Kaira Jewel Lingo, a former Buddhist nun at the Plum Village community under the guidance of Thich Naht Han, joins Dr. Rick and Forrest Hanson to explore how we can cultivate trust and equanimity in the face of uncertainty. They discuss the somatic experience of opening to the unknown, taking action as an antidote to anxiety, and how to have equanimity both when things work out...and when they don’t.

About our Guest: Kaira Jewel Lingo is a Buddhist teacher who weaves mindfulness and meditation practice with social justice. At the age of 25, she became a Buddhist nun at the Plum Village community in France under the guidance of Thich Naht Han, where she stayed for 15 years. She became a Zen teacher in 2007, and is also a teacher in the Vipassana/Insight tradition through Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Finally, she is the author of We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption.

Recording Note: This episode was recorded before the passing of Thich Naht Han.

Watch the Episode: Prefer watching video? You can watch this episode on YouTube.

Key Topics:

0:00: Introduction

1:45: Kaira Jewel’s background

2:35: Trust in times of major change

9:10: Two kinds of uncertainty

14:10: Store consciousness and trusting the unknown

18:50: Somatic contraction and expansion

23:05: Responding to the truth of suffering with joyful engagement

30:50: Practicing equanimity

42:10: Defining equanimity

43:30: How to return to center in unstable moments

48:20: Body-based equanimity exercise

50:50: Recap

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