Behind the Scenes of the Journey Through Meditation Trailer
This photo was taken by Ruby, who came out to Topanga to help me film the official trailer for The Journey Through Meditation ebook.
If you haven’t seen the official Journey Through Meditation trailer that we filmed, click here to view it. In this post, I want to share a behind the scene look at what the filming process was like…
A Day Meant to Be Simple
Some filming days are predictable. You follow a shot list, the light cooperates, the equipment behaves, and everything follows the plan. I thought this would be one of those days.
I woke up early, rehearsed my script, cleaned up the yoga studio, and laid out the props we needed: the compass, the guitar, the hat. The weather was perfect—clear sky, soft air, that gentle all-day Topanga glow.
Ruby, who I hired to help me film the promo, arrived right on time – camera gear in hand, calm and ready. I felt excited, prepared, and honestly a little proud that this project was finally taking shape.
Then — the power went out.
Topanga’s Timing
Power outages in Topanga are happen occassionally — though I can honestly count on one hand the number of times it’s happened over the past year.
But thirty minutes into Ruby’s arrival, everything cut to black—lights, chargers, cameras, computers, all at once.
Of all days, it had to be this one.
There wasn’t even time to be dramatic about it; there was too much at stake. I felt the shock rise in my chest, but underneath it, something steadier kicked in. A kind of quiet determination: Alright. Let’s figure this out.
The Generator in the Corner
I remembered a generator stored in a box on the far end of the property. I dragged it out, wheeled it away from the yoga studio so the noise wouldn’t ruin our audio, and unwrapped it like I was defusing a bomb.
And then I saw it needed propane.
The property had several tanks, but all of them were empty. So I grabbed one and drove thirty minutes down the canyon to Woodland Hills. The first station didn’t have propane. So I drove even farther. At this point, the day was already slipping through our fingers.
But I wasn’t ready to give up.
Learning How to Start a Generator on the Fly
When I got back, I opened the generator manual like it was a sacred text—hooking up propane, adding oil, setting the choke. I pulled the cord again and again, nothing.
A little panic crept in, but I had an idea: Add more oil.
A few more pulls—and suddenly—life. The generator sputtered, then steadied into a hum. That sound felt like a miracle.
The Longest Extension Cord in Topanga
I still had to get power all the way up to the yoga studio. I scavenged extension cords from the shed, connected them end to end, stretched them across the driveway, around trees, up the steps—just barely reaching.
Moment of truth: I plugged in a light.
Nothing.
Then I remembered that one of the cords had been faulty when I tried it in the past. I tore everything apart, found a replacement, reconnected the whole trail of cables, and tried again.
This time, the room lit up.
Three Hours Behind, but Not Giving Up
By now we were three hours late. But instead of slowing down, something sharpened in both of us. We got everything connected, set up the mics, and dove straight into filming the scripted portion.
We filmed for hours without stopping. Ruby asked a few thoughtful questions at the end, and I answered them with whatever energy I had left.
And just as I finished the last sentence, the generator shut itself off—completely out of gas.
Perfect timing.
Golden Hour Rush
We still had golden hour ahead, so we moved quickly. Outfit changes, walking shots, guitar shots, compass shots. Moving through nature. Moving through the property. Ruby knew exactly where to guide me, and how to catch the right moment before the light shifted.
We filmed at the perches, overlooking the canyon at that soft end-of-day angle that Topanga somehow specializes in.
The Final Climb
As the sun began to drop, we raced up to the mountains for one final location—Summit to Summit. We hiked the last stretch on foot, climbing to a quiet little meditation clearing with a view over the whole canyon. The light was unreal—warm gold brushing the ridges, the sky opening like a soft invitation.
“This is your destiny,” Ruby said quietly.
And honestly, the words landed. After everything that had gone wrong—and everything we still managed to accomplish—it felt like the day was testing me, then rewarding the persistence it required.
The Polaroid at the End of the Day
Just before the sun fully dipped behind the ridge, Ruby pulled out my Polaroid camera and took a photo of me standing in front of the tree at the meditation spot.
By then, I felt a mix of exhaustion, gratitude, and disbelief. We had overcome a total power outage, a propane hunt, generator troubleshooting, endless cords, delays—and still captured the entire project exactly the way we hoped.
In the trailer I say:
“That’s the journey I call meditation.”
The ups and downs, the setbacks and small triumphs, the mindset that keeps you steady through all of it.
And on that ridge, in the fading light, it finally felt true.
Get the ebook today
If this story resonates with you, the Journey Through Meditation ebook offers a fuller pathway into the practices that shaped it. It’s designed to help you build consistency, understand your mind, and bring more calm into everyday life.
