Vital Healing

There are moments when something in us gets triggered.A comment, a tone, a look, and we can feel it in the body. The mind starts to spin a story, and before we realize it, we’re no longer fully present.This meditation is part of The Walking Way, a series of simple walking practices for learning how to stay with what you feel and not pass it on unconsciously.Using a steady rhythm of breath and steps, this practice invites you to notice what’s happening in your body and remain present while something in you is activated.You can walk with this, or simply listen while sitting or resting.Explore The Walking Way and more at Vital Healing:https://vitalhealing.substack.com/s/walking-meditationsMore Videos:https://www.youtube.com/@vital_healing_____________Vital HealingFinding our way back to ourselves and back to each other.

Have you ever walked away from a conversation and thought, what just happened inside me?Not something the other person did. Something that activated inside you.In this episode, Keith explores the moment we leave ourselves. The point where something gets triggered, the mind begins to build a story, and we start reacting to what we think is happening instead of what actually is.This piece is part of an ongoing series about what happens when we get triggered, how we carry that forward, and how we can begin to stay with ourselves instead of reacting.This episode also includes a simple practice you can use to begin working with this in your own life.Walking Meditation (companion practice): Walking with What’s Triggered - https://youtu.be/K6uhz7yNVvY Full Walking Way Series: https://vitalhealing.substack.com/s/walking-meditationsFind More at: Substack https://www.vitalhealing.orgYoutubehttps://www.youtube.com/@vital_healingIf this resonates, you’re welcome to explore more articles, meditations at Vital Healing.

In this episode, Keith reflects on how small moments of activation can carry forward into what comes next, often without us realizing it.This piece explores what happens when we don’t give those moments space, and how a simple pause can begin to change what follows.PracticeA walking meditation titled Stay With What You Feel was created to go along with this piece.It offers a simple way to work with what you’re carrying using breath and movement.Listen here:https://youtu.be/i1MXK2Uw1HQWatchIf you’d prefer to watch and listen, there is also a video version of this reading available.Watch here:https://youtu.be/01LREmYMGl8MoreMore reflections and practices:https://vitalhealing.org

A simple walking meditation to help you stay with what you feel without immediately reacting to it.If something from your day is still sitting with you, this practice gives you space to slow down, breathe, and be with it.You can walk, sit, or rest while listening.WatchIf you’d like to follow along visually, a video version with natural walking scenes is available here:Watch on YouTube:https://youtu.be/i1MXK2Uw1HQReadThis meditation was created alongside a reflection titled If We Don’t Move What We Carry, We Pass It On.Read the article:https://bit.ly/4tl89kaMoreMore reflections and practices:https://vitalhealing.org

There was a time I thought I was going to figure it all out.Now I’m realizing what I was really looking for was presence.This reflection came out of a Good Friday meditation from Richard Rohr that was shared with me by a friend, and one line in particular stayed with me:Jesus refused to pass his pain on to others.This episode explores what it might mean to interrupt that cycle, to stay present with what we feel, and to stop passing the wound.Links🔗 Richard Rohr Good Friday Meditation:https://cac.org/daily-meditations/jesus-forgives/🔗 Substack (this reflection):https://bit.ly/4dZkVzN🔗 YouTube (video version + more from the farm):https://www.youtube.com/@vital_healing/shorts🔗 Vital Healing:https://www.vitalhealing.org/

In this episode, I share a reflection from my breathwork journey on what it means to come home to the body.This piece explores how we begin to build safety within ourselves, soften, and learn to stay present with what we’re feeling. It’s not about fixing anything, but about being with ourselves in a more honest and supportive way.If you’ve been feeling disconnected, overwhelmed, or like you’ve been pushing through life, this is an invitation to slow down and return.You can read the full reflection here:https://www.vitalhealing.org/If you’d like a glimpse into the day-to-day, I’ve been sharing short videos along the way:https://www.youtube.com/@vital_healing/shorts

In this episode of the Vital Healing podcast, Keith reads this week’s Substack reflection exploring how breathwork became part of his own healing journey.The episode also introduces World Breathing Day, a global gathering where people from around the world come together to breathe in community.Keith will be assisting professional breathworker Kate Becker and her team at the New Orleans gathering.If you’d like to participate, you can join the global gathering online or attend the New Orleans event.World Breathing Day – Global Gathering (Online)https://www.tickettailor.com/events/worldbreathingday/2075342New Orleans Gathering with Kate Beckerhttps://www.theradiantshadow.com/worldbreathingday2026Vital HealingExplore more writing and reflections:https://vitalhealing.orgCheck out our videos:https://www.youtube.com/@vital_healing

This episode is a reading of this week’s Substack reflection, Arriving Where We Already Are.It explores the difference between changing our surroundings and actually settling into the present moment. Many of these writings began while walking, and recorded walks will begin appearing soon.Read the essay:https://bit.ly/3ZHRt9iWatch companion videos:https://youtu.be/2XyaSu8YWDU

This week’s reflection explores a kind of exhaustion that doesn’t resolve with sleep. Many of us pause activity without ever leaving readiness, which leaves the body unable to fully recover. This conversation looks at what it means to truly disconnect and why real rest begins when nothing is required of us for a moment.Read the full essay:https://bit.ly/4rI0RFLWatch the video version:https://youtu.be/wRz2zHJDLDALearn more about Vital Healing and upcoming breathwork sessions:https://www.vitalhealing.org/—Vital HealingA space for slowing down, reconnecting with the body, and returning to ourselves and each other.

In this episode, Keith Rowe shares the spoken version of his weekly Substack essay, The Cost of Constant Activation. This reflection explores how chronic nervous system activation shows up not only as outrage or urgency, but also as quiet vigilance, distraction, and numbness.Rather than diagnosing or prescribing, this piece invites listeners to notice what constant activation does to our capacity for presence, empathy, and care, and why so much healing work begins in the body rather than in ideology or opinion.Links:Read the Substack essay: https://bit.ly/4qUv2K0Explore Vital Healing and related offerings: https://www.vitalhealing.org/Join the monthly online breathwork gathering: https://bit.ly/4qZUiPeAbout Vital Healing:Vital Healing offers breathwork, embodied practices, and reflective writing focused on restoring capacity, presence, and connection in a world that often keeps us braced and reactive.

In this episode, Keith reflects on oak trees, leaf litter, and what it means to release beauty into the world. Inspired by The Nature of Oaks by Douglas Tallamy, this reflection explores how life is sustained through generosity, patience, and trust, both in nature and in our own creative lives.Links and ResourcesRead the accompanying essay on Substack:  https://bit.ly/4tlZLkXYoutube Video Version:  https://youtu.be/SE2X32X2zjMExplore more reflections and videos: https://www.vitalhealing.org/

SHOW NOTESListening to Winter In this episode, I share a spoken reflection on winter, embodiment, and the quiet clarity that comes through work and presence. This piece grows out of recent hands-on restoration work at Cambridge Cemetery and reflects a seasonal shift toward slowing down, listening, and letting the body lead.The spoken reflection is paired with video, including time-lapse footage from the cemetery work. If you are listening through the podcast and would like to experience the visual version, you can find links below.Watch the spoken-word video:YouTube: https://youtu.be/qzUuhvGSj-4Read the written essay on Substack:Substack: https://bit.ly/4bLE6MiWatch the full, un-narrated time-lapse of the cemetery work:YouTube: https://youtu.be/6AWn71k2KwkThis reflection is part of my ongoing work with Vital Healing, where I explores embodiment, presence, and the slow return to what is real through breath, movement, and time on the land.Thank you for being with us on this Vital Healing journey, as we find our way back to ourselves and back to each other.

This week’s reflection comes out of some recent work along Piney Creek, where we put up two wood duck boxes and filmed parts of the process as it unfolded. The piece follows the work as it happened, choosing placement, adjusting along the way, clearing space where needed, and tending to what the creek had carried in during high water.The spoken word is paired with a time-lapse video for those who want to see the work alongside the words.LinksRead the full Substack essay: https://bit.ly/3LtnAWMWatch the accompanying video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bIqLO4wrCG0Join our free monthly online breathwork session: https://bit.ly/4qZUiPeThank you for being part of the Vital Healing journey, as we find our way back to ourselves and back to each other.

Learning to Rewild with Barn OwlsMoving Away from Control and Back Toward BalanceDescription:This episode is a spoken reading of my latest Substack essay, Learning to Rewild with Barn Owls.The piece grew out of recent work building nesting boxes on the land. While researching bluebird and wood duck boxes, I came across plans for a barn owl box and began learning more about how barn owls live, hunt, and support balance in an ecosystem.Building the owl box from reclaimed wood became part of a larger reflection on rewilding, stepping away from constant control, and allowing the land and the more-than-human world to participate more fully.A quiet time-lapse of the build is available in the companion video.https://youtu.be/c4OpoCTxnjgLinks:📖 Read the essay on Substack:https://bit.ly/49vPt8J🎥 Watch video version:https://youtu.be/3Yw1F9_xxxMJoin the Monthly Breathe (live breathwork gathering):https://bit.ly/4qZUiPe

This episode is a Christmas Eve offering.It centers on A Christmas Carol, the film The Man Who Invented Christmas, and the story behind the story. More than that, it explores how change happens in a human life, not through force or correction, but through reconnection, memory, and love.This episode is meant to be listened to gently. Whether you’re walking, resting, or sitting quietly, you’re invited to let the words land at their own pace.Read the full essay on Substack:👉 https://bit.ly/3Y3VR1BVisit the website:👉 www.vitalhealing.orgMonthly Breathe:A live monthly breathwork gathering focused on grounding, presence, and nervous system regulation.👉 https://bit.ly/4qZUiPeThe Walking Pilgrim App:Soon to be released!  33 Day walking meditations app rooted in breath, embodiment, and simple presence.👉 https://www.walkingpilgrim.com/Thank you for listening, and for walking this path together.

This episode explores my journey through anxiety, years of depending on Xanax, and a fear of flying that kept me grounded for nearly two decades. It's about how the right practices can help us find our way out of patterns we thought we'd carry forever. Explore how Breathwork, walking meditation, and time in nature slowly built the foundation I needed.Playing Native American style flute and learning to make mistakes without shutting downHow anxiety shaped my body and my life before I understood what was happeningDiscovering breathwork in 2019 and what it opened upQigong, walking meditation, and rewilding my mind through time in natureStepping away from Xanax in late 2024 after thirty yearsWhat self-care can actually looks like when it includes both tenderness and couragePRACTICE: Begin with something small. A breath deep into your belly. A slow mindful walk. A warm bath that helps your body soften. These are simple things that don't ask you to perform, only to listen.WORK TOGETHER: If something here resonated and you're curious about working together, I offer exploratory calls. We look at where you are, what you're navigating, and whether breathwork or embodied practices might be the right support for your path. Schedule a call: https://bit.ly/48DM7jmLINKS & RESOURCES: 📖 Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4a7qudO 🌬️ Join monthly breathwork sessions: https://bit.ly/4qZUiPe 🌐 Learn more about Vital Healing:  https://www.vitalhealing.org/ 🚶 Walking Pilgrim App: https://www.walkingpilgrim.com/

Winter has a way of slowing everything down, and this episode follows the rhythm of that season. I read the full piece titled What Winter Is Teaching Me, a reflection on letting go, tending the land, and learning to trust the quiet work that happens beneath the surface.In this story we visit the oaks and beech trees that hold their leaves long into the cold months, and flow the still water shaped by the beavers along Frenchs Creek.I share more about the birds and wildlife that show up in this season, including some simple ways to support native species in your own area. We talk about bluebird boxes, wood duck boxes, and how habitat work on even a small scale can make a real difference.If you feel drawn to participate in this kind of care where you live, you will find helpful links and resources below.Wood Duck Box PlansEastern Bluebird Box PlansCornell Guide to Nest Boxes Connect and Go DeeperMonthly Breathe SessionVital Healing SubstackWalking Pilgrim App UpdatesThank you for listening and for being part of this work of tending our inner and outer landscape.

EPISODE 4: The Return from Babel - Finding our way out of the Machine.Paul Kingsnorth's "Against the Machine" opens a window into the modern impulse to measure, optimize, and control everything. This episode traces that pattern from the Tower of Babel to our lives today and offers a way back through breath and presence.IN THIS EPISODE:The Machine as more than technology: a restless engine of control that shapes our entire civilizationThe ancient pattern from Genesis to today: building towers, measuring worth, forgetting we're humanWhat the Machine cannot hold: breath, presence, love, and the truth of being humanHow confusion keeps us divided while missing the larger patternFinding our way back through the body, one breath at a timePRACTICE:Place one hand on your belly. Inhale slowly through your nose, letting your belly expand. Exhale twice as long as the inhale. Feel your shoulders drop, jaw soften. Try this three times and notice what shifts. Every word begins here, in this quiet exchange between body and world.LINKS & RESOURCES:Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4pwEkuEJoin monthly breathwork sessions: https://bit.ly/4qZUiPe Learn more about Vital Healing: https://www.vitalhealing.org/Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7ofzKHTnyUQWalking Pilgrim App: https://www.walkingpilgrim.com/CONNECT:If this episode resonated with you, I'd love to hear about it. [email protected]

When Convenience Stops Being EnoughBased on the essay available on SubstackThis episode explores a truth many of us carry quietly. We live with more convenience than any generation before us, yet something in us still hungers for depth, belonging, and a way of living that feels human.Through historical accounts of settlers who chose to remain within Native communities, the story looks at what happens when freedom and connection live side by side. Their experiences reveal something about our own longing to feel part of a world that nourishes rather than numbs.We follow this thread into the present and ask what it means to return to ourselves in a time marked by speed and distraction. The episode ends with a simple invitation to step outside, slow down, and reconnect with what feels real.Read the full essay:Substack When Convenience Stops Being EnoughJoin the Monthly Community Breathwork Session:Follow this link for details and to join the mailing list for our free online gatherings.Sign Up Here!

This episode is a spoken version of my essay Between Presence and Planning. It explores the moment in Marco Polo when the Empress and the Khan clash over fear, foresight, and the gift of staying rooted in the present.The reflection looks at the part of us that wants to breathe and the part of us that wants to prepare. It touches on the tension between resting in what is good right now and being steady enough to meet what comes. These two inner voices live inside every one of us. Somewhere between them is the art of living with clarity and peace.Thank you for listening.Read the full essay on Substackhttps://www.vitalhealing.org/p/between-presence-and-planning?r=5skhm9Join our monthly Breathwork session @https://bit.ly/4qZUiPe

This episode is a spoken version of my essay The Sound of Belonging. I recorded it after a week at the Flute Harvest retreat in Encino, California.The piece reflects on music, breath, community, and the quiet ways we find our way back to ourselves. It is a story about listening, being seen, and letting my voice come forward with honesty.Thank you for listening.Read the full essay on Substackhttps://www.vitalhealing.org/p/the-sound-of-belonging?r=5skhm9Flute Harvest with Clint Goss and Vera Shanovhttps://www.clintgoss.com/calendar.htmlAris Fluteshttps://www.etsy.com/shop/ArisFlutesJoin our monthly Breathwork session: https://bit.ly/4qZUiPe