Mind & Life

In this episode, Wendy speaks with contemplative researcher Norm Farb. Norm was one of the first people to study how meditation impacts our brains, and his broader work incorporates emotions, body sensations, and present-moment awareness. Their conversation covers many topics, including: his initial research on meditation, neural networks, and modes of self; predictive models of mind; reinforcing vs. updating our model of the world (and implications for political polarization); the default mode network and its role in cognition; how meditation can help shift our habitual patterns; what happens in our minds when we learn to meditate; the concept of mental foraging; interoception and how sensing the body might reduce conceptual processing; depression & interoception, and getting stuck avoiding difficult feelings; the self as the current model of the world; a deeper look at the idea of no-self; the ethics of updating our self model responsibly; localization vs. distribution in the brain; and the state of research on meditation and the brain. Full resources and show notes  

In this episode, Wendy speaks with contemplative educator and researcher Patricia (Tish) Jennings. Tish has been a pioneer in bringing mindfulness and compassion into school settings, with a particular focus on helping teachers. This conversation covers many topics, including: her experience as an educator and a meditator; how teacher stress contributes to the classroom environment; how contemplative practice can help bring awareness to automatic responses, and help shift them; the process of attunement and our core as social beings; how teachers can be sensitive to students who have experienced trauma; problems with the industrialized model of education; how teachers can be a force for change from the inside; yoga and body sensation as mindfulness for young children; somatic awareness and understanding emotions; and what young people need most right now. Full show notes and resources

In this episode, Wendy speaks with renowned and beloved meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg. Sharon has been teaching meditation in the West for over 40 years, and is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society. Their conversation covers many topics, including: finding Buddhism and meditation as a teenager, and where it led her; her experience as a woman in the early contemplative movement; loving kindness & metta, and their relationship to prayer; love as an ability; the role of narrative and story-telling in our world and minds; a call for balance and self-compassion on the path; the role of the body in meditation; why contemplation matters for societal change; and living into our interconnection. Full show notes and resources

In this episode, Wendy speaks with Buddhist scholar and author Robert (Bob) Thurman. Bob is one of the foremost scholars in the world on Tibetan Buddhism, and played a major role in bringing Buddhism to America. This conversation covers many topics, including: his entry into Buddhism, and befriending the Dalai Lama; links between Buddhism and science (and why Buddhism is 1/6 religion); problems with scientific materialism; enlightenment and emptiness; stories of the Buddha leaving home; four friendly fun facts (noble truths); realistic vs. right approaches on the path; jumping into bliss prematurely; Buddhist ethics; practices to push against essentialism; the key role of compassion in enlightenment; how he thinks about reincarnation and continuation of consciousness; the role of science on the contemplative path; and Bob's parting fun fact. Full show notes and resources

In this episode, Wendy speaks with social neuroscientist Lasana Harris about his work on flexible social cognition—the variable ways that we perceive others. This conversation covers many topics, including: his accidental entry into psychology; what flexible social cognition is; schemas and predictions about others' minds; dehumanization and why we do it; the role of propaganda and implications for the war in Ukraine; how these processes scale up from individuals to societies; bias and prejudice, and the key roles of threat and safety; the inseparability of cognition and emotion; how contemplative practice might help reduce dehumanization; information overload and echo chambers, and what to do about them; and looking at the concept of self to change social bias. Full show notes and resources

In this episode, Wendy speaks with meditation teacher and co-founder of Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme), Jessica Morey. Jessica has been working with the contemplative path through the lens of attachment theory, and shares how she blends these approaches for healing. This conversation covers many topics, including: her long roots in the contemplative path; meditation retreats for teens through iBme; the basics of attachment theory; contemplative approaches to healing attachment wounds; subtle body and trauma; developing embodied safety; grounding practices with the earth; why it helps to examine your own lineage; benefactor practices and imagining perfect parents; links between Buddhism and attachment theory; and the joys and opportunities of working with teens. Full show notes and resources

In this episode, Wendy speaks with contemplative researcher and social activist Juan Santoyo. Juan's work sits at the intersection of basic neuroscience and community-based programs; his central interest is in understanding the factors that are needed for peace and healing—both in the brain, and in the world. This conversation covers many topics, including: his path into contemplative research; neurophenomenology; life in Colombia and reflections on the peace process; working with ex-combatants through community engaged research; Indigenous practices to connect with land and ancestors; working with difficult emotions; self-forgiveness; the lack of land and ancestor practices in the West; how oppressive systems impact the sense of self; why contemplation matters for justice and equity work; integrating basic neuroscience with healing in the world; and investigating what is needed for peace. Full show notes and resources

In this episode, Wendy speaks with psychologist, contemplative researcher, and Zen Buddhist teacher, Al Kaszniak. Al has been in the contemplative science space since the earliest days, and his work has shed light on how meditation impacts our thoughts, emotions, and sense of self. This conversation covers many topics, including: his parallel interests in Buddhism and neuropsychology; research on meditation, emotion, and attention; how our view of self impacts what seems relevant to us; cognitive effort and emotion regulation; how his own experience of self has shifted through practice; attention and early emotion/affective tone; shifting out of the conceptual mind; the relationship of attention and emotion; how decades of practice have changed his daily life; free will vs. free won't (meditation as inhibition); increasing access to contemplative ideas and practices; mind as process, interaction, and context—and what that means for science; and the value of interdisciplinary dialogue and the "in-between" spaces. Full show notes and resources  

In this episode, Wendy speaks with Buddhist scholar, contemplative teacher, and social activist Brooke Lavelle. Brooke is the co-founder and president of Courage of Care, an organization that seeks to build transformational practice communities rooted in compassion, healing, and counter-oppressive frameworks. This conversation covers many topics, including: her trajectory of work from mindfulness to compassion to relational practice to social justice; relationality as the starting point for contemplative growth; Courage of Care, and the CourageRISE framework; routes to understanding oppressive systems; the body as culture; the skills needed to build multicultural community; applications in climate work; the non-dual frame as an antidote to othering; and love as an organizing principle. Full show notes and resources  

In this episode, Wendy speaks with addiction psychiatrist and contemplative researcher Jud Brewer. Jud is one of the leading figures in the use of mindfulness for addiction and anxiety, and his work emphasizes the brain's habit cycle, and how to change it. He's also developed a number of smartphone apps to deliver contemplative interventions widely, which research is finding to be highly successful. This conversation covers many topics, including: his own use of meditation to relieve stress, and where that led; the failure of willpower for treating addictions; the benefits and downsides of the brain's habit mechanisms; commonalities between Buddhist philosophy and modern psychology; the key role of awareness in changing habits; the basic "habit loop" (trigger - behavior - result); anxiety as a habit; mindfulness for habit change; divisiveness as a bad habit; research on the effectiveness of app-based interventions; next steps for digital therapeutics; insights on communicating science to the public; and the power of kindness and connection as the ultimate reward. Full show notes and resources