Meditative Story

In 2009, Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is having one of the busiest years of his life. A nonstop tour schedule and monotonous daily routine have completely drained him of ...

2x Emmy Award-winning TV host, journalist, and author Tamron Hall has hit milestones in her life that a younger version of herself would never have believed were possible. Part of the secret ...

Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate love of all kinds — whether it’s the unconditional love of a pet, the instinctual reflex to help those who are suffering, or, perhaps most impor...

Journalist and beloved podcast host Leila Day grows up being told that she should “tone it down.” When she moves to Cuba in her early twenties, she finally finds a place that embraces her who...

For the first 22 years of his life, Al Harris singularly focuses on one single goal: to play basketball in the NBA. Although he’s an elite young player, Al’s dream comes to an end when he’s p...

It's 1996, and Robert Reich has the job of a lifetime – one that's taking a steady toll on his family. In a story he’s never told before, Reich shares the pivotal moment when he turns his eco...

Arriving in a strange town, disoriented and desperate to crawl into bed, Kaywin Feldman realizes she is just steps from an eight-century-old art treasure: a small chapel covered floor to ceil...

Lulu Wang, writer-director of The Farewell, and Expats, grows up in a family where the expectations for her future are clear: she’s destined to become a piano prodigy, and she must ...

Fluent in cheating time to squeeze productivity out of every minute, entrepreneur Keith Yamashita recounts the frightening details of a devastating stroke as it is actually happenin...

As a legendary Jazz trumpeter, winner of 5 Grammy Awards, and composer of over 60 films including the works of director Spike Lee, it’s easy to assume Terence Blanchard is someone with a lot ...

Growing up, actress, writer, and director Zoe Lister-Jones admires her mother’s confidence and her willingness to stand up for what she believes. But as a shy kid that’s wary of the dangers i...

All her life, Meredith Arthur is a model of competence and control, and it sweeps her higher and higher up the professional ladder. But inside, something isn’t right. After a painful wake-up ...

Growing up half-Japanese in South Florida, Kino MacGregor spends a lot of time feeling uncomfortable in her own body. But her Japanese grandfather is always there for her, and they spend joyf...

In the morning, Idaho pastor Tri Robinson herds cattle and mends fences; in the evening, he writes sermons. But the two parts of his life don't feel connected. He feels such a deep love of th...

Considered a prodigy in China, Lang Lang arrives to the U.S. certain of what it takes to be the best pianist in the world – dedication, discipline, hours of solitary practice. But when a lege...

Judith Grisel is an internationally recognized behavioral neuroscientist and professor of psychology known for her research on the role of the brain in drug addiction. She is also a former ad...

As Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Otis Moss carries the torch for generations of church and civil rights leaders, including his own father, a regional director i...

On the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, we allow ourselves space for our memories and our grief about those we’ve lost — as well as for joy, and even humor, around the cont...

As an actor and a new mom, Catherine Reitman felt pulled between two competing identities. To capture her frustration, her sadness, her truth, she wrote it all down. In sharing her darkness, ...

Jackals and leopards in the fields. The sound of a lion’s roar. Majestic African bush elephants outside the front door. This is childhood for Forrest Galante as a kid growing up on a farm in ...

In precisely chosen words, the writer, artist and Zen priest Zenju Earthlyn Manuel tells a story from her girlhood, a road trip from LA to Louisiana in 1957. While five-year-old Zenju sits in...

Host of NPR’s Wait, Wait...Don’t Tell Me!, Peter Sagal is wrecked and stuck in the wake of a divorce. Suddenly, he finds himself with two free weeks. In need of a healthy distraction, Peter j...

What's is like to be an identical twin? Game designer Jane McGonigal tells a story of similarity and divergence as she explores the magic of sharing DNA while becoming an individual.If this e...

We’re excited to launch WaitWhat's newest weekly series, Pioneers of AI — your guide to the latest technological frontier. Hosted by AI thought leader, scientist, and investor Rana el Kalioub...

While filming one day in the Congo Rainforest, legendary photojournalist John Moore pursued the vision of a perfect photograph — a vision that literally brought him to his knees. He shares th...

How to teach a classroom full of "difficult" kids? By meeting them where they are, and finding a way in. This is something that Sinéad Burke sees every day in her teaching career. Her own lif...

Best-selling author Isabel Allende has led an extraordinary life marked by moments of tragic loss. A coup in her home country of Chile forces her family into exile, and an unexpected illness ...

On his podcast and TV show Song Exploder, Hrishikesh Hirway digs deep into the creative process of legendary songwriters. But before Hrishikesh becomes a podcast creator, he's a working ...

Tuxedo-clad, face covered in makeup, hair slicked and parted in the middle, jumping around a creaky stage, teenage Josh Radnor (now an actor, producer and director) makes a life-changing disc...

It's early morning. A hotel room. Wajahat Ali, playwright and author, is traveling for work when he gets a call from his wife – she's sobbing, panicked, heartbroken. Their tiny daughter, Nusa...

Twenty-four long miles into a grueling paddleboard competition, photographer Donald Miralle sights the buoy that tells him he's just a few miles from home. But what should offer a sense of re...

Gordana Biernat grows up in a household full of mayhem and darkness. But there’s one saving grace: her grandfather, who spins legendary stories of the quirky folkloric magic he sees all aroun...

As the pandemic drags on, Vanessa Hua finds herself in a dark place of panic and doom-scrolling. But that begins to change on one spring day, when she takes a walk outside with her ...

As a boy in Oxford, Henry Shukman seeks refuge from a painful childhood by disappearing into poetry, immersing himself in nature. But the beauty and clarity he finds there is only fleeting. A...

Silvia Vasquez-Lavado is the first openly lesbian woman to climb the famous Seven Summits, a bucket list of the highest mountain on every continent. But while preparing for the seventh summit...

Jacob Sartorius has been making music and short videos since he was a kid. By age 14, he had millions of social media followers who loved his honest, heartfelt content. But on the flip side o...

As the wind howls around his camping caravan on a remote Welsh farm, poet David Whyte sits at a table, trying – and failing – to write. He's worried he has lost his gift. He's worried he neve...

When young Nate Berkus pushes open the door to his new bedroom, an unfinished space in his family home, he doesn’t know it yet – but he’s opening the door to a new vision of what his life can...

Restaurateur Danny Meyer takes us back to where it all began for him: a family trip to Europe and a simple plate of pasta. That memorable meal sparked a lifetime practice of discovery that co...

Stephen Wilkes has a unique approach to photography that requires a sustained focus to capture subtle changes in light and perspective. The same could be said of the way he cared for his moth...

Rural California is all Kristin Windbigler knows as a child — its wild, green pastoral landscape, where living off the land and self-sufficiency is a choice to live abundantly. One eveni...

Throughout his life, pastry chef Duff Goldman — best known for his long-running Food Network show Ace of Cakes — is driven by his desire to make things and see them out in the world...

When Nataly Dawn’s family moves from the U.S. to a tiny town in the middle of France, she finds herself unable to speak, read, or even play the way the other kids do. It’s embarrassing, being...

Reshma Saujani, activist and founder of Girls Who Code and Moms First, prides herself on being in control. She’s always been the one to say “I got this.” But after years of struggling to achi...

Actor, writer and comedian Aasif Mandvi has given us so many laughs in his role as a correspondent on The Daily Show – on stage and in television and films. But when a doctor diagnoses him wi...

From the team behind Meditative Story, we're happy to share the first episode of Offsite Adventures, our newest show uncovering the gems, magical moments, and unique learnings in iconic busin...

This April Fool’s Day, Rohan embraces the sense of play that exists in all of us, designing a unique meditation to foster a feeling of alertness on this day of pranks. He then invites you to ...

In honor of International Women’s Day, Rohan relates the story of a woman who greatly influenced his journey towards mindfulness and unknowingly helped shape the course of his life — Gaia Hou...

Actress Zuri Adele, known for playing Malika Williams on the popular Freeform show Good Trouble, spent parts of her childhood largely isolated. But while attending Spelman College in Atlanta,...

What can we discover about time when we slow down and focus on each passing moment? This Leap Year gives us a special opportunity to reflect on our relationship with time. Join Rohan in this ...