eloquent

Shhhh! 

Hello everyone! 

Welcome to this special bedtime episode of Pneuma.

This is a sleepy, dream-inducing reading of “Goodnight Moon”--a book to which, so far as I can tell, the entire English-speaking world has been falling asleep since its publication way back in 1947. 

Can you believe that this timeless book (of which every newborn child is the recipient!) is over three-quarters of a CENTURY old? 

There’s a reason it’s one of the most popular and enduring bedtime stories. 

Tonight, you can choose to read along with me, or just listen to my voice as you drift away to a placid land of dreams.  

Either way, I can assure you: we’ll be asleep before you know it! 

When you wake, be sure to “like” this episode and share it with a friend. 

Tell me in the comments below: to whom do you most enjoy saying “Goodnight”? 

The cow? 

The mouse? 

The mush? 

Please subscribe to this channel for many more sleepy bedtime stories and soothing meditations to which the whole family can listen along.

#sleep #bedtime #sleepmeditation #bedtimestories #sleepy #asmr #childrensbooks #soothing 

Good morning! 

Are you looking to boost your confidence as you prepare for the trials and tribulations of the day ahead? 

Are you looking to uplift your spirit and strengthen your resolve as you embark upon a new and daunting journey? 

I can assure you: you’ve come to the right place! 

Take a seat, close your eyes, attend to your breathing, and join me on this 15-minute affirmation meditation, at the end of which your confidence will be completely restored. 

You’ll exit this meditation equipped (spiritually, if not physically!) to go out there and conquer the world. 

If you find this type of meditation encouraging and helpful, please share it with a friend. 

“Like” this video, leave  me a note in the comments section below, and email me at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com

And, of course, subscribe to this channel! I hope to grow with you and to be the voice of calm upon which you can always rely, no matter the circumstance, whenever you’re in need. 

Blessings,

Daniel

No doubt—this world in which we live is a crazy one! 

From political unrest, to economic uncertainty, to global pandemics, and interminable wars, you might begin to feel as if there’s no escape. 

Rest assured, there is. 

The path is simple: all you need to do is retire into yourself and find your inner peace. 

Join me on this soothing meditation to rediscover your inner peace and, above all, to keep your calm in what is, by any measure, an increasingly crazy world! 

Like this episode, share it with a friend, and Subscribe to this channel! 

Send me a note at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com 

Jason Stephenson is the founder and host of the wildly popular YouTube channel, “Jason Stephenson: Sleep Meditation Music” to which some 3 million people (and counting!) are subscribed. 

Since joining the platform in 2011, Jason’s videos on sleep, mindfulness, meditation, music, nature, life, and breathing have amassed over 700 million views–a number to which I’m honored to say I’ve contributed!

In this conversation, Jason and I discuss…

His tumultuous background and how it led him to a life devoted to wellness; quitting his job in order to pursue his true passion; the prodigious growth of his YouTube channel; becoming a full-time “content creator”; how he formulates ideas and approaches the writing process; his diet, consumption of caffeine, and daily/nightly regimen; the importance of community; the role of religion; his atheistic upbringing; his experience in a Buddhist temple and a Christian Church; life in Australia; the epidemic of anxiety and depression in the West; his advice to young YouTubers beginning their journey, and MUCH more! 

Links to Jason’s stuff: 

Website:
https://www.jasonstephenson.net/lp/sleep-meditation/free-sleep-meditation

Enter your email address and receive a mindfulness MP3! 

YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@jasonstephensonmeditation

Jason’s other YouTube channels: 
https://www.youtube.com/@jasonstephensonmeditation/channels

Links to my stuff: 

(My original site): Finneranswake.com 

Listen to this and all episodes of Finneran’s Wake on your favorite podcast streaming service: 
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/74eUg83Q8zOgaRA5EBuzyl?si=871b6aa8082146af. 
Apple https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/finnerans-wake/id1560923796. 

–

Pneumameditations.com

For Sleep Stories
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx_8UKeM6leybSC3ZgKsh9A

Or, check out the podcast for mindfulness exercises and calming talks: 
https://open.spotify.com/show/6b9DBhemWHvEy0wiiBHwYo?si=05b5fc8e12a84050

Please, don’t hesitate to leave a comment or send me a message (to which, I assure you, I’ll promptly respond!) 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080972774597
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielethanfinneran/
Twitter: @DanielEFinneran

Email me at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com

#conversation #sleep #meditation #wellness 

William Butler (WB) Yeats (1865 - 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and statesman. 

A poet to whom I was introduced at the tender age of twelve, Yeats has continued to inhabit a special place in my heart. 

His finest work, in my opinion, is "Sailing to Byzantium". After the collapse of Rome in the fifth century AD, the center of European culture shifted east to the Golden Horn. Renamed "Constantinople" after the famed Christian Emperor, Byzantium was, to Yeats, the spiritual homeland to which, in a modern world overcome by materialism, he yearned to return. 

The tone of the poem, at its beginning, is wistful: Yeats, now an old man, feels like a stranger in both his time and place. The world around him abounds in flesh, sensuality, youth, and lust. It is, as he says, "no country for old men". 

No. 

The country in which he belongs, for which he pines, and to which, by way of his poetry, he'll take us, is that of the spirit. 

Subscribe, like, leave a five-star rating, and share this with friends. Send me poem recommendations at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com

Thank you! 

The 4-7-8 breathing exercise, of which the great Dr. Andrew Weil is widely-acknowledged to be the inventor, is simple and effective. You need only do the following: inhale for 4 seconds; hold the breath for 7 seconds; and exhale for 8 seconds. That constitutes one cycle. You'll then repeat this sequence for a total of four cycles. Perform this at least twice a day. 

A little "behind the scenes": this episode, which was completely unscripted, was recorded while I was sitting on the beach. Sadly, I was a bit too far away from the shoreline to capture the calming music of the waves. Instead, I got a background full of the clamorous din of a jet plane flying up above! For that, I offer you my sincerest apology. 

I hope, nevertheless, you enjoy this episode. 

Send comments and criticisms to pneuma.finneran@gmail.com

Visit my sister project, finneranswake.com and the "Finneran's Wake" YouTube channel and podcast. 

The title says it all! After a peaceful morning spent reading on the beach, I took a few minutes to absorb all the natural beauty, tranquility, picturesqueness, and happiness that surrounded me. Join me and interrupt your day with the gentle sound of waves rolling on the beach, wind blowing through the trees, laughter dancing in the air, music echoing in every direction, and--the least euphonious of the aforementioned--my calming voice leading you through a simple breathing exercise. 

Visit my website at pneumameditation.com and send me an email at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com

Visit my sister podcast/youtube channel at finneranswake.com

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

Is there, in all literature, an opening line with which more minds are stamped? A passage more famous and quotable than that with which Dickens' timeless classic begins?

I think not!

Set in those two great centers of learning and culture, London and Paris, before and during the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities follows the tribulations of Dr. Manette, his blue-eyed daughter, Lucie, and her dashing, strong-willed husband, the expatriate Charles Darnay. 

It is, according to every clear-thinking reader, one of Western literature's finest works of historical fiction. 

While we all know and repeat the book's opening line, I ask you, do you remember the somewhat lesser-known sentence with which it ends? 

"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known". 

Precisely our goal!--A "far, far better rest" awaits you (not the rest of death), if you'll only listen to this episode with me! 

If you have a favorite book that you want read in a sleepy style, or if you're the author of an original work to which you'd like to draw more attention, drop me a line at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com. I will read it on this show. 

Be sure to subscribe to this channel and leave a five-star rating! 

Not even the most experienced traveler (to whom thousands of valuable “miles” and precious points have accrued!) is totally immune to the uneasiness and discomfort associated with flight. 

These feelings, sadly, are an inescapable part of our airborne journeys. 

In this episode, we’ll go through a mediation by which our stresses will be quieted, our equanimity restored, and our flight made much more peaceful and, perhaps, enjoyable. 

We’ll perform a simple breathing exercise, a gentle body scan, an act of thanksgiving and appreciation, and a few stretches with which to calibrate our bodies and minds. 

Don’t forget to follow, subscribe to, like, or share this episode with a friend! 

Visit my sister podcasts, Finneran’s Wake and Finneran’s Wake For Kids for more content. 

Thank you and Bon Voyage! 

"To live in accordance with nature". 

That, in its simplest form, is the central principle around which the entire philosophy of Stoicism revolves. 

To live in accordance with nature is to practice the four virtues (temperance, prudence, justice, and courage) for which we all have an inborn aptitude and reverence. It’s to elevate temperance, the virtue of moderation, self-control, self-possession, and self-governance, above the lower appetites by which we’re too easily overcome. 

In this episode, we’ll talk about the virtue of temperance as it pertains to (over) eating and how you might implement some of the lessons of the Stoics to address your issues with weight. 

I know…it’s a sensitive topic. I recoil at the mere thought of offending anyone’s feelings, but I think the content has the potential to do some good. 

Please follow, subscribe to, like, or share this episode with friends.

Visit my sister podcast and YouTube channel, Finneran’s Wake and Finneran’s Wake for Kids. 

#sleep #bedtimestories #bedtime #relaxing #calming #soothing 

Get comfortable! 

Here's an excerpt from Thomas De Quincey's intoxicating work, "Confessions of an English Opium Eater". 

The title, I think, says it all. 

De Quincey's confessional joins a timeless genre to which such luminary names as St. Augustine and Jean-Jacques Rousseau contributed. In this excerpt, you'll learn how the esteemed British author got hooked on the soporific drug, against whose recreational or medicinal use he's not exactly explicit in warning us! 

Here on Pneuma, it should be said, we promote sobriety and wholesomeness, above all else. My reading of De Quincey is not an endorsement of his inebriated approach to life. 

Substitute my voice for your opiates and fall right asleep! 

If you have a book you want read in a sleepy style, or if you have an original work that you'd like me to read, drop me a line at pneuma.finneran@gmail.com. 

Be sure to subscribe to this channel, share it with friends, like this video, and leave a five-star rating! 

Thank you.