The top five podcasts for meditation by Leila Kalmbach

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By Leila Kalmbach

If you’re like me, you know the value of meditation, but you may not be very good at making time for it. Maybe you’re easily distracted by your to-do list, or maybe you don’t start making a to-do list until you sit down to meditate and suddenly think of 10 things that need to be done — now. Maybe it feels like a chore. Or maybe you get bored after a few minutes and quit. If this is the case for you — or even if it isn’t — you might be interested in the wonderful Internet tool I’ve recently discovered: meditation podcasts. I’ve been trying out a lot of meditation podcasts recently — doing Internet searches for recommendations, looking on iTunes to find popular podcasts, and going through lists of podcasts trying to find ones that appeal to me. Out of those, there are only a few that I’ve gone back to, and these are the podcasts I’ve included on this list. Download one or all of these five free podcasts onto your computer or iPod, and you’ll have a powerful tool for meditation wherever you are. Please note that the podcasts listed here are not discussions of meditation or tools to help you in later meditation sessions, but rather podcasts to listen to during meditation itself. Not everyone will agree with the podcasts included here, but my selection criteria were simply podcasts that I look forward to listening to, rather than ones that feel like an obligation. 1. “Mantra, Kirtan and Stotra: Sanskrit Chants” – This short kirtan podcast comes from an ashram in Germany. The creators describe it as “sometimes enthusiastic, sometimes in a more meditative mood; sometimes classical, sometimes more modern,” and it’s perfect for when you’re short on time but need to refocus. Each podcast lasts roughly five minutes and features a different chant. There are around 200 podcasts to choose from, and new episodes are released every few days. The podcast is available for download from iTunes and other podcatchers. Read more about the ashram at http://my.yoga-vidya.org/songs 2. “The Meditation Podcast” – This podcast offers 12 guided meditations of roughly 20 minutes each on a variety of topics. Episodes include “Calming the Body,” “Positive Thoughts,” “Falling Asleep,” “Addiction” and “Transformational Breathing.” According to the podcast’s website, it “is unique because we use tones in the audio that actually affect the brain waves, inducing a deep state of relaxation, and a brain pattern similar to REM sleep. This has the potential to bring about profound healing.” The podcasts largely focus on deep breathing and visualization, and they’re right about those binaural tones — they really do create a deep relaxation. This

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wonderful podcast is available from iTunes or at themeditationpodcast.com. 3. “New World Kirtan” – For a longer kirtan meditation, New World Kirtan offers weekly hour-long podcasts of kirtan music. They have a couple minutes of introduction, and the rest is music. The podcast’s creator “loved the feeling of open-heartedness and joy created by singing the Sanskrit and Sikh chants” at satsang sessions she used to attend, and created this podcast to recreate that feeling. Subscribe in iTunes, or learn more at newworldkirtan.com. 4. “Learn to Meditate” – This podcast from the Meditation Society of Australia covers topics similar to that of “The Meditation Podcast,” but presents them in a different way. The first half of each 15- to 25minute podcast is a lecture on a meditation topic, and the second half is a guided meditation on the topic — at times asking listeners to ponder questions or concepts, at times through the repetition of mantras or affirmations — with soothing background music. These podcasts are presented in a firmer, less trance-like voice than many guided meditation podcasts, and leave shorter periods of silence for contemplation than many others do. The lectures are presented in an engaging way, and are at times hilarious, such as in the episode on not being a victim, in which we are told that at some point babies learn that they are “obliged to poo responsibly.” The podcasts asks us, “Aren’t we all just pooing in our own nappies now and looking for others to blame? Aren’t we all then walking around with our pooey nappy and saying to everyone, ‘Look how pooey it is,’ and asking the world to see how we are victims of our own nappy?” This podcast is available on iTunes or at meditation.org.au. 5. “Podbreath” – The Podbreath podcast could almost be called the antithesis of a podcast: It is a podcast of silence. For those who prefer to meditate in silence, this podcast is a handy way to measure time spent meditating without having to rely on a timer. Podbreath enables you to assemble a meditation “kit” comprised of three components: a short opening podcast ending in an opening chime, a five-minute period of silence and a closing chime. This allows users to set up a playlist that includes as many fiveminute periods of silence in a row as they wish before the closing chime. There are only two opening podcasts available, and they have a Christian bent, so some users may prefer to use the closing chime in place of an opening podcast. This podcast kit is available for download at podbreath.blogharbor.com/blog/. As the holidays approach, stress and distractions are increasing. It becomes harder than ever to find time to sit still and meditate, and it can be hard to focus when you do make the time. But sticking with a meditation practice may be one of the best things you can do to stay focused, calm and content. I hope these podcasts help you, and if you’ve found others that you particularly like, please feel free to leave a comment below. About the author: Leila Kalmbach is an Austin-based freelance writer and editor who is currently spending the year in Australia. Leila grew up in Austin and graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon. In her free time, she enjoys reading, writing, hiking and spending time around the water. Contact her by e-mailing eye.for.ink@gmail.com or visit www.eyeforink.com for more information.