In this episode, Wendy speaks with clinical psychologist and contemplative Amy Cohen Varela. In addition to her work as a psychoanalytic therapist, Amy is also the widow of Francisco Varela (co-founder of the Mind & Life Institute), and continues to share his vision and work through the offerings of Mind & Life Europe. This conversation covers many topics, including:
- her dual interest in biology and literature;
- the contemplative aspects of psychoanalysis;
- skills learned from listening deeply to yourself and to others;
- how she met Francisco Varela;
- enaction, meaning, and participatory sense-making;
- links between Francisco's ideas and Buddhist philosophy;
- subjective and objective viewpoints, and how we oversimplify Buddhism and science in that dynamic;
- how more than a decade with Francisco has changed her;
- the power of curiosity and openness;
- doing and undoing the self in psychoanalysis;
- Francisco's reflections on the Chilean civil war, and implications for polarization;
- the need for systems to be able to "undo" themselves;
- and Mind & Life Europe's latest offerings.
Full show notes and resources
