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How to Avoid the Toilet Vortex of Anxiety | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren

Sep 13, 2024

Sebene Selassie, a meditation teacher and writer focused on personal liberation, joins Jeff Warren, a dynamic meditation instructor known for his engaging teaching style. They discuss the challenges of meditation, including anxiety and feelings of isolation. The conversation emphasizes community support and shares tips for parents encountering chaos. They also explore the distinction between grief and mourning, practical techniques to enhance mindfulness, and the transformative power of engaging with emotions.

01:01:21

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Episode guests

Sebene Selassie

Jeff Warren

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Quick takeaways

Meditation serves as an effective tool to foster mindfulness and reduce anxiety by promoting self-compassion and awareness of thought patterns.

The importance of community is highlighted as a vital element in meditation practices, transforming solitary activities into shared experiences to combat isolation.

Grief is recognized as a natural emotion that necessitates mourning rituals, encouraging expression and community connection to process loss effectively.

Deep dives

Overcoming Anxiety and Judgment

The discussion centers around practical methods for managing anxiety, including the concept of avoiding the 'toilet vortex' of overthinking. Meditation serves as a tool to promote mindfulness in moments of stress and reduce judgmental feelings towards oneself and others. Participants emphasize the importance of recognizing and altering habitual thought patterns that lead to anxiety, highlighting the necessity of developing compassion for oneself when facing challenges. Techniques shared include using awareness to stay present rather than getting lost in continuous worry.

Intro

2min

Playful Banter and Audience Insights

5min

Mindfulness and Presence in the Chaos

8min

Navigating Anxiety and Self-Awareness in Meditation

5min

Navigating Challenges in Meditation

22min

Navigating Meditation and Personal Growth

5min

Embracing Mindfulness in Chaos

19min

Embracing Grief: Engagement and Transformation

3min

We also talk about: whether it is possible to be a failed meditator; grief versus mourning; and meditation tips for parents.

Sebene Selassie is a writer, teacher, and speaker who leads meditation, creativity, and nature-based practices for personal & collective liberation. Using ancient wisdom and modern science mixed with her own relational and relatable style, Sebene helps spiritually curious people explore the profound and sacred truth of belonging. She is trained as a meditation teacher, an integral coach, a practitioner of Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy for Complex Trauma (IFOT), and is a licensed hiking guide in New York State. She has taught classes, workshops and retreats online and in person for almost fifteen years. Sebene is a devoted student of mystic traditions, including astrology, and writes the popular newsletter Ancestors to Elements. Her first book, You Belong: A Call for Connection, is published by HarperOne.

Jeff Warren is a meditation instructor and writer, known for his dynamic and accessible style of teaching. He is the co-author of The New York Times best-selling Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, founder of the nonprofit Consciousness Explorers Club, and co-host of the Mind Bod Adventure Pod. Jeff's Do Nothing Project streams for free every Sunday night on YouTube; his guided meditations reach millions of people through the Ten Percent Happier and Calm apps, as well as through his Substack, Home Base.

Jeff’s mission is to empower people to care for their mental health, through the realistic, intelligent and sometimes irreverent exploration of meditation and personal growth practices. As someone with both ADHD and bipolar, he is big on destigmatizing mental health issues, and championing a neurodiverse outlook on life and practice.

Tascha Schumann is a Buddhist Lama, writer, visual artist, co-host of The Mind Bod Adventure Pod, and Juno-nominated recording artist whose work has been streamed many millions of times around the world.

Related Episodes:

How to Stay Calm No Matter What’s Happening | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren

Meditation Party: The “Sh*t Is Fertilizer” Edition | Sebene Selassie & Jeff Warren

Meditation Party with Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren: Psychedelics, ADHD, Waking Up From Distraction, and Singing Without Being Self-Conscious

Meditation Party: Magic, Mystery, Intuition, Tattoos, and Non-Efforting | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren

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