Meditative Story

Meditative Story is a podcast that combines first-person stories with meditation prompts and original music, to create a mindfulness experience in audio.[1][2][3] Variety describes Meditative Story as “part first-person narrative podcast and part guided meditation.” [4] The podcast is hosted by Rohan Gunatillake and has featured stories from Krista Tippett (host of the radio show On Being), NPR Host Peter Sagal, travel writer Pico Iyer, restaurateur Danny Meyer, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman, author A.J. Jacobs, Beautycon Media's Moj Mahdara, actor Josh Radnor, actor Catherine Reitman, NASA astronomer Michelle Thaller and MOMA curator Paola Antonelli, among others.[5]

Meditative Story
Presentation
Hosted byRohan Gunatillake
GenreMeditation / Society & Culture
Created byWaitWhat + Thrive Global
LanguageEnglish
UpdatesWeekly
Length30 minutes
Production
No. of episodes45
Publication
Original releaseJuly 2019 – present
Websitehttp://podcast.meditativestory.com/

Meditative Story is created by WaitWhat, the media company led by former TED executives Deron Triff and June Cohen, and Thrive Global, a behavior change company led by Arianna Huffington.[2]

History

The idea for Meditative Story originated with the show's executive producer Deron Triff, who told Forbes “[We're] big believers in storytelling as a vehicle to transform people’s lives... We wanted to blend the storytelling experience with tools and strategies for mindfulness and wellness. Our first call went to Arianna and her team, and we embarked on this venture together." Huffington described the series as “a response to a deep cultural need in our hyper sped up world to have a moment to recharge."[2]

The first episode of Meditative Story aired on July 29, 2019. Its first season ran through January 2020 and consisted of 26 weekly episodes,.[5] Its second season ran from March 2020 to October 2020.

Format

Each episode of Meditative Story is narrated by a different well-known cultural figure, telling a personal story. Many of the stories center on a moment in time when everything changed for the storyteller; others reflect on a broad theme, like friendship, discovery or loss. The stories are set to original music, and punctuated by meditation prompts from the host Rohan Gunatillake, who also ends each episode with a guided meditation.[6]

Episodes
Meditative Story Podcast — Episode List
Ep. # Storyteller Title Description Date
1 Lucy Kalanithi My funny, feisty, thoughtful, brave girl July 29, 2019
2 Pico Iyer A secret home that had been waiting for me forever August 1, 2019
3 Arianna Huffington Life and love and the moment August 5, 2019
4 Larry Jackson To visualize — and then make it so August 12, 2019
5 Michelle Thaller Our tiny meaningful lives in the vast universe August 19, 2019
6 Dan Harris Building a bond with my son August 26, 2019
7 Journalist Thomas Page McBee Fighting my fears — and winning in spite of losing September 2, 2019
8 On Being host Krista Tippett I let go of my plan — and found myself September 9, 2019
9 John Mooore The perfect photograph I never took September 16, 2019
10 Danny Meyer How to find, and feed, your passion September 23, 2019
11 Jane McGonigal Finding my own reflection September 30, 2019
12 Peter Sagal Hitting the open road to find my way home October 7, 2019
13 Josh Radnor Finding permission to pursue my own dreams October 14, 2019
14 Zenju Earthlyn Manuel Navigating life in my own skin October 21, 2019
15 Hannah Brencher One envelope at a time October 28, 2019
16 Stephen Kuusisto Allowing sound to reveal life's wonder November 4, 2019
17 Catherine Reitman Surrendering my old identity — and finding myself November 13, 2019
18 Keith Yamashita Starting the story of my life again November 18, 2019
19 Moj Mahdara Standing in my own truth November 25, 2019
20 Siri Hustvedt Learning to see what is in front of me December 2, 2019
21 Susan David Creating space to stand in truth December 9, 2019
22 A.J. Jacobs Acting as if you are bold December 16, 2019
23 Sinéad Burke Finding a way in January 6, 2020
24 Reid Hoffman Through friendship, a better version of myself January 13, 2020
25 DeRay McKesson Making humanity appear, magically January 20, 2020
26 Paola Antonelli Riding waves January 27, 2020
27 Jay Shetty The art of class March 2, 2020
28 Lindsey Stirling Stories my father told me March 10, 2020
29 Forrest Galante Adapting to life's unexpected nature March 17, 2020
30 Michelle Thaller Our tiny meaningful lives in the vast universe (re-release) March 31, 2020
31 Shea Hembrey Trust the world to show its goodness April 4, 2020
32 Carl Safina Loving our living world April 14, 2020
33 Jule Hall Changing the soundtrack of our lives April 22, 2020
34 Thomas Chatterton Williams When words fail April 28, 2020
35 Lehua Kamalu Tracking the path of the sun May 13, 2020
36 Andrew Bird Listening to the space around you May 20, 2020
37 Elizabeth Lesser Giving birth to a wiser self May 27, 2020
38 Rohan Gunatillake A meditation to welcome change June 3, 2020
39 Gretchen Rubin There's no one way June 9, 2020
40 Judith Grisel A more spacious response to life June 17, 2020
41 Pastor Otis Moss America's jam session June 23, 2020
42 Angela Ahrendts Creating my own sanctuary July 7, 2020
43 Donald Miralle Where the water takes me July 15, 2020
44 Shawn Colvin What my father gave me July 22, 2020
45 Wajahat Ali Have faith, but tie your camel first July 29, 2020

Reception & Awards

Meditative Story has received strong praise from Variety,[4] Forbes,[2] Wired,[6] The Today Show,[3] CBC Radio[7] and others. Forbes describes it as "a completely new kind of listening experience that blends intimate first-person stories with mindfulness prompts, enveloped in beautiful music composition.”[2] Meditative Story has made 38 appearances on the US Podcasts Chart, and was ranked #7 in August 2019.[8] It was named one of the Top Podcasts of 2019 by Canada's CBC Radio[7]

References
  1. Robinson Ph.D., Bryan E. (2020-05-13). "Meditative Story: A New Type of Mindfulness Meditation". Psychology Today.
  2. Bryan, Robinson (August 1, 2019). "'Meditative Story': Arianna Huffington And Deron Triff's New Approach To Mindfulness". Forbes. Retrieved Feb 4, 2020.
  3. "'Meditative Story': New podcast helps you stay mindful". The Today Show. August 14, 2019. Retrieved Feb 4, 2020.
  4. Spangler, Todd (July 31, 2019). "Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global Teams With Former TED Execs for Mindfulness Podcast Series". Variety. Retrieved Feb 4, 2020.
  5. "Meditative Story on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Feb 4, 2020. Retrieved Feb 4, 2020.
  6. Myerson, Collier (Aug 16, 2019). "Anxiously Seeking the Perfect Anti-Anxiety App". Wired Magazine. Retrieved Feb 4, 2020.
  7. CBC Staff (December 20, 2019). "Best of 2019: Podcasts we loved this year". CBC Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corp). Retrieved Feb 9, 2020.
  8. "iTunesCharts.net: 'Meditative Story' by WaitWhat + Thrive Global (International iTunes Chart Performance)". www.itunescharts.net. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
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