For some time The Courageous Life has featured conversations with people who are leading the way when it comes to researching, practicing, and teaching about ancient virtues like courage, kindness, empathy, compassion, humility, and love. Together we have explored the intersection between ancient wisdom traditions and modern science; discussing insights, tools, and practices that can be used to help people live well in the reality of our busy everyday experience. 

Today’s guest, Dr. Stephen G. Post, is a trailblazer in this space. He has helped to push so much of this work forward through his leadership in the fields of medicine, positive psychology, and spirituality.  As part of his groundbreaking work, Stephen founded the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love, which researches and distributes knowledge on kindness, giving, and spirituality. We'll dive into this and much more in today's episode!

In this deep and wide-ranging conversation we explore a variety of highlights from Stephen's pioneering career including:

• A variety of stories that offer a glimpse into some of the key moments that helped to shape the work he is doing today, including the amazing origin story of how, with the help of Sir John Templeton, he founded the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love. 
• Why we lose access to compassion and empathy in busy environments, and a simple 3-step process for counteracting this, which he uses with healthcare workers and medical students.
• Practices to develop our ability to listen more fully and deeply. 
• Highlights from his work on giving - including why How much you give isn’t as important as how much kindness you put into the giving.
• Some of the most intriguing research findings on giving, kindness, and love.
• The backstory on how the field of positive psychology was founded, and how an evidence-based book of character strengths and virtues came to be.
• Insights from his work on forgiveness and compassionate caregiving.

More about Stephen: 

Stephen G. Post, PhD is an international speaker, and best selling author of Why Good Things Happen to Good People. He is also a frequent contributor to major magazines and newspapers including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Time Magazine. He has also been interviewed on major broadcasts, including ABC 20/20, Nightline, The Daily Show, John Stossel, “Talk of the Nation,” and The Mehmet Oz Show. He is the founder and director of the Stony Brook Center for Medical Humanities, Compassionate Care and Bioethics. A leader in medicine, research and religion. Visit him online at StephenGPost.com and UnlimitedLoveInstitute.org.

Did you find this episode inspiring? Here are other conversations we think you'll love!

Dr. James Doty - Into the Magic Shop

Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren - The Transformative Power of Humility

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