In this calming and insightful episode of Zen Commuter, I welcomes breathwork and meditation guide Trea Drake for a heart-centered conversation on the power of the breath. Together, we explore how mindful breathing serves as a gateway to inner peace, presence, and healing.

Whether you're a seasoned meditator or just beginning, this conversation offers gentle wisdom and inspiration to help you deepen your practice and reconnect with the stillness within.

What You'll Discover in This Episode:

• How Trea Drake found breathwork and meditation and their roles in his personal healing

• The connection between breath and emotional resilience

• How to use breath as a tool for calming anxiety and returning to the present moment

Resources & Mentions:

• Connect with Trea Drake: https://www.nervousapes.com/

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In this episode of Zen Commuter, I sit down with Dr. Mary Sanders, a skilled energy healer who specializes in helping people recover from burnout and chronic stress. With a unique blend of chiropractic care, energy medicine, and intuitive insight, Dr. Sanders supports individuals in reconnecting with their inner vitality and balance. If you’ve been feeling drained, overwhelmed, or out of sync, this conversation offers powerful insights into how energy healing can be a pathway back to calm, clarity, and well-being.

Connect with Mary

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Jonah Primo has spent the last 8 years studying mindfulness, meditation and philosophy in order to build practical frameworks that people can apply to everyday life and situations. He hosted the flagship podcast for meditation app "Waking Up", produces Australia's #1 philosophy podcast "Principle of Charity", and has interviewed and worked with neuroscientists including Sam Harris and Anil Seth, Oscar winners including Jane Campion and Emile Sherman, and many more teachers, academics and celebrities in order to truly understand the secret sauce of happiness and fulfilment. He shares these secrets on his own podcast, "The Overexamined Life".

Connect with Jonah and listen to The Overexamined Life

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Today on Zen Commuter, I’m joined by the insightful and inspiring Jodi Rose Gonzales—artist, author, and art therapist. Jodi blends creativity and mindfulness to help others navigate life’s challenges with clarity and grace. Her unique approach to healing through expressive art and spiritual reflection offers a powerful path to inner peace. Get ready for a conversation that’s equal parts calming and deeply thought-provoking.

✅ Defining what creativity is, on one level, and how it can help us better understand who we are
✅ The intersection of mindfulness and meditation
✅ How to foster introspection through creativity.

Jodi Rose Gonzales is a visual artist, art therapist, author, and mindfulness coach who inspires her students through teachings intended to spread more hope and healing around the world. She is recognized as a top artist by Marquis Who’s Who in America, and a Global Impact Artist by the International Association of Top Professionals. Jodi has authored two Amazon #1 New Releases including the Doodle’s Code and Drawn to Yoga, she is featured in an international bestseller called 50 Fearless Leaders, and she’s the host of The iROSE Podcast. She helps busy creative people who are intentional about personal growth using art-based mindfulness, a unique method that helps people develop insight and self-awareness—AND manage anxiety and stress—in one simple practice.

Begin your free creative journey with Jodi Rose

https://www.jodirosestudio.com/free-art-prompts

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Welcome to Zen Commuter! Today, I’m joined by Leslie Draffin for a fascinating conversation about the intersection of plant medicine, spirituality, and women’s wellness. We’ll explore how microdosing mushrooms can support mental clarity, emotional balance, and even spiritual awakening. Leslie also shares insights on how understanding the menstrual cycle can be a powerful tool for self-awareness and personal growth. Whether you're curious about the benefits of microdosing or looking to deepen your connection with your body and mind, this episode offers valuable wisdom you won’t want to miss.

✅ Utilizing plant medicine to help women ease menstrual symptoms and connect to their power
✅ Overview of how microdosing works
✅ How meditation helps all people connect with what is true and resonant for them

Leslie Draffin is a women's somatic coach, psychedelic microdosing guide, breath & meditation teacher & menstrual cycle educator. She helps midlife women embrace their bodies, sex, and psychedelics so they can overcome the wound of unworthiness, get free from mental health challenges and build a life they're excited about. Leslie believes somatic practices like breathwork along with sacred Earth medicine have the power to bring us home to ourselves, awaken our authenticity and heal the trauma locked within our subconscious.

📌 Follow Leslie Drafffin:

• Activate your Inner Magic: free microdosing guide: https://lesliedraffin.myflodesk.com/microguide

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesliedraffin/

• Podcast - The Light Within: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-light-within/id1554915881

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Welcome to Zen Commuter and day five of Tricycle Week! Today, we’re exploring a challenge many meditators face—the uneasy relationship with the timer. Whether it’s impatience, restlessness, or the feeling that the minutes are stretching endlessly, the ticking clock can sometimes feel like an obstacle rather than a guide. But what if we could change our perspective and learn to sit with that discomfort? In this episode, we’ll discuss how to become more comfortable with the timer in meditation and what it reveals about our minds. Plus, we’ll feature a reading of I Think the Clock Is Broken by Christopher Rivas, offering insights into time, presence, and the art of letting go. Let’s learn to embrace the practice—one moment at a time.

• Persistent Time Anxiety During Meditation: Despite years of practice, Rivas often experiences a nagging suspicion that his meditation timer has malfunctioned, leading to an urge to check the clock. This recurring doubt underscores a common struggle with time perception during meditation. ​

• The Illusion of Control and Fear of Letting Go: Rivas identifies this anxiety as stemming from a deeper desire for control and a fear of uncertainty. He suggests that the discomfort with an indefinite meditation period reflects a broader discomfort with unpredictability in life.

• Societal Conditioning Linking Time to Productivity: He critiques societal norms that equate time with productivity, observing that this mindset can make stillness feel counterproductive. Rivas proposes that embracing meditation without strict time constraints can serve as an act of rebellion against this pervasive cultural narrative. ​

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Welcome to Zen Commuter and day four of Tricycle Week! Today, we’re diving into a topic that challenges the way we see productivity and rest—laziness. Is laziness a real obstacle, or is it simply a rejection of society’s constant push to always be moving? We’ll explore the three aspects of laziness and question whether what we call “being lazy” is actually an intentional choice to be rather than do. Plus, we’ll feature a reading from Working on Laziness by Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, offering a deeper perspective on how mindfulness helps us navigate our relationship with effort and ease. Let’s reframe laziness and uncover what it really means to live with purpose.

✅ Definitions of the three types of laziness
✅ The understanding that laziness might be a response to societal expectations
✅ How to evaluate if laziness is real or imagined in your body.

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

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Welcome to Zen Commuter and day three of Tricycle Week! Today, we’re tackling a challenge that tests even the most mindful among us—dealing with toxic people. Whether it’s a difficult coworker, a critical family member, or someone who constantly drains your energy, these interactions can leave us feeling powerless and frustrated. But here’s the truth: our inner peace doesn’t have to be at their mercy. In this episode, we’ll explore how mindfulness helps us safeguard our power, and respond with compassion instead of reaction. Let’s learn how to keep our calm—even in the presence of chaos.

✅ Origins and Expansion of Mindfulness Practices: The article traces the development of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) from its inception by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 to its widespread application in adult mental health.
✅ Introduction of Mindfulness in Educational Settings: It discusses the rationale behind implementing mindfulness programs in schools, aiming to address rising mental health issues among adolescents by teaching them mindfulness techniques.
✅ Evaluation of the MYRIAD Study's Findings: The article analyzes the outcomes of the MYRIAD trial, the largest study on adolescent mindfulness programs, which revealed unexpected results, including potential ineffectiveness and possible adverse effects for some students. ​

Tricycle: The Buddhist Review

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Thanks again for listening to the show! If it has helped you in any way, please share it using the social media buttons you see on the page.

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