A deep dive on Ayurveda, a sophisticated system for health that's been refined over millennia.

Nidhi Bhanshali Pandya is a renowned NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Doctor, the bestselling author of Your Body Already Knows (2025), and international speaker/educator known for her modern approach to women's health and longevity.

In this episode we talk about:

• What Ayurveda actually is beyond TikTok trends
• How ancient Ayurvedic principles align with (and differ from) modern medicine
• How to brace yourself in the face of an imbalanced ecosystem
• The human tragedy of overoptimization
• The value of awe, fascination, and pattern-seeing as more effective than discipline or force
• The three codes of life
• The framework to come back into our own intelligence in the kindest way
• How modern life (especially electricity) disrupted our biological rhythm and created chronic imbalance
• The concept of balance and the Buddhist middle path as echoed in Ayurvedic texts
• The "inner climate" framework
• Practical tools for sleep, including concrete daily practices to offset "imbalances"
• The concept of agni (digestive fire) and how to support it
• A three tiered toolkit for self-regulation
• The perils of jumping into change
• Why cold drinks and excessive water can disrupt digestion
• Radical acceptance and gratitude

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A toolkit for bringing more movement into your life.

Katy Bowman is a biomechanist who runs a movement education company, called Nutritious Movement. She's the author of 11 books, and her most recent is I Know I Should Exercise, But...: 44 Reasons We Don't Move and How to Get Over Them.

In this episode we talk about:

• What a biomechanist does
• What Katy means by "movement as nutrition"
• How to determine your "movement diet"
• The distinction between movement and exercise
• Why people don't exercise
• Strategies for consistency
• The role of values and attention
• How to move if you don't like sweating
• How to find time to move
• The technique of "stacking your life"
• Overcoming embarrassment and shame related to movement
• Strengthening your "so what" muscle
• Getting comfortable with discomfort
• What to do when you're addicted to your screen
• And much more

Additional Resources:

• Katy's Substack

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Ever lie awake at night replaying all the moments you lost it with your kids, your partner, or your co-workers? You're not alone.

Bart van Melik is back on the show (his first appearance was four years ago) as our Teacher of the Month for January. Bart has one of the more interesting origin stories in the meditation world: from a small town in the Netherlands to Kenya on an exchange program (where he met his wife of 30 years), to studying in Thailand, to teaching meditation to teenagers in juvenile detention in the South Bronx.

In this conversation with executive producer DJ Cashmere, we talk about:

• The difference between being mindful and knowing you're mindful (and why this matters when your 11-year-old is pushing every button)

• Why awareness feels like protection

• How to stop the cycle of: snap, regret, repeat

• What Bart learned teaching meditation to kids in juvie who told him his meditation was "lit"

• Why your kids might be your fiercest Zen teachers

• The surprising power of saying "no" without aversion

• How everything actually goes faster when you stop rushing

• His favorite teaching from a modern-day monk: "Keep calmly knowing change"

Related Resources:

• Bart's previous episode on insight dialogue and relational meditation practice

• New guided meditations from Bart available throughout January

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Practical ways to upgrade your narrative.

Melissa Febos is the national bestselling author of five books, including Girlhood, Body Work: The Radical Power of Personal Narrative, and a new memoir, The Dry Season. She is the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts and others. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New Yorker, The Best American Essays and others. She is a professor at the University of Iowa.

In this episode we talk about:

• How to "audit" your personal narrative with simple questions
• Melissa's five-step method for rewriting unhelpful stories
• Why community, and vulnerability are required for real change; in other words, why it's harder to do this work alone
• Melissa's own experiences running this playbook with regard to her relationships and her addictions.

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How psychology and spirituality can work together.

Amita Schmidt is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Hawaii. She has taught Vipassana meditation for over thirty years, and was the Resident Teacher at Insight Meditation Society for six years. She is the author of the book Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master. Amita currently teaches and practices non-dual meditation and is a certified IFS (Internal Family Systems) therapist.

In this episode we talk about:

• How psychology and spirituality can work together
• The basics of Internal Family Systems (or IFS)
• Amita's personal path through trauma, depression, and a pivotal insight that changed everything
• Why states like depression aren't as solid as they feel
• How to work with the inner critic
• Simple ways to access the sanest, wisest version of yourself
• The shift from psychological healing to spiritual insight
• The value of acceptance and surrender
• Simple pointers for sensing "aware presence" beneath all the mental noise

Related Episodes:

• How (and Why) to Hug Your Inner Dragons | Richard Schwartz
• How To Handle Your Demons | Richard Schwartz

Additional resources:

• Amita on InsightTimer
• Amita on DharmaSeed

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The legendary psychotherapist unpacks the concept of "hostile dependency" and explains why cutting people off doesn't always work.

Psychotherapist and New York Times bestselling author Esther Perel is a leading voice on modern relationships, known for her widely viewed TED Talks, bestselling books and the hit podcast. She runs a New York–based therapy practice and advises global organizations and platforms on the complexities of contemporary relationships.

Follow Esther Perel's podcast Where Should We Begin? on YouTube, Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and subscribe to Entre Nous with Esther Perel on Substack for exclusive bonus content.

In this episode we talk about:

• What Esther Perel really means by eros
• How modern life quietly depletes our sense of feeling alive
• Why aliveness can coexist with grief, pain, and difficulty
• The danger of numbness
• Introverts, extroverts, and the many non-social ways we experience vitality
• Vital sources of connection and meaning
• Co-regulation, touch, presence, and why words alone aren't enough
• "Hostile dependency" and the paradoxes of long-term relationships
• Why loneliness has become normalized, and why it shouldn't be
• How to rebuild community through small, practical acts
• Rituals as a way to mark time, create meaning, and feel grounded
• The tension between individualism, belonging, and responsibility to others

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Today we're gonna talk about some Buddhist hacks for two deeply related and all too common ailments: anxiety and overthinking. Most of us have struggled with one or both of these, and one of the people who has helped Dan the most is Joseph Goldstein.

Regular listeners to this podcast will be familiar with Joseph and his very direct, very down-to-earth style, but if you don't know – let us introduce you. He's one of the foremost Buddhist teachers in the west, he's been Dan's teacher for about 15 years, and Dan's recently convinced him to write a book together, using a collection of these little phrases that he's cooked up over the years. Dan's been keeping a list of around a hundred or so tiny, useful phrases – bite-sized wisdom for meditation practice and for daily life. The book won't be out for a few years, but we're conducting a series of interviews with him, each one covering a few phrases, and we'll be releasing those here on the podcast.

The first installment of these interviews about Joseph's phrases just came out on Thursday, Jan. 1, and you don't have to listen to that episode for this episode to make sense, but they are useful together.

Today, we'll be covering:

• The practice assessment tapes

• Whatever works

• Cowboy Dharma

• Dead end

• Is this useful

• And a quartet about walking meditation: sensations moving through space, walking through space, walking in a dream, walking through the mind

Don't worry if those don't make sense right now – stick with us and you'll get a thorough explanation of where those phrases all come from and how they can help.

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You may have noticed that your mind is out of control. It's filled with racing thoughts, ancient neuroses and grudges, revenge fantasies… So why are we like this and what can be done about it?

Today, we're talking to one of our favorite people and also one of the most prominent meditation teachers in the West, Joseph Goldstein, about how "ridiculous" our minds are – that's a word he uses a lot to describe the mind – and some really compelling ways to train the mind. Spoiler: having a sense of humor is crucial here.

Just by way of context: this is the first in a series of episodes with Joseph, focusing on the phrases he uses while he's teaching Buddhism and meditation. Dan and Joseph are collaborating on a book that will be a compilation of these phrases and how to use them. This book won't be out for several years, but as Dan conducts a series of interviews with Joseph, we'll release them here on the podcast. There's another part coming out this Sunday, January 4th.

Just to give you a little taste, here are the phrases we'll be covering in today's episode:

• Just begin again

• Sit and know you're sitting

• Relaxed, not casual

• More or less mindful

• Thieves of meditation

• Mara, I see you.

• Ridiculous

• The mind has no pride

• Soundtrack

• The mind is the forerunner of all things.

These might not make any sense right now, but you'll hear Joseph explain each of these, where they came from, and how to use them in your meditation practice AND in your daily life. Incredibly practical, bite-sized wisdom.

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Buddhist strategies for taming that nagging voice in your head.

Ofosu Jones-Quartey, a meditation teacher, author, and musician hailing from the Washington DC area, brings over 17 years of experience in sharing mindfulness, meditation and self-compassion practices with the world. Holding a bachelor's degree from American University and certified by the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, Ofosu is a graduate of the Teleos Coaching Institute and is the male voice on the Balance meditation app, reaching over 10 million subscribers.

Ofosu leads meditation classes and retreats nationwide, having taught and led retreats at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, The Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, Brooklyn Zen Center, Cleveland Insight, Inward Bound Mindfulness and more. As an accomplished hip hop artist under the name "Born I," Ofosu released the mindfulness-themed album "In This Moment" in 2021. Born I's most recent album, "Komorebi" (2025), has been hailed by listeners as "a missing piece in hip-hop," praised for its meditative flow and spiritual depth. The companion book, "Lyrical Dharma: Hip-Hop as Mindfulness" (Parallax Press), arrives with a foreword by Pulitzer Prize winner Alice Walker, further cementing Born I as a unique voice at the intersection of art and contemplative practice. Beyond music, Ofosu is an author, releasing his self-published children's book "You Are Enough" in 2020 and "Love Your Amazing Self" via Storey Publishing in 2022. He lives in Rockville, Maryland, with his wife and four children.

In this episode we talk about:

• The relationship between self-compassion and a successful meditation practice

• All the reasons people resist self-compassion, and his rebuttals

• Whether self-compassion is selfish

• How to do self-compassion off the cushion, including practices like journaling, written reminders, establishing accountability partners, and simple questions you can drop into your mind when all else fails

• How to do self-compassion on the cushion, including practices like body scans, metta, and a check-in practice you can use at the very start of your sits

• And how to teach self-compassion to children

This episode was first aired in April 2024.

Related Episodes:

• Think You Suck at Meditation? This Conversation Could Help. | Ofosu Jones-Quartey

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Radical advice on rethinking success, individualism, and the American dream.

Mia Birdsong is a pathfinder, culture change visionary, and futurist. She is the founding Executive Director of Next River, a think tank and culture change lab for interconnected freedom. In her book How We Show Up: Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community, Mia maps swaths of community life, and points us toward the promise of our collective vitality.

In this episode we talk about:

• How to build community
• What it looks like in her own life
• Mutuality vs reciprocity
• How to work with resentment and rejection
• The etymological connection between friendship and freedom
• The transformative power of asking for help
• And why she thinks the idea of bootstrapping—or going it alone—is a kind of self-hatred

This episode originally aired on May 22nd, 2024.

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