How did a twenty-two-year-old from Spanish Fork, Utah, with no experience in Buddhism or meditation, end up walking across the country with Buddhist monks?

And what was happening inside him while millions of people watched from a distance?

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In Part One of this special interview on the Greater Peace Podcast, Amy and Ryan sit down with Jesse—the young man many people came to recognize walking behind the monks during the historic Walk for Peace from Texas to Washington, D.C.

For the first time, Jesse shares the deeply personal story behind his unexpected journey. After years of struggling with what he describes as darkness, he sold nearly everything he owned, left Utah, and set out alone in search of answers. When changing his surroundings failed to change what was happening within him, his search for inner peace led him to the Hương Đạo Temple in Fort Worth—and to an invitation that would alter the course of his life.

Together, they explore:

• Why Jesse left his home, possessions, family, and familiar life behind
• His attempt to replace internal suffering with physical challenges and uncertainty
• What happened when leaving Utah failed to quiet the darkness in his mind
• Why a Buddhist nun warned him against meditating alone in the desert
• How a fifteen-minute conversation led to an invitation to join the Walk for Peace
• The culture shock and loneliness he experienced after arriving at the temple
• What it was like to begin walking without understanding Buddhism or knowing how to meditate
• The intense physical pain and mental struggle of his first days on the road
• The moment he finally found his breath—and briefly found himself beneath the noise
• How suffering alongside the monks created a powerful bond that did not require words

Jesse speaks honestly about the difference between how the experience appeared online and what he was privately enduring. While others saw a young man participating in an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime adventure, Jesse was searching for hope, struggling to understand his own mind, and discovering that meditation would not remove his pain—but could make it bearable.

If you have ever believed that changing your circumstances would finally make you feel whole, struggled to be alone with your thoughts, or wondered whether peace is possible while darkness remains, Jesse’s story offers an honest reminder that transformation does not always arrive as a sudden cure.

Sometimes it begins with one breath, one step, and the willingness to keep going.

Listen now to Part One of Jesse’s story, then return next Wednesday as the conversation continues with the accident that changed the course of his journey.

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*Dive deeper with the full Conversation Episode that will be posted on Wednesday!*

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What if the path toward peace begins by offering yourself compassion in the middle of what feels heavy?

In this special episode of the Greater Peace Podcast, Amy introduces Jesse—the young man many people came to recognize walking behind the Buddhist monks during the historic Walk for Peace from Texas to Washington, D.C.

At twenty-one years old, Jesse sold nearly everything he owned and set out in search of direction. With no previous experience with Buddhism or meditation, his journey unexpectedly led him to the Hương Đạo Temple in Fort Worth just one week before the monks departed. Soon afterward, he found himself walking alongside them, learning to meditate while privately carrying struggles he describes as darkness.

Before Jesse shares his story, Amy leads a short meditation for anyone feeling overwhelmed by personal pain, difficult events, or the heaviness of the world. Through mindful breathing and the simple act of holding yourself in a compassionate embrace, you’ll be invited to offer love, comfort, and gentleness to the parts of you that are hurting.

This isn’t about pretending everything is okay. It’s about recognizing the burdens you carry without adding judgment or negative self-talk—and remembering that your worth and value remain absolute, even during your hardest moments.

Then, join us on Wednesday for part one of Amy and Ryan’s interview with Jesse as he publicly shares his full story for the first time. He’ll talk about leaving home in search of answers, unexpectedly joining the Walk for Peace, struggling to be alone with his thoughts, learning meditation from the monks, and surviving the accident that left him with lasting injuries.

If this meditation resonates with you, return to it whenever life feels especially heavy. Wrap your arms around yourself, breathe, and remember that offering yourself compassion is not silly or insignificant. It can be the beginning of changing how you see yourself—and how you meet the pain of others.

May you be well, happy, and peaceful.

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*This Conversation is a deeper dive on the Companion Meditation Episode!*

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Why do boundaries sometimes feel like rules designed to control other people?

What if healthy boundaries are really about taking responsibility for what you choose to participate in?

In this episode of the Greater Peace Podcast, Amy and Ryan explore what boundaries actually are, why they are often misunderstood, and how setting them with clarity and compassion can protect your peace while strengthening your relationships.

Together, they explore:

• The important difference between a boundary and a rule
• Why boundaries focus on your own choices rather than controlling someone else
• How people-pleasing and fear of conflict can make it difficult to stand up for yourself
• The four levels of sharing and how to decide who can safely hold different parts of your story
• Why someone’s role in your life does not automatically make them a safe person for your deepest vulnerability
• A simple three-step method for clearly communicating a boundary
• The difference between a natural consequence and a punishment
• How boundaries differ from avoidance, manipulation, and stonewalling
• Why recurring relationship problems require us to examine our own participation in the pattern

Amy also shares a practical exercise for mapping the people in your life according to the level of sharing each relationship can safely support. Moving someone to a different level does not have to be a rejection or punishment—it may be the adjustment that finally allows the relationship to become peaceful.

If you have ever overshared and regretted it, remained silent to avoid conflict, or felt resentful because someone repeatedly treated you in a way you did not want, this conversation offers practical tools for changing the pattern without trying to control the other person.

Boundaries are not about building walls around yourself.

They are about deciding what you will participate in, communicating that decision with compassion, and taking responsibility for what you do next.

Listen now and learn how healthy boundaries can help you protect your peace, strengthen your relationships, and live with greater self-respect.

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*Dive deeper with the full Conversation Episode that will be posted on Wednesday!*

What if creating healthier boundaries begins by listening to what you need—not trying to control what someone else does?

In this guided meditation, recorded among the birds and peaceful surroundings of Strawberry Reservoir, Amy introduces a healthier way to understand boundaries. Rather than using them as rules for controlling other people, boundaries help us decide what we are—and are not—willing to participate in.

Through quiet breathing, focused counting, and the calming presence of nature, you’ll practice settling a noisy mind and returning your attention to the present moment. Amy also invites you to make a small promise to yourself—offering yourself the care, encouragement, and compassion you need today.

This isn’t about forcing others to change. It’s about recognizing your own needs, taking responsibility for how you participate in relationship patterns, and creating enough space to protect both yourself and your relationships.

Then, join us on Wednesday as Amy and Ryan explore the difference between boundaries and rules. Amy will share a simple three-step process for setting boundaries, along with practical levels of sharing that can help you decide who has earned access to the most vulnerable parts of your life.

If this meditation resonates with you, return to it whenever your mind feels noisy or your relationships feel overwhelming. With practice, you can release negative beliefs, speak to yourself with greater kindness, and create the space you need for greater clarity, connection, and peace.

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*This Conversation is a deeper dive on the Companion Meditation Episode!*

Why do we believe certain things are right or wrong?

What happens when following the rules and fitting in no longer feel like enough?

In this deeply personal episode of the Greater Peace Podcast, Amy and Ryan explore moral development—the process through which our motivations can move from fear of punishment, to the need for belonging, and eventually toward self-authority, discernment, love, and compassion.

Together, they explore:

• Kohlberg’s three broad stages of moral development: obey or pay, obey to belong, and self-authority
• Why fear and the desire to belong have such a powerful influence on our choices
• The difference between following the letter of the law and understanding its deeper purpose
• Why learning to think for yourself does not mean abandoning morality
• How families and communities can remain connected while allowing people to believe differently
• Why faith crises and deconstruction can feel destabilizing, frightening, and deeply meaningful
• How fear, politics, religion, and social media can pull us back toward conformity
• Why genuine self-authority is grounded in humility, integrity, love, and compassion

Amy also speaks vulnerably about her own spiritual deconstruction, the cost of questioning beliefs connected to identity and belonging, and how exploring different traditions has expanded her understanding of God, humanity, and her own inner voice.

If you have begun questioning inherited beliefs, felt afraid of disappointing your community, or wondered whether you can trust yourself to determine what is right, this conversation offers reassurance that uncertainty does not mean you are lost. It may be an invitation to develop a more honest and personal relationship with your values, your spirituality, and the divine.

Moral growth is not about proving that you have everything right.

It is about continuing to learn, remaining open to correction, and becoming more loving and compassionate along the way.

Listen now and explore how moving beyond fear and conformity can help you trust your inner wisdom, live with greater integrity, and become more fully yourself.

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*Dive deeper with the full Conversation Episode next!*

Who are you beneath your roles, responsibilities, thoughts, and fears?

In this guided meditation, Amy introduces the topic of moral development and explores how moving beyond fear, conformity, and externally imposed expectations can help us reconnect with our own inner wisdom.

Through a grounding “I am” meditation, you’ll gently set aside the different layers of your identity—your surroundings, responsibilities, roles, body, thoughts, and emotional experiences. As each layer is acknowledged and released, you’ll be invited to rest in the quiet awareness that remains underneath it all.

This isn’t about diminishing the importance of your relationships or responsibilities. It’s about remembering that although you have roles, thoughts, emotions, and difficult experiences, none of them represents the entirety of who you are. Beneath every label is a deeper presence that is already peaceful, safe, and whole.

Then, join us on Wednesday as Amy and Ryan explore Kohlberg’s stages of moral development, the difference between obeying out of fear and living from self-authority, and why questioning inherited beliefs can be an important part of spiritual and emotional growth.

If this meditation resonates with you, return to the words “I am” whenever you feel overwhelmed, uncertain, or consumed by the roles you carry. With practice, this simple reminder can help you reconnect with your truest nature and move through life with greater wisdom, compassion, and peace.

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*This Conversation is a deeper dive on the Companion Meditation Episode!*

What does it really mean to accept something you wish had never happened?

What if acceptance isn’t giving up—but the first step toward finding a way forward?

In this episode of the Greater Peace Podcast, Amy and Ryan explore radical acceptance: the practice of meeting reality as it is, without judgment or resistance, while responding to yourself and your circumstances with love and compassion.

Together, they explore:

• The difference between radical acceptance, resignation, and approving of harmful behavior
• Why resisting reality can prolong emotional suffering and keep us from moving forward
• How to notice anger, fear, grief, and pain without becoming trapped in them
• Why acceptance does not eliminate the need for accountability or healthy boundaries
• How the mind’s desire for comfort can keep us repeating familiar patterns
• Why releasing control does not mean becoming passive or abandoning what matters
• How expectations and attachment to specific outcomes can interfere with peace
• What the changing seasons can teach us about growth, release, rest, and renewal

Amy and Ryan also discuss the difference between experiencing pain and adding suffering through resistance. They explore how accepting an emotion allows it to move through the body, while attaching judgment, meaning, and old stories to it can keep us stuck.

Along the way, they share personal experiences involving grief, work, relationships, faith, identity, and the difficult realization that doing everything “right” cannot guarantee a particular outcome. They also consider how life’s recurring patterns may reveal the places where healing and growth are still needed.

If you have ever struggled to accept something painful, held onto anger while waiting for someone else to take responsibility, or believed you could finally have peace if life would only go according to plan, this conversation offers another way forward.

Radical acceptance does not mean that what happened was okay.

It means acknowledging that it happened, meeting yourself with compassion, and deciding what you need now.

Listen now and discover how releasing resistance, loosening your attachment to outcomes, and accepting life’s natural rhythms can help you move toward greater freedom, wholeness, and peace.

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*Dive deeper with the full Conversation Episode next!*

What if peace doesn’t come from controlling what happens—but from releasing your resistance to what already is?

In this guided meditation, Amy introduces the practice of radical acceptance: acknowledging the reality of life without judgment, avoidance, or the belief that painful experiences should not have happened.

Radical acceptance does not mean approving of harm or pretending that difficult circumstances are okay. It means recognizing that life naturally includes joy and grief, growth and loss, rest and renewal—and allowing uncomfortable emotions to move through us rather than holding them in place through resistance.

Drawing on the rhythms of nature and the changing seasons, Amy explores how fall invites release, winter offers restoration, spring brings new beginnings, and summer encourages growth and joy. Each season has a purpose, just as every stage of our lives can offer something necessary to our healing.

Through a five-minute breathing meditation, you’ll focus on the rise and fall of your breath and the quiet space between each inhale and exhale. This simple practice can help you reconnect with your center, observe your thoughts without judgment, and find stillness even when the world around you feels chaotic.

Then, join us on Wednesday as Amy and Ryan explore radical acceptance more deeply, including why we resist painful emotions, how resistance can prolong suffering, and how accepting reality can help us move forward with greater clarity, compassion, and peace.

If this meditation resonates with you, return to it whenever you find yourself fighting against an emotion, circumstance, or season of life. With practice, following the natural rhythm of your breath can remind you that every experience changes—and that release, rest, growth, and renewal are all part of becoming whole.

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