For episode 244 Valerie Mason-John makes their first appearance on the Metta Hour to speak about their new book, “First Aid Kit for the Mind: Breaking the Cycle of Habitual Behaviors”.

Valerie is a founding facilitator of Compassionate Inquiry and the author of eleven books, including the award-winning book, “Eight Step Recovery.” They are a co-founder of the training program, Mindfulness Based Addiction Recovery, and work as a public speaker in the field of Mindfulness for Addiction and Trauma.

In this conversation, Valerie and Sharon discuss:

• How lovingkindness saved Valerie’s life
• How Valerie became the “Bully Doctor”
• Valerie’s journey in recovery
• The importance of community in recovery
• Recovery Cafe
• Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry
• Thoughts are not facts
• First-Aid Kit for the Mind
• The breath is medicine
• What is still true? What can we rely on?
• Dharma: that which we can rely on
• Thich Naht Hanh’s influence on Valerie
• How to maintain mindfulness
• The role of Storytelling in Valerie’s work
• How story compounds addiction
• Playwriting and poetry as social justice

Valerie closes the conversation with a guided meditation LOVE from their new book, First Aid Kit for the Mind. Learn more about Valarie’s work on their website right here.

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For episode 243, we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Tuere Sala.

This series features intimate conversations with longtime dharma teachers about the early days of their practice and the most impactful moments with their own teachers. Hosted by IMS Online, the third episode in this series. Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society and the founding teacher of the Capitol Hill Meditation Group. She is a retired prosecuting attorney who has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 30 years. Tuere has been teaching since 2010 and has a long history of assisting others in establishing and maintaining a daily practice. The conversation begins with a guided meditation from Tuere.

In this episode, Sharon and Tuere discuss:

• What drew Tuere to the Dharma
• Tuere’s work as a prosecutor
• Finding steadiness without fixing things
• How sangha supports practice
• Spiritual practice is not just about fixing what we don’t like
• Death is not a failure
• Suffering as poetry
• Sympathetic Joy
• How gratitude cultivates energy
• Tuere’s Christian faith
• The three refuges
• The effects of guilt in our lives
• Tuere’s challenges with compassion
• What Tuere’s practice looks like
• The Thai Forrest Tradition
• Sharon’s favorite Dharma quote

You can learn more about Tuere’s work on her website right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

For episode 242, Emma Seppälä, Ph.D. returns to the Metta Hour to speak about her new book, “Sovereign: Reclaim Your Freedom, Energy, and Power in a Time of Distraction, Uncertainty, and Chaos.”

Emma is a best-selling author, Yale lecturer, and international keynote speaker. She teaches executives at the Yale School of Management and is faculty director of the Yale School of Management’s Women’s Leadership Program. She is also the Science Director of Stanford University’s Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. A psychologist and research scientist by training, Emma’s expertise is the science of happiness, emotional intelligence, and social connection.

In this episode, Sharon and Emma discuss:

• Emma’s definition of the word “Sovereign”
• Self-loathing hiding out as self-criticism
• The toxic relationship with ourselves
• The myths of high-achievers
• Sharon’s story of facing self-imposed beliefs
• How Emma has worked with self-loathing
• Emma’s first meditation experience
• You have to name it to tame it
• Internalizing the stories told about us
• Awareness + courage
• Emma’s definition of the term “self-compassion”
• The disempowerment of shame
• The research around lovingkindness
• How intuition supports sovereignty
• What research reveals about meditation
• The science of happiness
• Emma’s study of breath-work for veterans

Emma closes the conversation with a guided meditation. You can learn more about Emma’s work and get a copy of “Sovereign” on her website right here.

Learn more about the Project Welcome Home Troops right here.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.