Today's episode, we have an extra special meditation practice, dedicated to Day of the Dead,

which will be celebrated in Mexico next week.

Just over a year ago, I met Pedro, a journalist and news anchor from Mexico City.

My wife and I hosted him at our home in Glasgow for a fun few days. And at the end of the

trip, he said the very best time to come is for Die de Muetos, for Day of the Dead. It's the

time of the year when we are most ourselves. I must confess that at the time, my only real understanding of Day of the Dead was through watching the wonderful Pixar film Coco with my children.

So Pedro's comment surprised me, and it got me intrigued as to what it was about the holiday that was so integral to his sense of Mexicanness, and it made me want to

understand it more.

Day of the Dead, Dia de Muetos takes place on the first and second of November. We wanted to mark

this special time of year and dedicate our meditation episode to it.

Not all cultures are as open about death and the dead as the people of Mexico.

It's a difficult and painful topic for many of us, not necessarily something we want to linger on.

I get that. But if you know anything about

Day of the Dead, you'll know that at its heart, it's a festival, a festival about community,

about the celebration of life and remembering. Families gather over dinner to honour the lives

of their dead as an intimate ritual to celebrate those lives.

In these dinners the air is filled with laughter, stories and nostalgia.

So that is what our meditation together will be about too.

And yes, skeletons. There may be some skeletons.

Reflecting on death and grief has long been part of the mindfulness tradition.

We'll explore some of that later in the episode two. You know it's the time of the year to celebrate an honour death when the city starts to paint

itself in golden, warm orange.

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