c’mon in! Brett & Melissa “The Miracle Morning ” by Hal Elrod “Stillness is the Key” by Ryan Holiday "The Untethered S...

Ep 109 Cultivating Compassion

“Along with love, compassion is the face of altruism. It is a feeling deep in the heart that you cannot bear other’s suffering without acting to relieve it.” ~ The Dalai Lama We come together at MZD to connect with Nature for mindfulness and personal growth. We talk about it all the time. In fact, we have been focusing on, and training if you will, how to cultivate personal strengths and traits that we desire to see show up in our lives as the best version of ourselves… things like… Do you find ...

Ep 108 Why Mindfulness? Why Nature?

“Now is now.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder We’re going to get back to the basics. Can you imagine how awesome it would be to wake up every morning to the amazing beauty and wonderful sounds of nature? We just got back from an amazing hike along Carter Lake and had our senses bombarded by the beauty and restorative powers of Nature… Links to Scientific Proof of the Restorative Powers of Nature We were reminded that there are things all around us everyday that would bring so much joy and happiness and p...