Hey friends -
We’re still landing in our new out-of-the-way British Columbia home, with its charmingly shambolic work and school hours and lawn deer and ponytailed RCMP guy hiding in the woods with his radar gun. Did you know all these gigantic cedar and fir trees release “pinenes” – a distinctive pine scent thought to have an anti-inflammatory and even antidepressant effect on the human nervous system?
Being in these woods is like breathing in Zoloft. I’ll start my day thinking about how I have to get organized right now, and then I’ll walk my son to school – past 400-year-old Western red cedars – and by the end I’m all ‘who needs structure? I’m just going to sit here and meditate.’
Apropos of that, for this week's meditation, I thought I’d share a shortened guided practice from my August “Being Human Takes Practice” retreat at Omega. It’s about the contrast between doing very little and doing nothing. Intellectually, not a very compelling subject, but experientially… well, you tell me. The invitation, for this short time, is to put down your labour, and let life do the (non) work of moving you forward.
These recordings have a slightly different feel than either my studio meditations or meditations I dictate on the fly. We’re all three days into the retreat at this point, and both myself and many of the meditators in the room are feeling quite open and surrendered. Some of that vibe might come through. For paid subscribers, I’m including the long, full version of the guided meditation, with a bonus story about surrender and trust at the end.
Please let me know in the comments how this one lands for you!
Love,
Jeff
A few quick notes—
The next Do Nothing Project happens tonight – Sunday, September 14 – at 8pm EDT, on Youtube. Link here. Soon it will move to Substack Live, so be ready for that!
New to Home Base? We have over 50 guided meditations in our library. Check out the most popular ones here.
Meditation Party – New York
October 24-26, 2025
Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY
Join us for a three-day, do-nothing party with meditation pals
, , Jeff, and special musical guest Ofosu Jones-Quartey. We’ll do lots of meditating, but this is definitely not a silent retreat. We’ll also be connecting with each other, moving our bodies, (maybe napping), and discovering the power of applying our practice to everything in life.
