Embracing Playfulness and Self-Discovery

In part two of this deep conversation, two “happy” masters of meditation, Loch Kelly and Henry Shukman, explore a range of topics and questions through the lens of awakening as a natural human potential. What can we learn about how to shift into awake mind and heart to live with and recover from injury and long Covid? What is effortless focus and flow, aka Flow Know? And why is it so important for meditation and mindfulness practitioners to understand the distinctions between conventional mindfulness and more direct paths like Zen and Effortless Mindfulness? 

And finally, what are the benefits of new emergent spiritual models that integrate nondual mindfulness and Internal Family Systems? How does it work and how are models like this different from more traditional approaches to waking up and growing up? Loch and Henry Shukman engage with these questions and more.

Part 1 Recap

In part one, Loch and Henry Shukman explore their similar and unique approaches to awakening. With delight and curiosity, they share some of their own initial awakening experiences. They also discuss their process of discovering and unfolding and how they share it with students. 

To this end, they unpack and illuminate the contemplative art and science of Inquiry and Koans as ways to shift out of the chattering mind and into our already awake heart mind. Henry talks about his experience with Zen Koans and Loch shares his Mahamudra approach to inquiry. Loch calls this Glimpsing, and it emphasizes immediate experiential pointers which help practitioners directly realize their already awake nature. 

Henry Shukman Bio

Henry Shukman is a meditation teacher, poet, author, and co-founder of the single-path meditation app The Way. His most recent books are Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening (HarperOne) and the Zen memoir One Blade of Grass. He has taught at Google, the New York Times, Harvard Business School and Medical School, and the Institute of American Indian Arts. He has written several award-winning and bestselling books of fiction and poetry. His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Guardian, Times and Sunday Times. He has an M.A. from Cambridge and an MLitt from St Andrews.

Mindful Glimpse 

The episode features Loch offering a guided practice called “Learn to Stay in Your Heart.” These mindful glimpses serve as invaluable tools for experiencing ways to access the awake consciousness that is already here within all of us. 

You can now explore all of Loch Kelly's practices and teachings on the new Mindful Glimpses app, found at https://lochkelly.org/mindful-glimpses. This innovative meditation and wellness app offers daily micro-meditations, step-by-step programs, and simple-yet-advanced tools for awakening.

Loch Kelly Bio

Loch is the creator of the Mindful Glimpses app, and an award-winning author, psychotherapist, and non-dual meditation teacher. He is also known for his unique practical methods that support awakening as the next natural stage of human development. Backed by modern neuroscience and psychology, Loch introduces Effortless Mindfulness, which combines an ancient form of nondual meditation and IFS psychology that allows immediate access to our embodied awake nature which arises as our calm, clear, and compassionate healing capacity.

Connect with Loch:

Mobile App: https://lochkelly.org/mindful-glimpses
Website: https://lochkelly.org/
Donate: https://lochkelly.org/donate
Podcast: https://lochkelly.org/podcast