To be fair, this is not the podcast I intended to write about this week. I’m not sure this is a podcast I intended to write about ever. But by the time that Saturday rolled around, it was an option I desperately needed to pursue.

As of that morning, my weekend had already found room to include an aspiring rap duo, a newly flat tire on my bike, and someone else’s vomit in my bathroom. I was stressed. I needed to calm down.

And so I downloaded a program that was wholly new to me, called “The Meditation Podcast.” Hosted and produced by Jesse and Jeane Stern, this show offers meditation as a way to affect positive change in its listeners. The background of the program is the most interesting to me—and Jesse and Jeane do a solid job of laying it out for you on their website.

The audio uses something called “binaural beats” that are supposed to have such a strong effect on your brain that the Sterns advise you to not just use your own headphones, but to not operate machinery while listening to the podcast. These programs can inspire deep, healing change.

I listened to episode 30, called “Responding in the Moment.” This episode attempted to help me concentrate on some of my chronic habits that may sometimes be helpful, but which may also be preventing me from experiencing a fuller life.

I should preface by saying that in addition to being a novice in meditation, and therefore not having the real authority to speak on it, I also did the podcast wrong. Yeah, I know, it sounds dumb, but there is a wrong way to listen to a podcast. The first command of the video was to close my eyes, which I wasn’t about to do because I was walking to work at the time (bike broken, remember?) I also think I was supposed to be sitting or lying somewhere, but again, I was on the move.

So with that giant of a disclaimer out of the way, I did enjoy my pseudo-meditation. A male’s voice (I can only assume it was Jesse) narrated me through a series of exercises that manipulated both my breathing and my imagination. Even while walking, it helped me breathe a little deeper, follow my thoughts a little farther, and feel a little more at peace. Despite the early morning clock-in hour, by the time I got to work I felt much more energized. It was only about thirty minutes long, which made it the perfect length for re-centering in the middle of an off-canter week.

I’m excited to check out more episodes of this podcast. But next time, I’m going to try and do it the right way—grounded, focused, and stationary.