The Modern Taoist

Weekend Check-In: Changes Are Coming

You Knew This Was Coming Change arrived this week for someone listening to this. It always does. And the response, almost universally, is some form of: I never saw that

You Are Not Required To Be Pure

You Are Not Required to Be Pure Someone looked across a table recently and said: I thought you were supposed to be some kind of guru or something. That sentence is the

Tao Te Now - Chapter 2

The Tao Te Now — Chapter 2 Chapter 2 follows immediately from where Chapter 1 left off, and it wastes no time. The moment you decide what is beautiful, something else b

Weekend Check-In - Be Kind To Yourself

Find Some Time for Yourself This Weekend When did you last do something purely for yourself? Not to recover so you can work better. Not to be a better partner or parent

Speak Your Truth

Speaking Your Truth There is the thing you actually think. And there is the thing you say instead. Not because you are dishonest. But because somewhere along the way, m

Tao Te Now - Chapter One

The Tao Te Now — Chapter 1 This is a new series. Every week, alongside the main Tuesday episode and the weekend check-in, we are going to sit with one chapter of the Tao

Weekend Check-In - When You're The Only One

What do you do when the people closest to you are not doing any of this? When your partner escalates every disagreement. When your family runs on guilt and obligation. Wh

When Life Feels Stagnant

When Life Feels Stagnant Most conversations about stagnation start with the same question: how do I get the momentum back? In this episode, Kit Mann argues that this is

Weekend Check-In: Back To Basics

This Is Not Just a Philosophy Podcast A lot of people listen to shows like this one the same way they read books they find interesting. They take something in, find it r

Stop Going To War With Your Past Self

Most people who have done real work on themselves end up in the same strange place. They have genuinely changed. They are not who they were. And they cannot stop being at

Weekend Check in -There Is No "But" in Taoism

I love what Taoism says about living in the present, but I can't stop worrying. I know I need to let this go, but I've been hurt too many times. I'm sorry I did that, but

Let's Not Try So Hard

Lets Not Try So Hard Most people who begin a serious spiritual practice end up in the same place eventually. Not enlightened. Exhausted. Every difficult moment becomes a

Weekend Check-In - The End of Summer

The Summer Is Almost Over — And That Is Not a Bad Thing Something happens in late August that most people feel immediately. The light shifts. The shadows are longer. The

Reconnecting in a Disconnected World

The schedule belongs to the employer. The food comes from somewhere you'll never see. The light is set by a switch. And the connection to natural cycles that Taoism consi

Weekend Check-In: The Tao is Everywhere. Just Look

The Tao Is Already There — You Just Have to Look It's in the weed pushing through the sidewalk crack. It's in the dog who is completely inside the joy of this particular

What is Love, Anyway

We have spent our lives being taught that love needs a relationship to be real. That loving someone who doesn't love you back is a wound to be healed. That loving someone

Stop Explaining Your Every Move

Stop Explaining Yourself Most people have developed the habit of providing a reason for every decision they make. Not just the big ones. The small ones too. Why they lef

The Thinly Spread Life

The Thinly Spread Life Look at your week. Count the things that have a claim on you right now. Now ask yourself honestly: is there one thing on that list receiving the f

Don't Be An Employee Of Your Own Mind

Stop Being an Employee of Your Own Mind Most people wake up on a Saturday morning and before the coffee is made, before anything has actually happened, the mind has alre

The Big Questions

Carrying Yourself Whole Chapter 10 of the Tao Te Ching is unusual. Instead of stating, Lao Tzu asks. Can you carry your body and soul together without separation? Can yo