PODCAST · health
Awaken Engage
by David Robert Jones
Fully present. Fully alive.
Episodes
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100 Feathers in My Cap (100)
100 feathers in my cap. You may remember that when I hit 90, I conjectured that the only reason I might go for 100 consecutive days of writing, podcasting, and photo-essaying was for a metaphorical feather in my cap. Well, make it 100 feathers in my cap. I made it. It ended up mattering to me.…
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Stepping on Worms (99)
Each morning, I carve out time for a walk in the Boise foothills between morning routines with our kids and work. Over the past couple of years, I have walked these trails almost every day. It’s a ritual. And one I look forward to and bask in while performing it. Walking the same trails every day...
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In Between Places (98)
In Between Places The thing about bridges is that they are in between places. On a bridge, you’re not where you were, you’re not where you’re going, you’re not where you’re going to stay. You’re just in between places. You can burn one. You can build one. You can avoid one. You can cross one. You...
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Three Drinks (97)
She drinks to remember that she is not the job she is doing. That she is not just the job she is doing. Near the bottom of each bottle, she finds possibilities and promise. She drinks a little more to remember that it’s okay. And a bit more to remember that it will be okay. That the way it looks...
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Power of Being (96)
For much of my life, I’ve been one of the shiny things in most social situations. Classrooms, trainings, workplace environments, parties, teams. In all of these settings, I gain early acceptance, credibility, and position. It’s not something I have tried to do. It just happens. There have been a...
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Finding Words (95)
There are evenings where finding words becomes a sort of adventure. Like when you get in your car and drive into the desert of the upper Great Basin until you can’t see a soul or a dwelling or a trace of civilization in any direction. You stop, get out, and start walking. Any direction will do.…
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Unoccupied Space (94)
I find comfort in routine and consistency even if I also love spontaneity and following the winds of intuition. As I finish my teaching assignments before the summer break, I’m finding myself wanting to fill up the blank spaces and places in my days that for the past 9 months have been filled…
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The Grace to Be (93)
Some days it’s I’ve got it all together. Other days it’s more trying to hold onto and pick up what’s falling apart. Some days feel easy and clear. Other days feel uphill and cloudy. And it’s not just days. Some parts of days are this. Other parts of days are that. Some parts of days are calm and...
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Closure (92)
I seem to have entered this world with a strong bent for nostalgia. I don’t ever remember not feeling wooed by longings for the past, even feeling nostalgic about the present because it was heading into the past. Perhaps my natural propensity for feeling all the feels so intensely is why I...
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Seduced by the Breath (91)
Today, in the very early morning hours, in the place between, I couldn’t find a way to worry. Every time I tried, I was just here, now, breathing. And I couldn’t figure out how not to be. In fact, I tried to go over my uber-full schedule for the day and the coming days, I tried to think about the...
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Ninety (90)
Here we are. Here I am. 90. 90 consecutive days of reflecting, writing, publishing, and podcasting. I began with a commitment of 30 days, then decided to go for 60, and then 90. I’ve never even written in my personal journal for 90 days in a row, let alone a published, public-facing composition…
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Beyond the Words (89)
I’ve committed to listening and reflecting and writing each day. Tonight, I find myself some where beyond the place where words can originate or return, some time before words begin. It is gentle and quiet in Here. And full. Full filled. Overflowing. There is gratitude here. Deep, deep and...
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Loving Well (88)
When I wake in the middle of the night and the veil is thin, my heart remembers what matters most and the rest of “it” becomes like vapor quickly and completely blowing away with the slightest breeze - even with no breeze. There is a sense of clarity that I imagine also comes when one faces their...
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Juicy Worms (87)
Juicy Worms the quickest way to return Home is to wait for the next craving and instead of chasing the worm on that hook don’t take the bait let the craving be the reminder to wait to watch to feel to listen to sense to know what lies beneath the juicy worm: barbs lines draggings jerkings…
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Refuge (86)
As a kid growing up on our farm, one of my favorite things to do was to find places of refuge from the wind and elements. Since it was windy almost all of the time where we lived, I had plenty of opportunities to enjoy this pastime. Our straw stacks next to the corrals were particularly…
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The Creative Life (85)
A good friend is visiting and during our time in the pitch black darkness and heat of the sweat lodge tonight, we found our way to the topic of creating for the sake of creating - perhaps the topic found us. Our friend has spent a lifetime following his heart and finding a way to make a living at...
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The Space to Be (84)
The Space to Be What is needed? to feel seen to feel heard to feel connected to feel a sense of Be-long-ing the rest follows Yes rest follows and The Rest follows the space to Be to feel seen to feel heard to feel connected to feel a sense of Be-long-ing some call it unconditional love and...
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Passing Through What Is Still (83)
Passing Through What Is Still That which comes goes That which arises falls away Passing through what is still Give it 30 seconds of undivided attention Let thoughts come and go And watch And feel And acknowledge it as it is And accept it as it is And watch and feel some more Let go of labels Let...
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Raising Us (82)
Raising Us they say we raise our children but i say we raise each other and that many times like today it feels to me like our children are raising us to higher levels greater good deeper love wiser action some backstory yesterday evening we were eating ice cream on the stoop and a text comes in...
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Clutter (81)
Clutter where I grew up skies are big the foreground is small the horizons are vast and the only times away from home that ever felt like this part of home were the many times looking west into the ocean while leaning against the end rails of Pacific piers and thanking God that there was nothing…
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Just Let Go (80)
Just Let Go pre-dawn stars grow dimmer darkness fades now deep blue fades into the soft glow coming coming coming peeks out first between the nook of Aldape Summit - little summit - between two other summits diminuitive yet chosen today to be the place where rising sun casts light into valley…
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Outside In (79)
Outside In from outside in and across the way light finds a place i hadn’t seen now seeing from inside out the same light casts shadows onto spaces and places that go unnoticed on a usual morning walk through this room only noticed this morning as the light drew my eyes into focus afforded only…
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Counting (78)
Counting your branches were bare just two days ago i suppose there were signs of life and i knew it was about that time but i couldn’t see just how close you were to shading my walk and hiding places of chirping and squirreling around perhaps it’s strange that i took the time to count the number…
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Sticking With It (77)
Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. I’m excited about this one. But, first, some backstory. My recovery from the brain injuries has been, among other things, a journey of restoring a healthy relationship with my nervous system which for many years was highly dysregulated and on constant alert for danger. The...
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Showing Up (76)
There were quite a few years of my life after the concussions that I didn’t show up much for life. At least, I didn’t show up for the parts of life that I had always shown up for. It was perhaps the hardest part of the “old” life to let go of. In many ways, it felt like I was disappearing. Once I...
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At Ease (75)
Today has been a day of working with competing deadlines and juggling a number of responsibilities that have implications for both today and the future. I noticed myself trying to look ahead into the future to try to identify a time that I can stop juggling. Or, at least feel like I can stop...
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Old Fences (74)
I grew up on a farm. My experience tells me that when you grow up on a farm, you never really leave the farm and the farm never really leaves you. In many ways, I lived the life every kid would want to live. I got to ride motorcycles at a really early age, I drove to driver’s ed, I learned how to...
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The Extravagant Limitations of Our Perception (73)
As a general rule, humans put their trust in two areas in which they are all utter failures. The first: We think we know what we should actually worry about. The second: We think that the way we see things is actually the way that things are. Let’s take the first case in point. Think about all of...
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The Breath Again (72)
I awoke this morning not being able to breathe at all through either nostril and with what I know to be a sinus headache. In the past, when I have felt like I did this morning, I ended up with a sinus infection but it has been many years since I have had one. I decided to do a video recording of...
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Breathe. Yeah. I Know. (71)
The breath has received so much attention in recent years that it is almost becoming white noise. “Yeah. Yeah. I know. I just need to take a deep breath. Great. I got it.” But knowing about breathing and the benefits of breathing doesn’t do anybody any real good unless they actually become...
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Practicing the Practice (70)
I intentionally slept in this morning because of a late night last night and a very full week. Because I slept in, I had to go straight from sleep to being “on” for getting Sophia up and ready for school and the whole routine that requires me to be awake and alert. I’m usually up for a couple of...
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One Tree’s Leaves (69)
This week is as full of a week as I have had since resuming vocational life. Over these years of recovery, we have been careful to add things to my plate one by one so that we can avoid symptomatic triggers and lengthy regressions. This has been a long and intentional process and there is still...
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Be Gentle With Me (68)
This morning, as I began to make my way from dreamland to the fully waking state, I found myself mentally getting ready for the morning routine: wake up, yoga nidra, breathwork, body sensing, sitting meditation, ice bath, stretches, exercise, yoga, spend time with kids, take kids to school, walk...
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The World I Live In (67)
I am unashamedly stealing a title from a Mary Oliver poem of the same name. I find her poetry to be suited just perfectly for anyone healing from anything and for anyone wanting to live more abundantly and authentically. Whenever I come across her poetry, I so often feel known in the un-said…
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I See My Self (66)
I awoke this morning wondering if this might the day I have writer’s block. But I can’t find it now. Perhaps because I told Writer’s Block, “If you show up when I sit down to write, I will just welcome you and write about you and share what it is like to spend some time with you. I’m actually…
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Stronger and Closer (65)
I find myself in a most contented state of being this evening after a day of heart-full talks and meetings with family and friends. At ease and full of stillness after a day of working through a few hard times with loved ones and experiencing the closeness that comes from staying accessible and...
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A Slow Walk in the Rain (64)
Near the end of class today at the university, I noticed that it was raining, so we all got up from our seats, made our way outside, and slowly walked in the rain for a few minutes with the intention of just being with the rain. Removing labels. Letting go of stories. Feeling sensation. Being…
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The Power of Perhaps (63)
It is December 2015 and I am sitting in a small room at the St. Luke’s Concussion Clinic. I sit in a reclining chair across the room from a woman in her 60s who is speaking to me, saying, “Perhaps there is a place in your body where the ringing is louder and hotter than other places. As you look...
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Things Are Often Not What They Seem (62)
Things are often not what they seem. It may also be true that things are not often what they seem. I am learning this slowly, but I am learning. As I was thinking about the people in my life who seem to consider these truths the most in their daily lives, the very first person I thought of was my...
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Let’s Make it Ninety (61)
60 has come and gone. If you remember, the 30-day writing challenge morphed into a a 60-day writing challenge and I have no intention of stopping anytime soon so, let’s make it ninety. I am compelled by a force greater than I, so I’m gonna just let go and see where it takes us. Yes. Us.…
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Playing Together (60)
This past Saturday, the day before Easter, I was invited to share the sounds of the handpan as the opening and closing of a contemplative gathering. I try to under-prepare for these kinds of settings so that I can be attentive to the mood and allow my heart to lead my hands. While talking to a…
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Full Circle (59)
Several months ago, I received an email asking if I would consider being the presenter at a local brain injury support group. I called the number listed on the email to chat over the details and, while on the phone, realized that I was speaking to one of the people who helped manage my care when…
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What Happened to This Day? (58)
Today is one of those days that just feels like it got away from me a little bit. Ever have one of those? Nothing too serious. But noticeable. I had a list of things to do. But I never looked at the list. Instead, I sort of coasted through this day, allowing whatever what was in front of me be…
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Like One Crabapple Petal (57)
Several nights ago, a friend joined me in the sweat lodge. It was his first time and the rocks were especially hot. At about the midway point, I got out of the sweat to soak in the ice bath. I’ve mentioned before that there is a euphoria I feel at about the 3 minute mark of soaking in the ice…
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Rehearsing Scenes (56)
My heart is tender and raw right now. After a situation yesterday in which, through the perspective of my personal lens, a loved one was misunderstood, left out, unseen, unvalued, rejected, and treated unfairly, I found myself being washed over with waves of emotion. It seems much easier to go...
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Reminders (55)
There is so much to write. And, I am spent. So many lessons today. Some very hard pills to swallow. Some even harder to watch others have to swallow. Yet, what I notice most as I sit here writing is that I am overflowing with gratitude. The calling right now is to be still. And to be thankful. To...
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The Way of Things (54)
Almost daily, I stand in awe of the way of things, the unwritten laws that govern nature and the universe. Some we see, some we feel, and some we are aware of only by the senses beyond our senses - we just know. My friend Sylvain sent a book to me many months ago. I didn’t read it. In fact, I...
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When I Lose My Way (53)
It is difficult to overstate the need for us to have phrases, mantras, verses, lines, intentions, scriptures, words, or whatever else we want to call the signposts that point us home, remind us of home, or, at least show us the next step when we have lost our way. As a middle school student, I…
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Expert (52)
I was recently referred to as a mindfulness meditation “expert” in some promotional literature for a collaborative project that I am co-leading this summer. My first reaction was, “Nope. No, I’m not.” It was a visceral reaction that felt like a heavy stone in my gut. I don’t want to be labeled as...
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Comings and Goings (51)
The summer trip we’ve been planning for years. The cancelled flights that send us home. The vibrancy of good health. The flu that has us bedridden. The feeling of finding out we got the promotion. The foreclosure on our house and ensuing bankruptcy. The moment of seeing our newborn for the first...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Awaken Engage have?
Awaken Engage currently has 135 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Awaken Engage about?
Fully present. Fully alive.
How often does Awaken Engage release new episodes?
Awaken Engage publishes regularly with 135 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Awaken Engage?
You can listen to Awaken Engage on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Awaken Engage?
Awaken Engage is created and hosted by David Robert Jones.
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