Mind & Life

Al Kaszniak - The Universe of Verbs

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

 

Brooke Lavelle - Courage in Community

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

 

Jud Brewer - Changing Habits

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

 

Roshi Joan Halifax - Enactive Compassion

In this episode, Wendy speaks with Zen Buddhist teacher and author Roshi Joan Halifax. A pioneer in the field of end-of-life care, Roshi Joan was instrumental in developing the dialogue between science and Buddhism, and has been an advocate for engaged Buddhism, social activism, and compassion in response to today's crises. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• the birth of dialogues between the Dalai Lama and scientists;
• how our minds are "enactive";
• compassion as emergent and dependent on context;
• the trainable factors that set the stage for compassion;
• the importance of embodiment in health care;
• non-referential compassion;
• interdependence, compassion, and climate change;
• working with dying people;
• how letting go is safe;
• clinical use of psychedelics;
• and reflections on the field of contemplative science.

Full show notes and resources

 

Cliff Saron - Embracing Complexity

In this episode, Wendy speaks with neuroscientist and contemplative researcher Cliff Saron. Cliff is a pioneer in studying the effects of meditation on attention and emotion, and has been deeply embedded in the field of contemplative science since the earliest days. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• his winding path into contemplative research;
• drilling down and pulling back;
• conducting research with Tibetan monks in India;
• how brain signals can predict behavior, and implications for free will;
• the importance of context in meditation research;
• effects of intensive meditation on attention, markers of cellular aging, and purpose in life;
• community-engaged participatory research;
• communicating the nuance and uncertainty inherent in science;
• Ubuntu, and living into our interdependence.

Full show notes and resources

Bobbi Patterson - Contemplation, Place, and Resilience

In this episode, Wendy speaks with professor and Episcopal priest, Bobbi Patterson. Bobbi's work integrates Christian contemplation, Buddhist meditation, contemplative pedagogy, the role of place, and adaptive resilience. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• contemplative Christian traditions;
• the power of silence;
• dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism;
• a Christian contemplative view of mind;
• women in the church;
• how to listen to a place;
• bringing students into nature and urban settings;
• the role of the body in contemplation;
• understanding burnout;
• and adaptive and land-based resilience.

Full show notes and resources

Cortland Dahl - Integrating Science and Buddhism

In this episode, Wendy speaks with researcher, translator, and Buddhist teacher, Cortland Dahl. Cort's work integrates science, psychology, meditation, and Tibetan Buddhism. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• how meditation helped with his social anxiety as a young person;
• benefits and challenges in the dialogue between Buddhism and science;
• customizing meditation practice in the Healthy Minds app;
• understanding the diversity of contemplative practice;
• analytical meditation;
• meditation as a treatment for mental health problems;
• transcending the conceptual mind, and loosening concepts of self;
• seeing the limits of science;
• looking at well-being through the lens of learning;
• the key role of social connection;
• and moving forward with intellectual humility (knowing that we don't know).

Full show notes and resources

 

Zenju Earthlyn Manuel - Identity as Path

In this episode, Wendy speaks with author, Zen priest and Buddhist teacher, Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. Zenju's work highlights how the various facets of our identity can become "fertilizer" for growth on the path of spiritual and personal development. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• growing up in the Christian church, and the questions it raised for her;
• her unusual path into Buddhism;
• how to work with your identity while moving beyond the self;
• the truth of interdependence and cause & effect;
• two truths (relative vs. absolute) in relation to identity;
• bringing together spirituality and social justice;
• the central importance of embodiment;
• integration with nature;
• how contemplative science should proceed;
• and the dance between delusion and enlightenment.

Full show notes and resources

 

Willoughby Britton - When Meditation Causes Harm

In this episode, Wendy speaks with clinical psychologist and meditation researcher, Willoughby Britton. Willoughby is a pioneer in contemplative research and one of the only people dedicated to understanding the possible negative outcomes from meditation (so called meditation-related adverse experiences). This conversation covers many topics, including:

• how she came to study the negative side of meditation;
• support and resources for those struggling with meditation-related difficulties (Cheetah House);
• scientific research on meditation-related adverse experiences;
• changes in perception and anxiety that can happen with meditation;
• how the same experience can be positive or negative depending on context;
• how the causes of adverse effects may be the same as for the benefits;
• the science of measuring harms in meditation research;
• what we know (and don't know) about these effects—who's at risk, how frequent they are, and how they show up for people;
• whether or not these difficulties are "part of the path" of transformation;
• grounding care in compassion;
• and aligning practices with the outcomes you want.

Full resources and show notes

Nicholas Van Dam - Nuancing the Narrative

In this episode, Wendy speaks with meditation researcher and clinical psychologist, Nicholas Van Dam. Nicholas is the Director of the Contemplative Studies Centre at the University of Melbourne—the first such center in Australia. His work explores how meditation and mindfulness can support well-being, and help with conditions like anxiety and depression. This conversation covers many topics, including:

• how an existential crisis led him to meditation practice;
• bringing loving critique to contemplative science;
• the complicated realities of mindfulness, how we measure it, and its impact on the brain;
• looking at effects beyond just the individual who is meditating;
• insights from a year of daily practice;
• balancing personal interest vs. research objectivity;
• the freedom that comes from letting go;
• how skills learned on the cushion transfer to daily life;
• deconstructing the self;
• mindfulness and meditation for anxiety and depression;
• getting out of your head and into your body;
• connecting with Indigenous and other non-Buddhist contemplative traditions;
• and advancing evidence-based research on meditation.

Full show notes and resources