Life is Hard, Let's Meditate!

Sidedoor

Smithsonian Institution

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4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2021

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Americans approach a full year of pandemic life, there’s an overwhelming sense of anticipation: when can we get vaccinated? What will life look like in six months? When will life return to normal? Maybe because looking outward feels so daunting, a lot of people are looking inward, through mindfulness and meditation. In this episode of Sidedoor, we learn about mindfulness and meditation through the lens of religion – a Buddhist priest shares the story of her religious journey; and we hear about the secular spirituality that young Americans are increasingly following away from religion.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is Side Door, a podcast from the Smithsonian with support from PRX.
0:13.4	I'm Lizzie Peabody.
0:23.7	It's February 2021.
0:26.1	Just a whole year since I've actually seen the inside of Side Door's recording studio.
0:31.2	Instead, at this very moment, I am sitting inside my closet, talking into a microphone,
0:36.2	surrounded by the very work clothes that I no longer wear.
0:40.4	Recently, a lot of friends have been texting me these articles about hitting the pandemic
0:44.6	wall.
0:45.6	And, you know, broadly speaking, things are okay.
0:48.0	I have a job I can do from home, health, safety, but even so, I have hit the wall.
0:55.5	Full speed collision, wily coyote style, trace me in chalk on that cinder block wall.
1:01.0	I am struggling.
1:03.0	And it sounds like pretty much everyone is struggling, staring down more months of isolation
1:07.3	and uncertainty stretching out before us like an endless road.
1:11.9	But maybe because looking outward feels so daunting, a lot of people have started looking
1:16.7	inward.
1:18.3	In December, my brother gave me a book on mindfulness and meditation.
1:22.0	I always associated meditation with religion, Buddhists and Hindus meditate, but more and
1:26.8	more, I am seeing it promoted in podcasts, ads for apps, and even WebMD as a recommended
1:32.0	way to reduce stress.
1:34.1	Mindfulness is having a moment.
1:36.9	But in all of this silent self-reflection, there's not much discussion of religion.
	...

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