- 16 minutes 42 secondsGiving Space: Love Without Taking Over
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is stay close without stepping in too quickly.
This week I want to talk about one of the hardest forms of love: giving someone space. Not walking away. Not going cold. Not pretending we do not care. But staying close without taking over.
It came up for me while talking with my daughter, noticing how quickly I wanted to jump in with answers, advice, solutions and opinions. And I could see the same thing in myself, in council meetings, in family conversations, and even in the way I meet my own thoughts and feelings. Something arises and I want to fix it before I have really heard it.
But space is not neglect. Real space says: I am here. I trust you. Take your time.
In this episode, I explore why the instinct to help is not wrong, but why fixing too quickly can sometimes be about easing our own discomfort. We look at the small pause after a feeling appears, the gap between notes in music, the three seconds before we answer, and the strange wisdom that often appears when we stop crowding the moment.
Key topics:
- Why giving space is not the same as walking away
- The urge to fix the people we love, especially our children
- How a few seconds of pause can let wisdom appear
- Thoughts, feelings and body sensations that do not need an instant story
- The gap between the notes, and why space gives life meaning
- Council meetings, family tables, and the need to prove we know something
- Asking whether we are helping or reducing our own discomfort
- The three second rule for conversations, emotions and difficult moments
Companion meditation: IPM 105, Giving Space. A gentle Zen influenced meditation using the image of a closed shed and an open field to feel the difference between being crowded by what arises and giving it room to be seen clearly.
If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee: stevenwebb.uk
With thanks this week to: Cheryl, Nitya, Yvonne, Eleanor and Ryan, Karen, Lani, Jess and Stuart.
And thank you to the kind anonymous souls and everyone who supports the work quietly in the background. You keep this podcast advert-free. Thank you.
7 June 2026, 3:00 pm - 16 minutes 14 secondsThe First 30 Seconds: Why Every Feeling Is a Gift
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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The First 30 Seconds: Why Every Feeling Is a Gift
Your body's fear response is not a fault. It is thirty seconds of something brilliant.
You hear two cars crash outside your door, or a horn behind you, or the word "bear" round a campfire, and before you have thought a single thought your body has already moved. This week I walk through what actually happens in those first thirty seconds, a bit of it borrowed from David Ji's book Destressify. The adrenaline, the heart, the sugar your liver lets go, the hands that go cold so a cut would bleed less. None of it a malfunction. All of it the body doing the most competent, protective thing it knows.
Then I want to go further than the science. Fear is a gift. So is anxiety, alertness, even stress. We are taught to get rid of them, and I once sat on a show whose whole aim was to delete fear for good. I spent every break arguing the other way. The trouble is never the feeling. The trouble is when it takes over, when it runs eight hours a day, when it stops you doing the things you want to do. So we keep the whole stick, the joyful end and the hard end, instead of chopping the bad bits off and ending up with nothing. We hear the feeling, we understand it, we let it be there, and then we decide. Hear it, then decide. That is the whole thing.
Key topics:
- What really happens in the body's first thirty seconds, step by step
- Why none of it is a malfunction, and why the calm ones round the campfire did not survive
- Fear, anxiety, stress and alertness as gifts, and the show that wanted to delete fear
- The healthy and unhealthy version of every feeling, including the misread "everything is just thoughts" version of Zen
- The stick you keep chopping, and why you end up unable to tell the joy from the pain
- Only ever seeing three colours, and what we miss when we numb the spectrum
- The five second gap, and hearing the feeling before you decide what to do
Companion meditation: IPM 104 on Inner Peace Meditations. [insert IPM 104 title]
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee: stevenwebb.uk
With thanks this week to:
A warm welcome to Susan, a brand new monthly supporter.
And a special word for Stuart, who reached two years as a monthly supporter this week. That is not a small thing.
To everyone who supported the show across these past two weeks: Addie, Amy, Barbara, Michael, Karen, Laura, David, Jenna and Mia, and Johnny.
And the kind anonymous souls and everyone on Insight Timer. You keep this podcast advert-free. Thank you.
31 May 2026, 3:00 pm - 16 minutes 19 secondsWaking Up to Body Betrayal: How to Find Peace in the Pain
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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Waking Up to Body Betrayal: How to Find Peace in the Pain
Your body isn't letting you down. It's been carrying you all along.
Do you ever wake up and just know it's going to hurt the second you move? I do. Most mornings. This week I want to talk about what to do with a body that feels like it's letting you down, betraying you, or just isn't what it used to be. About the soldiers inside you that have been quietly repairing you all night and why they get tired. About the difference between pain (the fact) and suffering (the story you add on top). And about an ancient violin, which turned out to be the image I needed for the body I've been carrying for thirty years.
We are in a partnership with this body. It is not the enemy. It is the only one we get.
Key topics:
- The morning moment when the body hurts before you've even moved
- The soldiers inside you who repair you every night, and why they get tired as we age
- Why we treat the body as the enemy when really we are this body
- The "where are you, really?" tennis-ball thought experiment
- The difference between pain (the fact) and suffering (the story we add)
- Treating your body like an ancient violin: more careful, more respectful, a different tune
Companion meditation: A Morning Meditation for the Body You Wake Into – a gentle, lying-down practice for that moment before the day begins. Find it on Inner Peace Meditations.
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee: stevenwebb.uk
With thanks this week to (this is actually three weeks worth):
New monthly supporter: Sin.
Monthly supporters whose contributions came in this cycle: Ellen, Dominique, Adam, Annie, Joe, Sujata, Senga, Jack, Glenn, Denise, Laurie, Audra, Rosie, Laura, Kasia, Megan, Alison, Mallory, Elizabeth, Stefan, Barb, Cheryl, Katarzyna, Jill, Tracey, Hannah, Emmanuelle, Rita, Julie, Daniel, María.
And the kind anonymous souls and everyone on Insight Timer. You keep this podcast advert-free. Thank you.
17 May 2026, 3:00 pm - 21 minutes 38 seconds"I'm Fine": When It's Armour, When It's Honest, and How to Tell
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- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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Two words I have said roughly 25,000 times. Most of them on autopilot.
Description
Two words. Probably the most common two words spoken in the English language. Two words I say almost every single morning, and you probably do too. I'm fine. In this episode I work out that I have said it about 25,000 times to my carers over the last 35 years, and almost none of those times did I actually stop and think about it. I want to look at why we say it, what it costs us, and what happens when we don't. There is a Brené Brown quote, an old Zen master story I have always loved, a Thursday afternoon last week where I cried for 20 minutes and then bought a book on Amazon, and a small image about letting go before your hand hurts. You don't have to stop saying I'm fine. You just have to notice when you do.
Key Topics
- 25,000 mornings, two carers, and the most automatic answer in my life
- Why "I'm fine" is armour, and why armour is not always the wrong thing to wear
- The three reasons we wear it (and why "just think positive" is the worst advice in self help)
- The cost of saying it on autopilot, especially to the people who actually want to hear you
- An old Zen story about a master on his deathbed who said the most enlightened thing he could have said
- Brené Brown on numbing emotions, and why you cannot block only the bad weather
- A real Thursday afternoon I sat here and cried for 20 minutes, then immediately bought a book
- The hand metaphor: I let go a little earlier than I used to, before my hand hurts
Companion Meditation
When Anxiety Visits (IPM101). Five minutes. You sit down, you say hello to whatever is actually here, and you ask it why it came. It is the practical opposite of saying "I'm fine." Available on Insight Timer, Aura, and the Inner Peace Meditations podcast.
If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee at stevenwebb.uk.
Supporters
Alex, Nina, Zoe, A Ma, Kevin, Katarzyna, Deborah, Christopher, and Ariel for recent coffees and PayPal donations.
Special thanks: MumMik's Cleaning Services for buying a course this week.
You keep this podcast advert free.
3 May 2026, 3:00 pm - 22 minutes 49 seconds8 Billion Minds. Why Meditation Doesn't Work for Everyone (And What You Can Do About It)
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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There are eight billion minds in the world, and not one of them was made to fit the same cushion.
Description
This week I want to talk about why meditation works beautifully for some people and barely at all for others, and why no single teacher, book or technique was ever going to be the answer for everybody. I tell the story of my own rock bottom at forty, a Saturday afternoon in town with a broken wheelchair and a security guard who said nothing but meant everything. From there to the slow accidental discovery of meditation through As a Man Thinketh, and what it really means to live with an ADHD mind that refuses to sit still. We're all on our own road. The world wasn't designed for you, or me, or any of us. But you can widen your road, push your boundaries, and stop trying to fit into a shape that was never yours.
Key Topics
- Why one meditation method will never work for eight billion different minds
- The night I hit rock bottom, and the kindness that started everything
- Reading As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, and why ten books saying the same thing is hard to ignore
- Neuroplasticity, and how you can widen your road even if you can't change it
- ADHD, dyslexia and finding ways to meditate when your mind refuses to be quiet
- Why accepting yourself is so much easier than trying to change everyone else
If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee at stevenwebb.uk.
Supporters Thanked in Episode
Suzanne, Maria, Michael, Tiffany, Ellen, Kathleen, Edyll, Nicola, Jess, Lynette, Linda, Laura, Yavuz, and a few kind anonymous souls.
Special thanks: Jane, marking one year as a monthly supporter on 15th April 2026.
You keep this podcast advert free.
26 April 2026, 11:00 am - 29 minutes 52 secondsDemystifying Meditation: What You Need to Know
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- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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Back to Basics: Why Meditate?
Description
You've tried meditation. Maybe you dip in and out of it. You feel a little better for a few days, then life gets loud and you forget. Then you snap at someone, or you fire off the email you regret, and you think "I know better than this." This episode is for you, and honestly, it's for me too.
In this back to basics episode, I bust the biggest myths about meditation. I talk about why we don't meditate to clear the mind, why five minutes really is enough, why a wandering mind is not a failed mind, and why the real test of meditation is not how peaceful you feel on the cushion, but how you handle the family barbecue, the doctor's waiting room, and the colleague who winds you up.
If you've ever felt like you're doing meditation wrong, this is your invitation to start again. Simply, honestly, and from wherever you are.
Key topics
- Why meditation matters in real life, not just on the cushion
- The seven biggest myths about meditation, busted
- The gap between thought and reaction, and why it's the whole game
- Why little and often beats long and rare
- How to know if your meditation practice is actually working
Companion meditation
Inner Peace Meditations #99: Peace Right Where You Are. A simple five minute guided meditation to go with this episode. No visualisation, no setup, no special place. Just breath, thoughts, and the peace that's already here.
With thanks to
Sin, Margaret, Annie, Melike, Helen, Laura, Adam, Dominique, and a special welcome to Linda who has just joined as a new monthly supporter. You are the reason this podcast stays advert free.
If this episode meant something to you, please share it with someone who might need it, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or treat me to a coffee at stevenwebb.uk.
18 April 2026, 11:00 am - 16 minutes 21 secondsThe Dignity of Being Tired: Give Yourself a Break
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
- Steven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
The Dignity of Being Tired: Give Yourself a Break
What if tiredness isn't weakness? What if it's the most honest thing your body is telling you?
In this episode, we talk about why we treat exhaustion like a personal failure instead of listening to what it's actually telling us. I share what it was like being Mayor of Truro, running on empty, showing up to every event because stopping felt like letting people down. We explore why busyness has become a badge of honour, why animals rest without guilt and we can't, and what actually happens in your brain when you don't get proper rest. This isn't about life hacks. It's about giving yourself permission to stop before you have nothing left.
Key topics:
- Why tiredness is not a weakness but honest information from your body
- The culture of celebrating exhaustion as proof of commitment
- What happens in your brain during deep sleep and why rest matters
- Thich Nhat Hanh on how animals rest and heal without guilt
- Practical permission to disconnect and stop being on call
Companion meditation: Inner Peace Meditations #98 — Permission to Rest
If this episode meant something to you, please share it, leave a review, or treat me to a coffee: stevenwebb.uk
With thanks to: Senga, Sujata, Jack, Denise, Glenn, Aileen, Joe, Laurie, Barb, Audra, Bronwyn, and Emily.
11 April 2026, 3:00 pm - 20 minutes 30 secondsWhat Rises When You Stop Pushing
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- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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What Rises When You Stop Pushing
An Easter Sunday conversation about what comes back to us when we finally stop forcing. Steven opens with daffodils appearing on Cornish roadsides and moves into a wide-ranging reflection on renewal — drawing on Alan Watts, Shunryu Suzuki, and Junpo Denis Kelly to explore why the things we thought we'd lost often return on their own. This one speaks directly to anyone at a low point.
All episodes of Stillness in the Storms are brought to you without adverts by the generous donations of listeners treating Steven to a coffee.
DETAILS
Level: All levels Type: Conversational podcast episode Duration: ~20:00 Companion meditation: Inner Peace Meditations EP97 — "Find the Green Shoot"
IN THIS EPISODE
- Daffodils on roadsides and what spring actually looks like before it looks like spring
- Alan Watts on waves and rhythm — the wave rises, crests, and falls, but the ocean never runs out of waves
- Junpo Denis Kelly on what arises first: caring. Anger comes from caring.
- Shunryu Suzuki and beginner's mind — meeting the season as though you've never seen one before
- A reference to Tony Hoagland's poem "The Color of the Sky" and the line about the end turning out to be the middle
- Steven's own recent hospital stay and what it clarified about renewal
- A direct word to anyone feeling behind or broken: you're neither
WHO IS THIS FOR?
- You're going through a difficult period and need to hear that it doesn't last forever — without being told to think positive
- You're curious about Alan Watts, Zen philosophy, or contemplative ideas but want them grounded in real life, not theory
- You've been forcing yourself to recover, improve, or move on and it's not working
- You want a thoughtful Easter listen that goes deeper than chocolate eggs
- You enjoy Steven's conversational style and want something reflective to sit with over a cup of tea
WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY
- A different way to think about low points — not as failure but as the turning point of a wave
- Permission to stop forcing renewal and trust that some things return on their own
- A felt sense of being spoken to honestly by someone who has been there
- Fresh ways into Watts, Suzuki, and Kelly that connect to everyday experience
- The companion meditation (IPM EP97) as a practice to carry the themes further
ABOUT STEVEN WEBB
Steven Webb is a meditation teacher, podcaster, politician, and the host of Inner Peace Meditations. A former mayor of Truro in the county of Cornwall, Steven continues to split his time between politics and the contemplative work he is best known for. After a life-changing accident left him paralysed from the chest down, he found his way to inner peace through mindfulness, Zen philosophy, and the teachings of Alan Watts and Shunryu Suzuki. He now helps others find calm and resilience — especially those who find meditation difficult. Steven lives in Cornwall, England and shares his work at stevenwebb.com. You can also find his podcast on politics and public life, Stillness in the Storms, at https://stillnessinthestorms.com/
KEYWORDS
stillness in the storms, renewal, spring, Alan Watts, Shunryu Suzuki, Junpo Denis Kelly, beginner's mind, Easter, inner peace, low point, waves
5 April 2026, 3:00 pm - 19 minutes 48 secondsFinding Inner Peace: Do You Need to Be a Buddhist?
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- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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Finding Inner Peace: Do You Need to Be a Buddhist?
Host: Steven Webb Website: stevenwebb.uk
Have you ever caught yourself collecting meditation apps, lining up Buddhist statues on a shelf, and wondering if you're doing peace wrong? In this honest Sunday morning episode — recorded while recovering from an operation and still on painkillers — Steven asks a question that quietly nags at a lot of seekers: do you actually need to call yourself a Buddhist to find inner peace?
Steven traces his own path from collecting the accessories of Buddhism to hitting rock bottom at forty, when inner peace stopped being a nice idea and became something he genuinely needed. What he found was that suffering doesn't come from life itself — it comes from our relationship to it. The clinging. The resistance. The stories we tell ourselves about what should be happening instead of what is.
Drawing on Alan Watts's famous reminder that "the menu is not the meal," Steven makes a gentle but clear distinction: the label, the tradition, the institution — that's the menu. The direct experience of stillness, right where you are — that's the meal. He also explores Jun Po Denis Kelly's Mondo Zen approach, where awakening isn't reserved for monasteries but happens in ordinary, messy, everyday life.
Along the way, Steven touches on the different branches of Buddhism — Theravada, Mahayana, Tibetan, Zen — and points out that the core practices of meditation, mindful awareness, and compassion don't ask you to believe in anything at all. He shares one of his favourite insights: that every one of us interprets reality differently through our own senses and brain — and understanding that simple fact is where real compassion begins.
Steven's conclusion? He's not a Buddhist. Not really a Christian either. But the teachings of compassion, understanding, and love that run through all traditions? Those he agrees with completely. And the world, he says, could use a lot more of all three.
Key Takeaways
- Suffering comes from our relationship to life, not from life itself. It's the clinging and the resistance that create the pain, not the circumstances.
- The menu is not the meal. Labels, traditions, and institutions point toward inner peace — but they aren't the experience itself. Direct stillness is.
- You don't need to be a Buddhist to practise Buddhism's core teachings. Meditation, mindful awareness, and compassion require no belief system.
- Awakening happens in ordinary life. Jun Po Denis Kelly's Mondo Zen reminds us that you don't need a monastery — you need honesty and presence, right where you are.
- We all experience reality differently. Understanding that each person's brain interprets the world in its own way is the beginning of genuine compassion.
- Enlightenment isn't a permanent state. There are more enlightened moments and less enlightened moments — and that's perfectly fine.
- Compassion is the common ground. Across every tradition, the call is the same: more understanding, more love, more kindness.
Thank You to Our Supporters
New monthly supporters: Stephen, Kaylin, Allison
One-time supporters: Femke, Hannah, Andrew, Tracy, Helen, Tiffany Lynn, Gem, Ulysses, Anonymous, Suta, Jess, Leigh, Gerit, Cheryl, Krysia
Your generosity keeps this podcast going — thank you.
Stay curious, and I love you.
Steven
29 March 2026, 3:00 pm - 23 minutes 13 seconds"Is This All There Is?" Answering the Quiet Question in Your Heart
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
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Episode Description
You've built a life. You've done the things you were supposed to do. But underneath it all, there's a quiet question that won't leave you alone: "Is this all there is?" In this episode, Steven Webb shares the deeply personal story of lying in a hospital bed at eighteen, paralysed and unable to speak, wrestling with the two biggest questions of his life. What he discovered is that "is this all there is?" isn't a sign of ingratitude or crisis. It's a doorway to something extraordinary: wonder, mystery, and the breathtaking magic of not knowing. Drawing on the wisdom of Rumi, Alan Watts, and Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki, Steven explores how we can trade our cleverness for bewilderment and see the world through beginner's eyes again.
Who Is This Episode For?
This episode is for anyone who has ever looked at their life and felt that quiet ache of "is this it?", especially when everything looks fine on the outside. If you're in midlife and questioning what it's all been for, if you feel guilty for wanting something deeper when you know you should be grateful, or if you've simply stopped seeing the magic in everyday moments, Steven Webb recorded this conversation for you.
What You'll Hear in This Episode
Steven opens with a vivid image of a butterfly landing in front of you and asks when you last truly saw the world for the first time. He then takes you back to his hospital bed at eighteen, where two questions rattled around in his mind for months: "Who am I?" and "Is this it?" He explores why this question tends to arrive in midlife, when the forward momentum of building a career, a family, and a life finally slows down enough for you to look around and wonder what it was all for. Carl Jung's idea of the second half of life as a turning inward sits alongside Rumi's invitation to sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment, Alan Watts' beautiful image of the unknown becoming a window rather than a blank space, and Shunryu Suzuki's teaching on beginner's mind. Steven weaves in a story about a little girl discovering that the world through a caravan window is the same world outside the door, and his own moment watching a wave at the Headland Hotel and realising that exact wave would never happen again. The episode closes with a powerful reframe: the question was never really "is this all there is?" The question was always "am I paying attention?"
Memorable Quotes from This Episode
"That question is not a sign that something's wrong with you. It might actually be one of the most important questions you've ever asked." — Steven Webb
"You are not ungrateful. You're not broken. You are not having some kind of crisis." — Steven Webb
"Not knowing didn't become a wall. It became a window." — Steven Webb
"Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment." — Rumi
"In beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in an expert's mind there are few." — Shunryu Suzuki
"The magic is in not knowing. The magic is in the fact that right now, in this moment, you are a conscious being in an incomprehensibly vast universe, and you have no idea why. And to me, that's not depressing. That's breathtaking." — Steven Webb
"The question was never really, is this all there is? The question was always, am I paying attention?" — Steven Webb
Try This Today
Next time the "is this it?" feeling visits you, don't push it away. Go outside or look out of a window. Pick one thing: a tree, a cloud, a bird, a wave. And look at it as if you've never seen it before. Because in a very real sense, you haven't. That exact moment, that exact configuration of light and shadow, has never existed before and will never exist again. Let yourself be bewildered by it.
Supporter Thanks
This podcast is completely free and has no adverts or sponsors. It is made possible entirely by the kind people who treat Steven to a coffee. Every contribution pays for the podcast and supports all of Steven's work.
A huge and heartfelt thank you to this episode's supporters: Angie, Helen, Suja, Suzanne, Lorna, Liz, Daphne, Sarah, Mikey, Jen, and Venetia. And to the monthly supporters: Joe, Audra, Sin, Jack, Glen, Barb, and Venetia. Thank you also to the wonderful supporters on Insight Timer.
If this episode helped you, please consider buying Steven a coffee. Even one makes a difference.
About Steven Webb
Steven Webb is a meditation teacher, former Mayor of Truro, and C5 tetraplegic. He has spent decades learning what it means to find peace in the most difficult circumstances. Through Stillness in the Storms, he offers honest, warm conversations to help people navigate life's hardest moments. Through Inner Peace Meditations, he provides guided meditations as companions to each episode.
Find out more and explore all of Steven's work at stevenwebb.uk
Connect
Website: https://stevenwebb.uk
Listen, subscribe, and leave a review on your favourite podcast app. Sharing this episode with someone who needs to hear it is one of the best ways to support the show.
15 March 2026, 9:00 am - 20 minutes 33 secondsWhen Letting Go Feels Impossible, Try This Instead
Links to Steven Webb's podcast and how you can support his work.
- Donate paypal.me/stevenwebb or Coffee stevenwebb.uk
- Steven's courses, podcasts and links: stevenwebb.uk
When Letting Go Feels Impossible, Try This Instead
Stillness in the Storms with Steven Webb
Episode Description
Everyone tells you to "let go." Let go of control, of worry, of the past. It sounds lovely, but how do you actually do it, especially when it feels like you're holding everything together? In this episode, Steven shares a deeply personal story about stubbornness, disability, and the moment he discovered that freedom doesn't come from letting go at all. It comes from acceptance.
What You'll Hear in This Episode
Steven opens with the story of his first years after leaving hospital with a spinal cord injury, and the nearly two year battle with his own stubbornness before accepting an electric wheelchair that transformed his life. From there, he explores why the phrase "let go" can actually create more suffering, not less, and offers a powerful alternative: acceptance. The episode includes a simple practice you can try today to step out of the tug of war with whatever you've been fighting.
Key Themes
Identity and stubbornness: how pride keeps us stuck
Why "letting go" can become just another thing to fail at
The difference between letting go and acceptance
The quicksand effect: the more you force, the deeper you sink
The butterfly analogy: opening your hand without expectation
How acceptance creates space for life to move
Freedom as a result of acceptance, not force
Memorable Quote
"Freedom is not about letting go. Freedom is about acceptance. When you accept something, truly accept it, you take away its power over you."
Try This Today
Find a quiet moment. Think about something you've been trying to force yourself to let go of. Instead of pushing it away, open your hands, palms up, and say to yourself: "This is here. I'm not going to fight it today." Notice the gap between struggling and stillness. That's where peace lives.
Support This Podcast
Stillness in the Storms is completely free with no adverts. It is made possible entirely by the kind people who treat Steven to a coffee. Every contribution helps pay for the podcast and supports all of Steven's work.
If this episode helped you, please consider buying Steven a coffee. Even one makes a difference.
About Steven Webb
Steven Webb is a meditation teacher, former Mayor of Truro, and C5 tetraplegic. He has spent decades learning what it means to find peace in the most difficult circumstances. Through Stillness in the Storms, he offers honest, warm conversations to help people navigate life's hardest moments.
Find out more and explore all of Steven's work at stevenwebb.uk
Connect
Website: https://stevenwebb.uk
Listen, subscribe, and leave a review on your favourite podcast app. Sharing this episode with someone who needs to hear it is one of the best ways to support the show.
6 March 2026, 3:00 pm - More Episodes? Get the App