How to Train a Happy Mind

A guided meditation on “universalizing,” a Tibetan Buddhist mind training technique for transforming our everyday problems and pleasures through love and compassion.

Episode 32. Guided Meditation: Universalizing our Problems and Pleasures

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One of the most powerful Tibetan Buddhist mind training techniques is universalizing, a practice that transforms everyday pains and pleasures into profound meditations. From arguing with the family to stuffing yourself with a delicious meal, life’s problems and pleasures can bring anger, guilt, and sadness. The meditation technique of “universalization” transforms our everyday experiences of pleasure and pain into engines of love and compassion.

Episode 31: Universalizing: Transforming Pain and Pleasure into Love and Compassion

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When we're going through difficult moments, it's easy to feel alone in our struggles or to be hard on ourselves. But compassion is a quality we can cultivate, not only for others, but also for ourselves.

In this gentle guided meditation, Dr. Shireen Mansouri invites us to imagine a source of compassion that embodies wisdom, strength, warmth, and unconditional acceptance. Through visualization and mindful breathing, we'll explore how to connect with these qualities within ourselves, meet our difficulties with greater kindness, and recognize the shared humanity in our suffering.

Episode 233: Awakening Your Inner Source of Compassion Meditation

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What if your doctor could help you feel better just by being more present? Scott Snibbe talks with Dr. Shireen Mansouri, a Canadian physician and teacher with the Compassion Institute, about how meditation and compassion can transform the experience of healthcare for both doctors and patients.

Drawing on her own experience, Shireen shares how a daily meditation practice has helped her become more present, less stressed, and more connected to her patients. She also explains how she quietly practices tonglen, a Tibetan Buddhist compassion meditation, during difficult conversations, and why compassion fatigue might actually be something else entirely.

Together, they explore the science behind compassionate care, the role of meditation in healing, and how even a few mindful breaths can change what we say next.

Episode 232: Should I Meditate With My Doctor?

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A 15-minute guided meditation on compassion: the wish to take away others’ suffering.

Episode 29. Guided Compassion Meditation

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Compassion is starting to rival mindfulness as the next most popular up-and-coming form of secular meditation. But what is compassion? Compassion, from the Buddhist perspective, is not just empathizing with others’ suffering, but actively wishing to take it away.

Episode 28. What Is Compassion?

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In this episode, Aproteem Choudhury offers a gentle compassion meditation for those moments when something difficult is asking for our attention.

Rather than turning away from discomfort or trying to fix it, this practice invites us to acknowledge what’s here and meet it with care. Along the way, Aproteem reminds us that we’re not alone in our struggles and encourages us to listen for the wise and compassionate response that may already be available to us.

Episode 231: A Compassion Meditation for Difficult Moments — Aproteem Choudhury

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Can compassion make loneliness less convincing?

Aproteem Choudhury, Program Director of Health at The Compassion Institute, explores how compassion can transform the way we relate to loneliness, trauma, and suffering. Drawing on his work with communities affected by natural disasters, gun violence, and challenges in healthcare, Apro shares how care and connection can help us meet difficult experiences without becoming overwhelmed by them.

Episode 230. Compassion Means We're Not Alone — Aproteem Choudhury

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What does compassion look like when we’re facing intense stress, trauma, or pressure? In this episode, we talk with Stephen Butler, Executive Director of the Compassion Institute, about how we can strengthen our innate capacity for compassion and use it to meet difficult situations with greater courage and resilience. 

Episode 229: How Compassion Helps Us Through High-Stress Situations

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A guided meditation on love, or loving-kindness, the expansive form of love, wishing happiness not only to friends and family but to all beings everywhere, including our enemies. In the language of Buddhism, it is metta or maitri.

Episode 26. Guided Meditation on Love

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