Practical Effects of Awakening on Life and Health

Do you ever feel as if you’re too busy to meditate, or that you’re simply not very good at it? This is something that so many people experience, yet today’s guest believes that this is ONLY because of a fundamental misunderstanding about what meditation really is.

Henry Shukman is an authorised Zen Master and Spiritual Director of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Over the years, Henry has taught meditation at organisations including Google, Harvard Business School and the Esalen Institute, AND he is also the co-founder of ‘The Way’ meditation app, which offers a unique pathway of training designed to help people deepen their practice. Henry is ALSO an award-winning poet and the author of several books, including his latest ‘Original Love: The Four Inns on the Path of Awakening’, which explores meditation as a path to compassion, healing and presence.

In our conversation, we explore how meditation can reconnect us with kindness, compassion and a deeper sense of being alive, including:

• Why meditation isn’t about achieving something new, but about rediscovering love – whether that’s compassion for ourselves, care for others or a deeper sense of connection with life itself
• How even just five minutes each day can begin to calm the nervous system, ease stress and help us feel more present
• Why kindness and compassion sit at the heart of health and happiness, and how practices like meditation help us embody them more fully
  Henry’s personal story of living with severe eczema, and how meditation helped him transform both his physical health and his relationship with himself
• The “four inns” of meditation – mindfulness, support, absorption and awakening – and how they offer a clear and practical roadmap for practice
• Practical, accessible ways to bring meditation into life, from stacking it with other habits to finding moments of stillness amid a busy day

This episode is a great reminder that meditation isn’t about adding another chore to your list or trying to empty your mind of all thoughts. Many people find it difficult at first and assume they’re not cut out for it, but as Henry explains, there’s no such thing as a bad meditation – the only one that doesn’t count is the one you don’t do. It’s about pausing, being still and coming back to the peace and presence that are part of being human.

In a world that constantly pushes us to do more, Henry’s message is a reassuring one: that peace, kindness and love are not rewards to be earned, but parts of who we already are. Reading Henry’s most recent book had a profound impact on me, and I hope that this conversation brings you some of the same insight and inspiration.

I hope you enjoy listening.

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Show notes https://drchatterjee.com/590

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