Personal Growth Archives - Page 2 of 7

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 108 – Why Mindfulness? Why Nature?

Inspiration, Meditation, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Uncategorized, Well-being

Photo Melissa Wilson MZD Podcast - Ep. 108 Why Mindfulness? Why Nature? "Now is now.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder Welcome to the Mountain! 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… We were reminded that there are things all around us everyday that would bring so much joy and happiness and peace if we would just take the time to notice them. It’s called living in the Now. Now is all we’ve got. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow hasn’t come, we just have Now. And…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 106 – Human Hibernation (Flowing with the Rhythms of Nature)

Health, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Well-being

Photo Brett Wilson MZD Podcast - Ep. 106 Human Hibernation Welcome to the Mountain! Every season has its purpose and has something to teach us. The Dead of Winter – Teaches us about Hibernation & Dormancy Dormancy: The state of having normal physical functions suspended or slowed for a period of time.The state of being temporarily inactive or inoperative -Dormancy is when living things such as plants are awaiting the necessary environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture, nutrient availability, etc. 4 TYPES OF DORMANCY Hibernation – low metabolic rate, reduced heart rate, slow breathing and lowered body temperature.Obligate hibernators– can sleep regardless of access to food and temperatures. Ex. European Hedgehogs, mouse lemurs, various ground squirrels & butterflies Facultative hibernators– hibernate when it’s too cold and the food supply decreased…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 105 – Cultivating Courage

Courage, Meditation, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Well-being

Photo Brett Wilson MZD Podcast - Ep. 105 Cultivating Courage What are you grateful for today? What’s the first thing that comes to mind that you are thankful for? This is always a good place to start our meditation practice. On Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, we celebrate the gift of Courage, for which I am truly grateful. If it weren’t for the courage of leaders like Dr. King, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and a host of unnamed others, so many of the freedoms and benefits and pleasures we enjoy today would not be available to us. Did you know that “Fear not!” is the most repeated command in the Bible? 366 to be exact; one for every day of the year plus leap year! This should be encouraging. Literally!…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 104 – Stay the Course (Lessons from a Mountain Climb)

14ers, Inspiration, Mountain Climbing, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Success, Uncategorized, Well-being

Mt Elbert 14,440' above sea level - Colorado's highest peak MZD Podcast - Ep 104 Stay the Course "A pot is filled drop by drop.” ~ the Buddha Great to have you here on a Fireside Friday at Mountain Zen Den. We’re almost half way through January! So how are you doing with your goals? Today we discuss the concept of staying on course with your dreams, goals and New Years’ resolutions. Here are a few tips and lessons learned from our mountain climb on Mt. Elbert – 14,440’ above sea level, Colorado’s highest peak. A few of the points that came up: Plan aheadPack and Prepare wellEnjoy the JourneyKeep the Goal in Mind but remember, ultimately, the Journey is the GoalIt’s about “Who is the person who attempts and…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 101 – Happy Bird Day to You!

Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Walden Wednesday

Photo Brett Wilson MZD Podcast Episode 101 Happy Bird Day to You! Here are on this Walden Wednesday, we are celebrating National Bird Day by taking a few moments out of our day to slow the heart and mind down enough to truly listen, and absorb the thoughts, ideas, philosophies and writings of great thinkers, naturalists and lovers of Nature like Emerson, Whitman, Muir and Thoreau. And then, as always, we give you a little time at the end to just “Be”, in a natural environment, and settle into a deeper state of awareness as you go through your day, fully-awake, fully-present, alive and intentionally growing into becoming your best self. Today we are visiting the writings of one of my heroes - naturalist, wildlife photographer, and Nature writer Enos…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 100 – Ten Things You Can Do To Improve Your Life Right Now

Lifestyle, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Success, Uncategorized, Well-being

Photo Brett Wilson MZD Podcast - Episode 100 Hey Gang, so glad you have joined us today, because this is an exciting day for us here at MZD! Not only are we celebrating our 100th episode, but it is also our first Fireside Friday where we sit back here in the Zen Den, as we like to call it, and have a chat with writers, and naturalists, artists, musicians and great thinkers and lovers of Nature, all for the purpose of personal growth through connection with Nature. And I’m especially pumped to be introducing a very special person in my life, the only other person I know personally who is as crazy about Nature and wildlife as much as I am, and who I am crazy about – my Best…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 99 – Cultivating Wisdom

Meditation, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Uncategorized, Wisdom

Photo Brett Wilson “The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.” ~ Marcus Aurelius In the most recent series here on Mountain Zen Den we’ve been talking about cultivating what we call your “Garden of Well-being”… Today we will discuss cultivating Wisdom in our lives. What does this mean? What picture comes to mind when you think of wisdom?... (Socrates, Aristotle, King Solomon, Confucius, Gandalf, Dumbledore, Yoda…“wise you are”, or maybe an owl…) What does Wisdom look like? And why do we need to cultivate it anyway? Wisdom has been defined as: “Knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action.” Meaning, it is Life Experience thoughtfully reflected upon, and then lived. It is the ability to make thoughtful observations, that…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 98 – The First Principle in The Science of Getting Rich

Abundance, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Success

Photo Brett Wilson Great to have you here for another Walden Wednesday here at Mountain Zen Den, where we intentionally carve a few moments out of our day in a relaxing nature setting. We do this for the purpose of slowing the heart and mind down enough to truly listen, and absorb the thoughts, ideas, philosophies and writings of great thinkers, naturalists and appreciaters of Nature like Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau. And then at the end we give you a little time to just “Be”, and settle into a deeper state of awareness as you go through your day, fully-awake, fully-present, alive and intentionally growing into the person you desire to become. Here you will find: Nature-based Listening… for the mindful Nature-lover. And, Learn the Art of Slowing Down, and…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 97 – Perpetual Morning

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Simple Living, Simplicity, Well-being

Photo Brett Wilson MZD Ep. 97 -Perpetual Morning Great to have you here for another Walden Wednesday, here on a Friday due to technical issues. The flip side is, every day can be a Walden Day thanks to technology! You can listen and absorb any time you like and enjoy these passages from classics like Thoreau’s Walden and others, highlighting the beauty, wisdom, and simplicity of the natural world, found in the writings of some of the most influential thinkers, writers, philosophers and poets of our past. It’s all about intentionally carving a few moments out of your day in a relaxing nature setting in an effort to affect the quality of our lives. We do this by slowing the heart and mind, down enough to absorb the thoughts, ideas,…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 96 – Cultivating Abundance

Abundance, Meditation, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Well-being

Photo Brett Wilson MZD Ep 96 - Cultivating Abundance In Episode 82 we introduced the concept of Cultivating Your “Garden of Well-Being”. Those qualities in your life that you desire to have more of, and that would help make you a better person. Things like Presence and Gratitude, Hope and Faith, Love and Simplicity, Joy and Tranquility, Beauty and Wonder, Health and today’s subject – Abundance. Today we’re talking about cultivating a spirit of abundance and What Nature Teaches Us About Wealth & Abundance. Money is generally the first thing that comes to mind when people think of wealth and abundance. But having riches, that is, being wealthy and having abundance in your life is so much more than having a lot of money in the bank and accumulating things.…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 93 – What Do You Really Need?

Inspiration, Meditation, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Simple Living, Simplicity, Uncategorized, Well-being

photo Brett Wilson Welcome to Walden Wednesday on the Mountain! I want to reward you with something a little different than what we typically experience during our traditional meditation time. In past episodes we have occasionally shared passages from Walden and other great writings and literature, relating to cultivating the rich wisdom, mindfulness and simplicity found in Nature. In 1845, American naturalist, poet, writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau decided to try a grand “experiment”. In his own words, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” We’re going to offer more of these classics set in nature…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 92 – The Drift

Inspiration, Meditation, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Well-being

The DriftPhoto courtesy Derek Sutton @dereksutton Unsplash Welcome to Mountain Zen Den! It has been a while, and much has happened since we last met here. The entire world has changed. Dramatically! Yet, while there have been a multitude of anxiety producing events and uncertainty, if you zoom out and look at the big picture, you can see it has actually been a season of opportunity, of renewal, self-reflection, ad growth. The possibility of change and revision… A “Re – Vision”. Today we're going to talk about what happened. We are not going to get into pandemics or politics or world events, or even masks, or viruses and vaccinations, or anything else that has occurred in the world over the past year. We’ve all had enough of that, and there’s…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 90 – Cultivating Beauty

Inspiration, Meditation, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development

“…If you’re down to your final dime, can’t decide what else to buy to be happy You don't need a credit card to give your heart the beauty of the world..." ~ Peter Mayer ~ ~ ~ MZD Podcast Ep 90 - "Cultivating Beauty" ~ ~ ~ Well the hustle and bustle of Christmas has come and gone, and it’s the end of another year. Snowflakes are gently falling outside. The presents have been opened. The children are happily playing in the other room, and you sit with the one you love, sipping hot chocolate reading from a book with Currier and Ives prints, in front of the crackling fire, and breathe a deep sigh of contentment. Sounds like a Netflix Christmas special doesn’t it? So your world doesn’t look…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 89 – Cultivating Tranquility

Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Well-being

“Work when there is work to do. Rest when you are tired. One thing done in peace will most likely be better than ten things done in panic…. I am not a hero if I deny rest; I am only tired.” ~ Susan McHenry ~ ~ ~ MZD Podcast Ep 89 - "Cultivating Tranquility" ~ ~ ~ So how are you holding up this holiday season? Are you tired of being told there’s only so many shopping days until Christmas? Maybe the stress of finances, (or lack thereof), the burden of work deadlines and family obligations are wearing you down. Finding the “perfect” gift for everyone on your holiday shopping list can be so stressful. Or even worse, for many the holidays can be a very depressing time. Health struggles,…

by Skydancer7

Mountain Zen Den ~ Episode 88 – Cultivating Joy!

Meditation, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Development, Personal Growth, Personal Transformation, Podcast, Self-Development, Simple Living, Well-being

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you. A joy." ~ Rumi ~ ~ ~ MZD Podcast - Episode 88 "Cultivating Joy!" How are you doing today? Are things going the way you want them to? Are you living the life of your dreams? Are you happy and content with your present state of being? More importantly, is your life filled with joy in this very moment? If you can answer “Yes”, to this last question, then you are a very blessed individual indeed. If not, no worries. Join the other 99.9% of people on the planet. That’s why we’re here today. We are going to explore some very practical ways to cultivate joy in your life and “Garden of Well-being.…

Category: Personal Growth