Mag Dimond is the award-winning author of Bowing to Elephants: Tales of a Travel Junkie (which hit #1 in 5 countries on the day it launched and just won Best Indie Biographies & Memoirs from Kirkus). Her book has been compared to EAT, PRAY, LOVE in professional reviews and has received accolades from many thought leaders in the mindfulness space, including Jack Kornfield. It’s full of stories of her travels around the world, self-discovery, healing, food, and so much more.

Mag has been a world traveler since age 11 — living with her mother in Italy for 3 years — and has traveled the globe. Once a 10-year hospice volunteer, Mag is a practicing Buddhist and dedicated member of Spirit Rock Meditation Center north of San Francisco. Mag’s essays are on Elephant Journal (being read by almost 2 million people).

Much of our conversation focuses on how her early experiences with her family and traveling the world led her to discover Buddhism and to deepen her meditation practice as a way of cultivating compassion. I think you’ll find a warm intimacy as she opens up about her meditation practice and its importance in her life.