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Stillness in the StormsHonest conversations about getting through hard times, from a man who has had a few. Paralysed at 18, found Zen at 40, still working it out. Around sixteen minutes, weekly. Author: Steven Webb
This is a podcast for anyone going through something hard. No quick fixes. No everything happens for a reason. No advice from a man who has never had a bad week. I am Steven Webb. In 1991, aged 18, I dived into a swimming pool in Truro and broke my neck. I have been paralysed from the chest down ever since. That is not the hard part of the story. It took another twenty two years, a bankruptcy, a spell homeless and a dark night at forty before I found anything that actually helped. What helped was Zen. Not the serene kind with the robes and the incense. The kind you do at three in the morning when your head will not shut up and there is nobody to ring. Every week I sit down and talk honestly about one thing. Anger, grief, pain, the mind that will not be quiet, the exhausting business of pretending you are fine. Sometimes there is an answer. Often there is just company, which turns out to be most of what people needed anyway. Around sixteen minutes an episode. Nothing to sign up for. Steven Webb is a meditation teacher, a Cornwall councillor and the former Mayor of Truro. He teaches from the mess, not from the mountaintop. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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If This Were My Last Podcast
Episode 174
Tuesday, 11 August, 2026
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.ukSteven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.ukIf this were my last podcast, what would I want to leave you with?I sat down with a cup of coffee, almost no script, and one line from Rainer Maria Rilke that stopped me in my tracks.The first thing is to accept this moment wholeheartedly. It is already here. We cannot change the weather that has arrived, the thought that has appeared or the cushion underneath us. We can only choose what we do next.That does not mean becoming stuck. We can get comfortable with the present moment and still keep our shoes nearby. Some pain asks us to rest. Some pain asks us to move. Both can be true, sometimes within the same hour.In this episode, I explore why difficult memories stay with us, what happens when we exile the emotions we do not like, and why listening to an inner voice is not the same as letting it lead. Rilke's poem Go to the Limits of Your Longing becomes a companion for making room for beauty and terror, while remembering that no feeling gets the run of the whole house.I finish with a small practice. Ask what needs accepting right now, what you may be refusing to hear, and what small colour you can let back into your life.Stillness in the Storms is independent and advert free. To contact me, join the Weekly Calm or support my work, visit https://stevenwebb.ukWhat is in this episode(00:00) The Rilke line that stopped me in my tracks(00:45) If this were my last podcast, what would I leave you with?(01:15) Welcome and thanks to the people keeping the podcasts advert free(02:15) Accepting the moment that has already arrived(03:20) Why we cannot simply replace every difficult thought(04:10) Getting comfortable on the cushion, but not too comfortable(05:10) When suffering pulls us inward and when it pushes us forward(06:10) Why the difficult memories stay with us(07:20) Samsara and the whole spectrum of being alive(08:15) Grab a pillow, but keep your shoes nearby(08:45) Listening to every inner voice without giving each one equal weight(10:20) Rainer Maria Rilke and Go to the Limits of Your Longing(11:15) The Rilke words that inspired this episode(11:35) No feeling gets the run of the whole house(12:20) Why live with only half the rainbow?(14:20) How we narrow life to the colours and feelings we already know(15:35) Love, grief and the two ends of the same stick(16:40) The advice I would leave behind(17:50) A small practice for acceptance and a wider lifeThe chapter times are taken from the final transcript and should be checked against the finished audio before publishing.One practice for this weekPause and ask:What needs accepting right now?Is there a feeling or a voice I am refusing to hear?What small colour can I let into my life?You do not have to obey every voice or enjoy every feeling. Just let it be heard. Then decide what deserves the steering wheel.Notable quotes from the recording"Learn to get comfortable on the cushion you're on, but not too comfortable." (04:10)"Grab a pillow, get a little comfortable, but keep your shoes nearby." (08:15)"If we exile half the emotions that we don't like, we lose half the information." (10:05)"No feeling needs to be banished. No feeling needs to get the run of the whole house either." (11:35)"Remember all voices are valid, but they've not all got the same weight." (17:40)"What needs accepting right now?" (17:50)LinksContact Steven, join the Weekly Calm or support the podcasts: https://stevenwebb.ukRainer Maria Rilke's Go to the Limits of Your Longing, translated by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows: https://onbeing.org/poetry/go-to-the-limits-of-your-longing/Poem creditIn this episode I quote from and reflect on Go to the Limits of Your Longing by Rainer Maria Rilke, from Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God. The English translation is by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy and was published by Riverhead Books.Copyright in the English translation remains with the copyright holders. The short quotation is fully credited and discussed in the context of commentary and reflection.You can read the credited translation and hear Joanna Macy's own reading at https://onbeing.org/poetry/go-to-the-limits-of-your-longing/Thank youSangha, Jesse, Anita, Sue, Evelyn and Glenn. Your support helps keep Stillness in the Storms and Inner Peace Meditations free from adverts.
