For the 106th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague, Marc Lesser.Marc is a speaker, facilitator, workshop leader, and executive coach, known for his engaging, experiential presentations that integrate mindfulness and emotional intelligence practices and training. He is the author of four books, including his 2019 release, “Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader: Lessons from Google and a Zen Monastery Kitchen.” Marc was the co-founder and CEO of the Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute, featuring a mindfulness program he helped develop within Google. Prior to his business and coaching career, he was a resident of the San Francisco Zen Center for 10 years, and director of Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center.In this episode, Marc shares how he came to the path of meditation and discusses with Sharon how his personal practice has evolved to inform his career as a leadership coach. They speak at length about Marc’s new book, and some of the common myths and challenges of leadership in any type of environment. The podcast closes with Marc leading a 5-minute guided meditation. To learn more about Marc’s work, you can visit marclesser.net.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sharon Salzberg speaks with Diana Winston about her new book on natural awareness and formal meditation practice. They discuss the nuances of working with a teacher and Diana leads a guided meditation. They also explore the impact of mindfulness in diverse communities and the evolving perception of mindfulness among people from different backgrounds.

For episode 104 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague Dr. Judson Brewer MD PhD.Dr. Judson Brewer is a thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery”, having combined over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training with his scientific research.In this episode, Sharon and Dr. Jud speak about how Dr. Jud came to the path of mindfulness and meditation while in medical school, and how that evolved to become a cornerstone of his work. They speak at length about how the brain behaves in various states of connection, disconnection, lovingkindness, or loneliness and how this affects our ability to make choices freely. Dr. Jud also shares some of his work related to cravings and addiction, and rewards-based learning.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 103 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with friend and colleague, Susan Kaiser Greenland.Susan Kaiser Greenland is an internationally recognized leader in teaching mindfulness and meditation to children, teens, and families. She is the co-founder of The Inner Kids Foundation and was on the clinical team of the Pediatric Pain Clinic at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital. In this episode, Susan and Sharon speak about how Susan began her work bringing the tools of mindfulness to parents and children, as her personal journey as a practitioner. They discuss many of the challenges that kids today face with the rise of technology as well as the nuances of parenting in today’s fast-moving digital culture. The episode closes with a 5-minute guided meditation led by Susan.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the 102nd episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon sits down with her longtime friend Jerry Colonna.In this episode, Sharon and Jerry speak at length about Jerry’s journey of meditation and self-discovery. Looking at how he has brought those experiences to the field of leadership and business. To learn more about Jerry’s work, visit: rebootbyjerry.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the 101st episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with clinical psychologist and author, Dr. Urszula Klich.In this conversation, Sharon and Urszula speak at length about techniques for working with pain by applying mindfulness, compassion and biofeedback. Urszula also leads a 12-minute guided meditation practice as part of this episode. To learn more about Urzsula’s work, visit: MyMindfulWayOfLife.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sharon sits down with playwright, Sarah Ruhl.Sarah is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and is currently on the faculty of the Yale School of Drama. She has been the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Helen Merrill Emerging Playwrights Award, and the Whiting Writers’ Award. Sarah is the author of several books, including her collection of essays “100 Essays I Don’t Have Time to Write,” which was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2014, and “Letters from Max: A Book of Friendship” published in 2012.In this episode, Sharon and Sarah discuss the connection between creativity and practice at length. Sarah also reads from her book, discussing Metta (lovingkindness) Meditation, and Sharon’s childhood dream of writing a play!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the 99th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks will colleague and friend, Sebene Selassie. In this episode, Sharon and Sebene discuss how Sebene came to the path of meditation, her work as a teacher, identity, community and much more. Sebene also leads a guided meditation to close the conversation.Sebene is a dharma teacher, writer, coach and consultant. She began studying Buddhism over 25 years ago and has an MA from the New School where she focused on race and cultural studies. She is the former Executive Director of New York Insight Meditation Center and is passionate about making the dharma accessible and relevant for our times. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 98 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon shares a conversation with Dr. Kristin Neff Ph.D.Dr. Kristin Neff is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Neff is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first studies on self-compassion fifteen years ago. She is the author of Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself and The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook. In this conversation, Sharon and Kristin speak about how Kristin came to specialize in the work of self-compassion, and the nuances between self-esteem and self-compassion. They discuss many of the scientific discoveries about self-compassion that research has uncovered, and how these findings debunk many of the cultural myths surrounding compassion today. The conversation closes with Kristin leading a 10-Minute guided meditation on balancing Compassion Burnout.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For the 97th episode of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon shares a conversation about raising resilient children with Mark Bertin, MD & Christopher Willard, PsyD.Buzz words such as “thriving,” “resilience,” and “mindfulness” may fill headlines and sell books, but what do they really mean, and how do we cultivate these traits in ourselves and our families? Sharon and her guests look beyond the buzzwords and towards the basic concepts of skillful parenting that have been known across cultures for millennia. Together they explore the best of what both science and wisdom traditions have to teach us about cultivating happy, healthy families.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.