Tag: Soundings

Dudley Evenson on Meditating & Breathing with Nature

In this podcast Dudley Evenson discusses how to best meditate and breathe with nature. Why meditate in nature? There are many benefits of meditation in nature. It has been widely proven that meditating outdoors can have significant benefits on your physical as well as mental health. It’s a place where wisdom and perception come alive.

Meditating outdoors activates our senses, making our practice more alert and wakeful. At the same time, the usual distractions seem far away and somehow less important. Many meditators find it easier to let go of their worries and their electronic devices when they’ve got such a satisfying alternative: mindfully communing with nature. We hope you enjoy this episode.

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Dean & Dudley Evenson Discuss New Album Seeds of Peace

We are happy to release our 66th episode of our Soundings Mindful Media Podcast. In this episode, Dean & Dudley Evenson are interviewed by Kyle Norris from NPR. They discuss their new album Seeds of Peace and how it came to be. It’s a remarkable story that starts back in 1987, when Dean Evenson and Volodymyr Solianyk first met and started performing music together during a Citizen Diplomacy tour in the former Soviet Union. We hope you enjoy this fun and insightful interview.

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6 Steps to Your Miracle Morning on Soundings Mindful Media Podcast

Do you start your day with a dose of news and then find it’s hard to get all that negativity out of your head? Or maybe you feel overwhelmed by a massive ‘to do’ list and can’t seem to complete all the tasks you have set up for yourself. I recently read a great book called The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before 8 am and I have been implementing the practices that the author, Hal Elrod, has suggested. In this podcast, I will walk you through these practices and explain how you can use them to improve your life.

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Making sense of Dalai Lama’s Teaching on Overcoming Addictions & Aversions Using the Blade Wheel of Transformation

At a teaching by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, he brought ancient Buddhist wisdom into 21st century practical application when he described the Sharp Weapon Blade Wheel of Transformation. He explained that by taking our addictions (desires, wants, cravings, indulgences, etc.) and our aversions (fears, anger, enemies, frustrations, suffering, etc.) we can use their antidotes to overcome them. From his perspective, the antidote to addiction is meditation and emptiness. The antidote to aversion is compassion and love. He pointed out that the best place to begin is with transformation of the heart. This can also be accomplished by putting “others before self.” With so much fear and divisiveness in the world, these ideas are extremely relevant to us today.  

Watch our video Dalai Lama Answers Difficult Question: https://youtu.be/TfaBevPyKNE

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Dean Evenson & Phil Heaven Discuss Inspiration Behind New Album EARTH WITHIN

Join Dean Evenson in this heartfelt conversation with Phil Heaven, his longtime friend, collaborator, and co-producer as they reminisce on their creative journey together and their new release Earth Within. The underlying story and choice of instruments aligned to bring this album to life in a unique way. Phil and Dean have made many award-winning albums together and this new LP introduces Douglas Johnson who brings his unique stylings on double bass to their viola and flute. “The idea of bringing the Earth Within ourselves through these low frequencies seemed like a great idea for an album project” says Phil Heaven. “Douglas’ double bass instrument brings the grounding earthy feeling along with the viola, bringing deep resonant tones. You feel the low frequencies in all your body.”Dean Evenson explains why the concept and natural sounds are so important on this album. “We need to honor the earth and understand it as a living being. And when we do that, it opens the whole world through a way of thinking that supports the earth and brings about the harmony as the instruments do on this album, playing the different aspects of life and nature.”

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Snake River to Salish Sea Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey on Soundings Mindful Media Podcast

Snake River to Salish Sea Spirit of the Waters Totem Pole Journey across Washington and Oregon supports the indigenous-led movement to remove the Snake River dams and restore salmon runs to health. Orca or Southern Resident Killer Whales (SkaliChelh in Lummi language) depend on the salmon to survive. At the heart of any Totem Pole Journey is Jewell James, master carver of the House of Tears Carvers from the Lummi Nation. Much of his professional life he has been in judicial courts or the halls of Congress advocating for treaty rights to be upheld and Tribal sovereignty respected. He continues the good fight, but often with a large totem pole in tow. 

This totem pole journey is the latest of a dozen journeys made over the past 20 years to educate and advocate. This journey builds upon, strengthens and reaffirms the growing indigenous-led environmental movement across the Pacific Northwest. The journey includes public eventsin metropolitan areas and tribal communities. At each stop, art and culture sparks understanding of our natural heritage. In-person events include ceremonial moments steeped in ancestral knowledge presenting the challenges the region faces—and avenues for cross-cultural collaboration and engagement on solutions. 


For more information: https://www.spiritofthewaters.org

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Interview with Paul Horn on Soundings Mindful Media Podcast

We first heard Paul Horn’s album ‘Inside the Taj Mahal’ in 1970 and it blew us away. Then in 1977, Dean Evenson was invited to interview Paul Horn on video at the Boulder Colorado public library. This was quite an honor for Dean who had been playing flute since he was 11 years old; it was another two years before we founded Soundings of the Planet. In this interview, Dean asks Paul about his musical influences and what genre his music fits in. Paul speaks of the improvisational aspects of jazz and the unique kind of music he creates. He discusses his meditation practice and goes into depth about studying at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in India. He was doing a retreat there when the Beatles arrived! Paul also discovered that he (more than his flute) is the main instrument. He discusses how the music he creates can be helpful in the healing process although he doesn’t call it ‘healing’. When we came across this interview in our video archive, we knew we also wanted to share it as a podcast. Be sure to listen to Dean’s final question which he asks with his silver flute. You can also watch the video on our Soundings Mindful Media YouTube channel.

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Dean & Dudley Evenson Talk Loving Partnership on Soundings Mindful Media

In this podcast, Dean and Dudley Evenson talk about their long-lasting marriage and how they have managed to maintain a loving relationship while raising a family and running a successful business together. In this intimate conversation, the Evensons contemplate some of the principles that have contributed to their having such a fun and meaningful life starting with their auspicious meeting in 1968 in New York’s East Village. They reminisce about coming from very different backgrounds yet still being able to blend their creative lives and be productive together. They speak of their musical path and the recently launched the Peace Through Music Foundation.

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Dean Evenson Talks Daily Practice On Soundings Mindful Media Podcast

Dean Evenson shares his daily exercise and mindfulness practices which he does to keep himself balanced and grounded. He enjoys several kinds of exercises as well as meditation, breathing, walking, and personal affirmations. Since he first started doing yoga in the early ‘70s, Dean has kept up a daily practice which has allowed him to stay healthy and able to maintain energy to accomplish the many things he does. As we get older, we may experience health issues which make exercise even more important. In fact, everyone, no matter their age, can benefit from daily physical and spiritual practices. We hope Dean’s personal process inspires you to consider enhancing your own level of self-care.

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Friendly Farming on Soundings Mindful Media Podcast

In 1972, Dean and Dudley Evenson were called to Stockholm, Sweden to videotape the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. It was the first ever international gathering focusing on the ecological impact of humans on the planet. After a week of learning and videotaping, the conference and gatherings wound down and Dean and Dudley decided to travel to northwestern Sweden to visit a community they had heard about that grew organic food.

They packed up their video gear and hitchhiked north, landing among a gentle group of young people who had formed a commune and were working with an old Finnish farmer named Andres Bjornson, who practiced a technique called ‘friendly farming.’ With camera turned on and the tape rolling, they learned about his simple, but very effective means of working with nature, of putting the weeds which he called ‘helpful cultures’ right back next to the growing plants for fertilizer, and generally of producing abundant crops of food without artificial fertilizers or pesticides by keeping the soil gently cultivated with a fork-like tool.

Welcomed by these people who lived communally in the land of the midnight sun and practiced Bjornsen’s farming techniques, the Evensons spent a meaningful Midsummer’s Eve, watching the sun roll like a ball across the distant hills, and never quite set. This podcast is a synopsis of what they learned.

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