Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg

Rhonda V. Magee returns to the Metta Hour Podcast for episode 180.Rhonda is a Professor of Law at the University of San Francisco and has spent more than twenty years exploring the intersections of anti-racist education, social justice, and contemplative practices. A Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute, Rhonda is a global Keynote Speaker, mindfulness teacher, practice innovator, storyteller, and thought leader on integrating Mindfulness into Higher Education, Law, and Social Justice. Her award-winning book, “The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness,” was released in hardcover in 2019, and the paperback edition is now available.Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaThe conversation begins with Sharon and Rhonda discussing some of the ongoing assumptions about mindfulness practice and how they are often used to bypass life’s difficulties. Sharon asks Rhonda to elucidate some of the teachings from her book. Rhonda starts by explaining the concept of Racialized Bodies. Sharon shares her understanding of attribution bias and how that also affects the way that we navigate the world. They discuss how the different modalities of mindfulness and lovingkindness compare as a means to work with bias. Sharon asks Rhona to speak more about how she defines Racial Justice and what that means in daily life. They discuss some of the obstacles to cultivating empathy or emotional understanding when looking at racial issues. Rhonda shares her thoughts on Color Insight versus Color Blindness and then leads a guided meditation to close the conversation.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 179 of the Metta Hour Sharon speaks with Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher, Margaret Cullen.Margaret Cullen is a licensed psychotherapist and was one of the first to become a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher. For over 25 years, she has pioneered secular contemplative programs for various populations, developing and teaching contemplative interventions for research studies at Stanford, UCSF, Portland State, Penn State, University of Michigan, and the University of Miami. Margaret has contributed to the development of the Compassion Cultivation Training at Standford and become Founding Faculty for the Compassion Institute.Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaThe conversation begins with Margaret sharing more of her history and how she came to meditation practice in her late 20s. They discuss how mindfulness is defined in different traditions and the implicit quality of compassion that exists in it, and how Margaret’s mentor, John Kabat Zinn, folded compassion into the teaching of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. They discuss “emotional balance” in Margaret’s early work doing research at UCSF. Margaret shares her definition of compassion and the ways her definition has evolved over her time. She also shares some of the common misconceptions about compassion that she had encountered in her work. They also discuss Margaret’s views on compassion fatigue and collapse and the relationship between self-compassion and compassion for others. The conversation closes with Margaret leading a guided Compassionate Image Practice.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 178 of the Metta Hour, Sharon welcomes her friend and colleague, Omid Safi.In this conversation, Sharon and Omid discuss the nature of Radical Love and the many forms that love can take outside of romantic bonds. Omid also shares some of the factors and practices that support greater access to states of Radical Love. They contemplate what Rumi would do in a pandemic and what it looks like to flow to where the greatest needs and suffering are to be found in life. Sharon asks Omid about the cultivation of curiosity and humility in life and their roles in life. Lastly, they speak about accountability and restorative justice in the collective as a form of love in the public sphere. This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaOmid is a teacher in the Sufi tradition of Radical Love and the Founder of Illuminated Courses & Tours. He is a professor at Duke University specializing in Islamic spirituality and contemporary thought. The author of several books, his most recent release from 2018 is “Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition.” Omid is also the host of his own podcast, The Sufi Heart Podcast, on the Be Here Now Network.Dive into Dr. Omid Safi's illuminating Sufi Heart Podcast exclusively here on the Be Here Now NetworkSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 177 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Bonnie Pitman.In this episode, Bonnie shares about her work in the art world and how she sees art as a doorway to contemplative practice. She and Sharon talk about how differently art is looked at in Eastern culture and what role suffering has to play in the creation of art. They discuss the history of Bonnie’s “Do Something New” initiative and what that looks like for her today while still facing chronic illness. Lastly, they discuss the role gratitude has played in her well-being and, in particular, her chronic disease. Bonnie closes the conversation with a guided lovingkindness meditation.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaBonnie is a nationally recognized leader in the museum community. Her museum career spans 50 years of service in the museum, education, and university fields. Since 2008, Bonnie has been living with chronic illness. In 2011 began her daily practice to “Do Something New,” inviting the exploration and celebration of making an ordinary day extraordinary while dealing with chronic illness.Learn more about Bonnie and try the "Do Something New" practice at dosomethingnew.org See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 176 of the Metta Hour, Sharon is joined by Neal Allen and Anne Lamott.In this conversation, Neal shares his impetus for writing Shapes of Truth and how the book played a role in his first date with his now-wife, Annie Lamott. The three converse about the different ways they define the term and the experience of God or the divine, and how that interfaces with daily life. The episode ends with Neal leading a short guided reflection to bring the conversation to a close.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaNeal Allen is a coach and writer who studies and practices traditional and contemporary spiritual paths. He is the author of the 2021 release Shapes of Truth: Discover God Inside You. Anne Lamott is the New York Times best-selling author of 19 books, including collections of essays, novels, and long-form non-fiction, including the classic writing manual Bird by Bird and childrearing memoir Operating Instructions.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 175 of the Metta Hour, Sharon welcomes Christiane Wolf, MD, Ph.D., for a conversation about chronic pain.Christiane Wolf is a physician, meditation teacher, and author. She is the author of the May 2021 release, Outsmart Your Pain: Mindfulness and Self-Compassion to Help You Leave Chronic Pain Behind, and is a senior teacher at InsightLA in Los Angeles. She is also the lead consultant and teacher trainer for the US Department of Veteran Affairs National Mindfulness Facilitator Training.In this conversation, Christiane shares her background in meditation and what inspired her to teach. Sharon and Christiane talk about how working with physical pain can be a template for working with emotional pain and some of the cultural conditioning that can make chronic pain more difficult. Christiane discusses the difference between accepting and acknowledging pain and the role that grief has to play with it. She also shares some of her modes of working with pain through mindfulness and self-compassion. The episode concludes with Christiane leading a short guided meditation.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaThe paperback edition of Real Change is now available! Order HereSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 174 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D.Scott is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the mind, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is the founder and director of the Center for the Science of Human Potential and the author of several books, including “Transcend: The New Science of Self-Actualization.” Scott is also the host of The Psychology Podcast, with over 17 million downloads.In this conversation, Scott and Sharon speak about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Scott’s revamp of the model in his recent book, “Transcend,” which was released in 2020. Scott discusses the metaphor of a sailboat to represent his model of self-actualization. Sharon asks Scott his thoughts about the overarching processes of moving from contraction to expansion in life and his approach to personal growth and transcendence from a modern psychological point of view. They also discuss the popular wellness trend, Toxic Positivity, and Scott’s response to this phenomenon, Tragic Optimism: the ability to find meaning in any form of suffering. The episode ends with Scott leading a short guided growth challenge exercise to bring the conversation to a close.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In celebration of the paperback book release of Sharon's latest book, Real Change, in November of 2021, the Metta Hour is releasing an anthology of interviews exploring the themes from the book.These interviews originally aired in 2019 and 2020, with Sharon speaking to various folks about the intersection of mindfulness and loving kindness practice with social action. For the sixth and final episode of this anthology, we're exploring the theme of Burnout to Balance. This episode features interview clips with Ellen Agler, Joél Leon, Killian Noe, Sensei Joshin Byrnes and Shelly Tygielski. Each guest shares their own unique tools for cultivating balance and equanimity when dealing with the burnout that often accompanies social action work. The paperback edition of Real Change is now available! Order HereSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 172 of the Metta Hour, we bring you a special memorial episode in honor of Bell Hooks.This episode features Sharon in conversation with bell and was originally released in May of 2017 as part of the Real Love Podcast Series. We’re re-releasing it now to honor bell's legacy and teaching after her recent passing in December of 2021. Bell hooks is the pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins - a cultural critic, feminist theorist, and world-acclaimed author. She has been named a leading public intellectual by The Atlantic Monthly, as well as one of Utne Reader's 100 Visionaries Who Could Change Your Life. This conversation was recorded live at the JCC Manhattan in 2017 and moderated by Melvin McLeod, the Editor-in-Chief of Lion's Roar magazine.Learn more about bell's work at bellhooksinstitute.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In celebration of the paperback book release of Sharon's latest book, Real Change, in November of 2021, the Metta Hour is releasing an anthology of interviews exploring the themes from the book.The paperback edition of Real Change is now available! Order HereIn celebration of the paperback book release of Sharon's latest book, Real Change, in Novemberof 2021, the Metta Hour is releasing an anthology of interviews exploring the themes from the book. These interviews originally aired on the podcast in 2020, with Sharon speaking to different meditation teachers and activists about the intersection of mindfulness and loving kindness practice with social action. For the fifth episode of this anthology, we're exploring the theme of The Interconnected World. This episode features interview clips from Anu Gupta, Ellen Agler, Sensei Joshin Byrnes, Mallika Dutt, Sebene Selassie, Soren Gordhamer, and Yung Pueblo. Each guest speaks about the nuanced ways in which interconnection informs their work and their own personal healing.This podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/mettaSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.