The Mindful Kitchen: Simple Rituals for Cooking with Intention, Gratitude, and Joy

The Mindful Kitchen: Simple Rituals for Cooking with Intention, Gratitude, and Joy

Can preparing dinner become a mindfulness practice? In this conversation, Meryl sits down with cookbook author and podcast creator Nicki Sizemore to explore how intention, gratitude, and presence can transform even the most ordinary meal into something deeply nourishing. As Our Mindful Nature enters its final season after 11 incredible years, this series continues its exploration of food as a doorway into everyday mindfulness. Nicki is the author of Mind, Body, Spirit, Food — a cookbook woven through with grounding meditations, rituals, and intentions designed to help us prepare meals with joy and presence. Her message is clear: mindfulness doesn't require a retreat, a silent room, or extra time. Sometimes, it begins with a single breath before you chop that onion. What To Expect - How Nicki discovered mindful cooking out of a moment of real burnout — and how it became a healing practice - Why we so easily leave our meditation practice on the cushion — and how to carry it into the rest of our day - The four core practices for cooking with intention: breath, engaging the senses, setting an intention, and gratitude - How setting a single word as an intention before cooking can shift your nervous system and your entire evening - How adaptable recipes create space for presence instead of perfectionism Featured Guest Nicki Sizemore is a cookbook author, culinary school graduate, and the creator of the Mind, Body, Spirit, Food podcast and Substack. With over 20 years in the food industry, she now lives at the intersection of intentional cooking and mindful living, helping people find freedom, presence, and deep nourishment in their kitchens. Find Nicki at: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickisizemore/ [https://www.instagram.com/nickisizemore/] Substack & Podcast (Mind, Body, Spirit, Food): https://mindbodyspiritfood.substack.com/ [https://mindbodyspiritfood.substack.com/] Mind, Body, Spirit, Food cookbook — available wherever books are sold After 11 incredible years, this summer series marks the final season of Our Mindful Nature. Stay tuned in the coming episodes as Meryl shares more about what's next. Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at: https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen [https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen] This podcast explores meditation, mental health and the power of connection, offering guidance for caregivers, healers, and therapists facing compassion fatigue, burnout, and other mental health struggles through self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. With a focus on anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, each episode provides tools like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to cultivate clarity and reduce stress. Listeners can also experience nature-inspired guided meditations, designed to bring peace and balance in times of distress.

Beyond the Cushion: Food, Gathering, and Community as Mindfulness Practice

What if one of the most profound mindfulness practices isn't found on a meditation cushion, but around a table instead? In this conversation, meditation teacher Meryl Arnett sits down with anthropologist, meditation teacher and author Dr. Ashanté Reese to explore how food nourishes not only our bodies, but our histories, our communities, and our capacity to care for one another. As Our Mindful Nature enters its final series after 11 years, this episode opens a rich exploration of food as a doorway into everyday mindfulness. Dr. Reese is the author of Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness, and together she and Meryl examine the gardens, family reunions, repasts, and mutual aid spaces where ancestors are honored, cultural traditions are sustained, and communities practice radical hospitality, all as expressions of mindfulness itself. What To Expect: - Why the meditation cushion is just one small entry point into a much larger awakeness - The meaning of nourishment beyond food: tending to our social bodies, preserving memory, and cultivating belonging - How gathering around food has historically been communal, and what we lose when we treat it as purely private - The gap between our stated values and how we actually live, and how mindfulness (and food) can help close it Featured Guest Dr. Ashanté Reese is a cultural anthropologist and author of Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness (W.W. Norton). Her research explores community, belonging, and how people come together around food. She is based in Austin, TX, and has been a dedicated meditation practitioner for years. Find Dr. Reese at https://www.amreese.com/ [https://www.amreese.com/] and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/dramreese/ [https://www.instagram.com/dramreese/] and on Threads at @areese07. Resources Mentioned Gather: Black Food, Nourishment, and the Art of Togetherness by Dr. Ashanté Reese — available at indie bookstores, including: BEM of Brooklyn (first bookstore in the country dedicated to Black food): https://www.bembrooklyn.com/ [https://www.bembrooklyn.com/] Yes Please Books (Atlanta area): https://www.yespleasebooks.com/ [https://www.yespleasebooks.com/] After 11 incredible years, this summer series marks the final season of Our Mindful Nature. Stay tuned in the coming episodes as Meryl shares more about what's next. Thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find her at: https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen [https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen] This podcast explores meditation, mental health and the power of connection, offering guidance for caregivers, healers, and therapists facing compassion fatigue, burnout, and other mental health struggles through self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. With a focus on anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, each episode provides tools like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to cultivate clarity and reduce stress. Listeners can also experience nature-inspired guided meditations, designed to bring peace and balance in times of distress.

Extended Listening Experience: Spring Rain in the Cascade Mountains for Meditation, Work, or Sleep (No AI!)

What if you could experience the complete journey of a spring rainstorm from beginning to end? This extended nature listening episode offers the full, unedited soundscape that formed the backdrop for the three-part "Chasing the Ephemeral" meditation series. Recorded in Washington State's Cascade Mountains, this pure nature experience invites you into deep listening without guidance, narration, or interruption. Perfect for meditation, work, study, sleep, or any time you need the grounding presence of authentic nature sounds to support your wellbeing. About the Recording This soundscape was captured by acoustic ecologist Nick McMahon in the deep western valleys of the Cascade Mountains, on the ancestral land of the Stillaguamish People. The recording location features a saturated valley floor soft with marshes, old-growth groves, rivers, and streams. During early spring months, this pristine wilderness offers profound solitude where the transition from night to day can be heard through nature's own expression. No AI! Recording credit: Nick McMahon, Acoustic Ecologist Land acknowledgment: Recorded on ancestral lands of the Stillaguamish People Learn more: https://www.stillaguamish.com/about-us/ [https://www.stillaguamish.com/about-us/] Series Pause and Summer Return The podcast will take a brief pause before returning with summer meditation series. Subscribe to Meryl's newsletter for bonus reflections, soundscapes, book recommendations, and between-seasons content at merylarnett.com. Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/jjPrV2 [http://eepurl.com/jjPrV2] to receive free mini meditations and soundscapes each week, along with creative musings and more. In 2026, Our Mindful Nature will release seasonal series rather than weekly episodes, allowing for richer, more in-depth explorations of meditation and mental health topics. Learn more or contact me at https://www.merylarnett.com/ [https://www.merylarnett.com/]. Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at: https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/ [https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/] https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen [https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen] This podcast explores meditation, mental health and the power of connection, offering guidance for caregivers, healers, and therapists facing compassion fatigue, burnout, and other mental health struggles through self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. With a focus on anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, each episode provides tools like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to cultivate clarity and reduce stress. Listeners can also experience nature-inspired guided meditations, designed to bring peace and balance in times of distress.

Chasing the Ephemeral Part 3: Salamander Meditation & Finding Balance Between Water and Earth

What does tender self-care look like when the world feels overwhelming? In this final episode of the "Chasing the Ephemeral" spring series, meditation teacher Meryl Arnett turns to the salamander, quiet guardian of vernal pools, for wisdom about gentle transformation and emotional balance. Through a deeply personal dream about tending to what's been neglected, this meditation explores how to practice radical self-care during times of moral injury and societal upheaval. Set against the continuing spring rain soundscape, this salamander-inspired practice teaches us to balance emotional energy (water) with earthly stability (land), finding our way between overwhelmed withdrawal and constant activism. What You'll Experience A guided meditation inspired by salamander wisdom that balances emotional energy with grounded stability Discussion of moral injury - the anguish from witnessing harm that violates our deepest values when we feel powerless to stop it Practical self-care guidance that goes beyond social media wellness to include simple, tender acts of care The three pillars of healing: getting present, feeling what you feel in your body, and reconnecting with yourself and others Salamander symbolism exploring their dual life in water and on land as teachers of balance and transformation About the Soundscape Conclusion This meditation completes the spring rain journey recorded by acoustic ecologist Nick McMahon in Washington's Cascade Mountains on Stillaguamish ancestral lands. The full three-part series has followed water from gathering storm to vernal pool creation, mirroring our own cycles of emergence and transformation. Recording credit: Nick McMahon, Acoustic Ecologist The photos you see throughout this meditation are also from Nick McMahan. Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/jjPrV2 [http://eepurl.com/jjPrV2] to receive free mini meditations and soundscapes each week, along with creative musings and more. In 2026, Our Mindful Nature will release seasonal series rather than weekly episodes, allowing for richer, more in-depth explorations of meditation and mental health topics. Learn more or contact me at https://www.merylarnett.com/ [https://www.merylarnett.com/]. Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at: https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/ [https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/] https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen [https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen] This podcast explores meditation, mental health and the power of connection, offering guidance for caregivers, healers, and therapists facing compassion fatigue, burnout, and other mental health struggles through self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. With a focus on anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, each episode provides tools like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to cultivate clarity and reduce stress. Listeners can also experience nature-inspired guided meditations, designed to bring peace and balance in times of distress.

Chasing the Ephemeral Part 2: Pink Moon Meditation for Meeting Beauty

How do we meet beauty at the precise moment it appears and practice releasing it just as gently? In this second episode of the three-part "Chasing the Ephemeral" series, meditation teacher Meryl Arnett guides us beneath April's Pink Moon for a practice in experiencing awe without attachment. Just like the creeping phlox that suddenly carpets the ground in pink before fading away, this meditation teaches us to honor what blooms in our lives right now. Set against the continuing spring rainstorm in Washington's Cascade Mountains, this lunar meditation explores the many names for April's moon and invites you to expand beyond individual self into universal connection. What You'll Experience A guided lunar meditation that directs awareness upward to connect with the moon's presence, visible or not The story of many cultural names for April's moon: Seed Moon, Pink Moon, Awakening Moon, Frog Moon, Fish Moon, Planter's Moon, and many others Practice in expansion and release - breathing beyond body boundaries to melt into the universal About the Continuing Soundscape This meditation continues the spring rain recording from Part 1, captured by acoustic ecologist Nick McMahon in the deep western valleys of the Cascade Mountains on the ancestral land of the Stillaguamish People. The ongoing rainstorm provides continuity as we deepen our exploration of ephemeral beauty and the practice of meeting each moment with awe. Recording credit: Nick McMahon, Acoustic Ecologist The photos you see throughout this meditation are also from Nick McMahan. Your Practice This Week Become a guardian of your own solitude. Protect a few quiet minutes daily to listen to your breath, the changing season, and the subtle feelings that rise and fall within you. Notice what is blooming in your life right now and honor it before it shifts into something new. Coming Up in This Series Part 3 releases next Thursday, continuing to follow the rain as it gathers and transforms, exploring salamander wisdom and completing our journey into ephemeral spring magic. Sign up for my newsletter at http://eepurl.com/jjPrV2 [http://eepurl.com/jjPrV2] to receive free mini meditations and soundscapes each week, along with creative musings and more. In 2026, Our Mindful Nature will release seasonal series rather than weekly episodes, allowing for richer, more in-depth explorations of meditation and mental health topics. Learn more or contact me at https://www.merylarnett.com/ [https://www.merylarnett.com/]. Thank you to Nick McMahan for today’s nature field recordings; and thank you to Brianna Nielsen for production and editing support. Find them at: https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/ [https://www.nickcmcmahan.com/] https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen [https://www.instagram.com/itsbriannanielsen] This podcast explores meditation, mental health and the power of connection, offering guidance for caregivers, healers, and therapists facing compassion fatigue, burnout, and other mental health struggles through self-care, self-compassion, and resilience. With a focus on anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, each episode provides tools like meditation, mindfulness, breathwork, and grounding to cultivate clarity and reduce stress. Listeners can also experience nature-inspired guided meditations, designed to bring peace and balance in times of distress.