For episode 260, we are launching a new Anxiety Series on the Metta Hour. Sharon is speaking with Mental Health experts, providers and researchers for tools to work with anxiety in increasingly challenging times. To launch the series, Sharon sits down with Dr. Jud Brewer MD, Ph.D.

Dr, Jud is a New York Times best-selling author and thought leader in the field of habit change and the “science of self-mastery,” who blends over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training and a career in scientific research. He is passionate about understanding how our brains work, and how to use that knowledge to help people make deep, permanent change in their lives — with the goal of reducing suffering in the world at large. Dr. Jud is the director of research and innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, where he also serves as an associate professor in Behavioral and Social Sciences at the School of Public Health and Psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University, and a research affiliate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In this episode, Sharon and Dr. Jud discuss:

• The neuroscientific definition of anxiety 
• Fear of the future
• How we simulate the future
• The difference between planning and worrying
• Anxious feeling versus thought
• Qualifiers for mental health diagnoses
• The research behind Mental Noting
• The antidote to anxiety is curiosity
• Exploring gratification to its end
• How much does worrying help?
• Thinking isn’t what changes behavior
• We’re wired for happiness
• Neuroscientists don’t talk about willpower
• Internet myths about anxiety
• Deprivation curiosity
• How misinformation fuels anxiety
• Collective anxiety
• Default Mode Network
• Five Finger Breathing
• Noticing our “oh no” moments
• Kindness and curiosity are best friends
• The Unwinding Anxiety App

The conversation closes with a short guided curiosity practice. You can learn more about Dr. Jud’s work and get a copy of his book, Unwinding Anxiety, right here and learn more about his Mindshift Recovery App right here.

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For episode 259, we bring you the second half of a two-part series on the Force of Kindness.

Listen to the first part of this series released earlier in February of 2025 right here.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has stated, “My true religion is kindness.” Although frequently denigrated in our culture as simplistic and weak, the quality of kindness has an inherent power to transform our worldview from one of fear and isolation to one rooted in clarity, courage and compassion in action. Kindness is the fuel that helps us truly “walk our talk” of love. Recording in December or 2024 by the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion.

In this recording, Sharon teaches on:

• The aspiration of kindness
• Brahma Viharas as a basis for aspiration
• Lovingkindness as Connection
• Our Subway Car
• Reflection on Interconnection
• The definition of Compassion
• Sympathetic Joy
• Gratitude as the energizer
• Equanimity as the secret ingredient
• The eight vicissitudes
• The episode closes with Sharon taking some questions from the audience

Join Sharon’s upcoming ten-day wisdom course exploring Equanimity starting March 5th. Learn more right here.

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For episode 258, we bring you the first half of a two-part series on the Force of Kindness.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has stated, “My true religion is kindness.” Although frequently denigrated in our culture as simplistic and weak, the quality of kindness has an inherent power to transform our worldview from one of fear and isolation to one rooted in clarity, courage and compassion in action. Kindness is the fuel that helps us truly “walk our talk” of love. Recording in December or 2024 by the Drepung Gomang Center for Engaging Compassion.

In this recording, Sharon teaches on:

• The conditioning we face
• How our culture defines kindness
• The compassionate witness
• A ministry of presence
• Kindness as a motivational state
• The emergent properties of how we pay attention
• Who do we pay attention to?
• Practicing kindness for ourselves
• Guided meditation on how we speak to ourselves
• Punitive environments cannot sustain growth
• How resilience is developed 
• Sayadaw U Pandita’s trick question

Stay tuned for the second part of this series coming in February of 2025. Join Sharon’s upcoming ten-day wisdom course exploring Equanimity starting March 5th. Learn more right here.

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For episode 257 we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Christina Feldman.

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 seventh episode in this series. Christina is of the generation of dharma teachers that began teaching in the west in 1975 after spending some years in Asia studying and practice in both the Mahayana and Theravadan traditions. She is a co-founder of Gaia House and served as a guiding teacher of IMS beginning in its early days. She teaches Buddhist psychology in several university settings in Europe, and she teaches both traditional retreats and study programs. Christina is the author of Boundless Heart: The Buddha’s Path of Kindness, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity and co-author of Mindfulness: Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Psychology, among other books. The conversation begins with a guided practice led by Christina.

In this conversation, Christina and Sharon discuss:

• How Christina accidentally ended up in India 
• First encountering Tibetan refugees
• Christina first learning meditation
• Dharma as an immersive experience
• Sharon’s first attempts to meditate
• Different techniques in Christina’s early practice
• Goenka’s impact on Sharon
• Secular Mindfulness
• Practice versus Path
• Definitions of Dukkha
• What Christina is teaching lately
• Bodhi College
• Sharon’s work with caregivers
• Equanimity as embodied understanding
• How Christina has developed as a teacher

The conversation segues to questions from the audience with a guided meditation from Christina. Sharon and Christina then take questions on specificity of intention, working with physical pain, emptiness as a practice, moving from knowing a truth to living a truth, and Christina’s yearly intentions.

You can learn more about Christina’s work right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here.

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For episode 256, we start off the year in podcasts with a conversation between Sharon and first-time guest Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi.

Norma is a thought partner, a strategist, and a teacher. She is the abbot of Anko-in, an independent branch temple of Daihonzan Chozen-ji and serves practice communities in Hawai‘i, across the continental U.S., and in Toronto, Canada. She is an 86th-generation Zen Master, having trained at Chozen-ji for over 40 years. Norma has decades of experience in organizing, policy, strategy, and politics in Hawaiʻi, particularly in the area of Native Hawaiian issues, serving in the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and beyond. In the Fall of 2024, she released the book, “When No Things Work,” telling stories, weaving poetry, and offering wisdom at the intersections of strategy, politics, and spiritual activism.

In this conversation, Norma and Sharon speak about:

• How Norma became an activist
• Taking the long multi-generational view
• How to face discord by seeing the whole
• When Norms found spiritual teachings
• The inspiration for writing her book
• How Norma approaches faith
• Collective versus individual work
• Sharon getting humid in Maui
• Opening to joy and goodness
• Methods to interrupt habits
• The rebuild of the Lahaina fires on Maui

The episode closes with Norma leading a resonant breathing practice. You can learn more about Norma’s work right here.

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For episode 255, Sharon closes out the 2024 year in podcasts with an intimate conversation with Elizabeth Gilbert.

Liz is the New York Times bestselling author of Eat Pray Love, Big Magic, the novels City of Girls and The Signature of All Things, and six other books of fiction and nonfiction — which altogether have sold over 25 million copies worldwide. She travels the globe giving talks and workshops that encourage people to lead brave, authentic, and creative lives, and her TED talk, “Your Elusive Creative Genius,” is among their most viewed talks ever. Liz is also the founder of both the Onward Book Club, and the Letters From Love project on Substack.

In this conversation, Liz and Sharon speak about:

• How Liz came to her spiritual practice
• What love said to Liz twenty years ago
• Sharon’s experience doing Letters from Love 
• Cultivating a ministry of presence
• Liz’s twelve-step work with Love and Sex Addiction
• Two-Way Prayer
• The ability to receive
• Love is not a UPS package
• Earth School
• What is my next right action?
• The beginnings of resilience 
• Why is not a spiritual question
• Acknowledging the interconnection of things

The episode closes with Liz leading a Letter From Love practice. You can learn more about Liz’s work right here.

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For episode 254, we are continuing the Fireside Chat Series on the Metta Hour with guest Ruth King.

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 sixth episode in this series. Ruth King is the Founder of Mindful of Race Institute, LLC, and is a celebrated author, educator, and meditation teacher. She teaches mindfulness meditation retreats worldwide and develops meditation practitioners at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Insight Meditation Society, and the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. Ruth is the author of several publications including her most recent, Mindful of Race: Transforming Racism From The Inside Out.

In this conversation, Ruth and Sharon discuss:

• Ruth’s first invitation to meditation
• First hearing Jack Kornfield teach
• The deep calling to teach
• Initial misconceptions about meditation
• Ram Dass giving Joseph Goldstein his first teaching job
• Sharon’s first teaching retreat
• Ruth’s first teaching in the DC area
• Ruth’s life as a writer
• Artistry and mindfulness
• Ruth’s BIPOC teaching & online academy
• The season of eldership 
• The process of downsizing and moving
• Letting go versus not holding on
• Nothing is permanent, perfect, or personal
• This episode closes with a guided meditation by Ruth.

You can learn more about Ruth’s work right here and get a copy of Mindful of Race right here. Learn more about IMS Online right here. Listen to Ruth’s first episode on the Metta Hour from 2018, Episode 87, right here.

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For episode 252, Cory Allen makes his first appearance on the Metta Hour podcast.

Cory Allen is an author, coach, podcaster, and influencer from Austin, Texas. He writes daily thoughts on mindfulness and mental clarity for his large Instagram following, reaching over a million people a week. Cory is the author of two books, his most recent, Brave New You, has just been released from Hay House in 2024 in hardcover, ebook and audiobook formats. His podcast And Then It Hit Me, has over 300 episodes to date.

In this conversation, Sharon and Cory discuss:

• Meditation Barbie
• Cory’s origin story
• Opening to greater possibility
• Cultivating greater agency
• Story is everything
• Keeping language real
• Having an original mind
• The importance of self-trust
• How our faith evolves
• How Sharon challenges herself
• Intuition as an entryway to our deeper self

Cory closes the conversation with a guided meditation. You can learn more about Cory’s work right here and get a copy of his new book, Brave New You, right here. 

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For episode 252, Kristin Neff returns to the Metta Hour for her third appearance on the podcast.

Dr. Kristin Neff is a pioneer in the field of self-compassion research, conducting the first empirical studies on self-compassion more than twenty years ago. She has been recognized as one of the most influential researchers in psychology worldwide is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin. Kristin runs the Self-Compassion Community, an online learning platform where people can learn the skill of self-compassion with the help of others, and is author of the bestselling books Self-Compassion and Fierce Self-Compassion. Her new book, Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout, co-authored with Chris Germer, is now available everywhere.

In this conversation, Kristin and Sharon discuss:

• Kristin’s personal burnout 
• Kristin’s definition of compassion
• Myths of self-compassion
• What happens in burnout
• Negativity bias sinkholes
• The necessity of positive states
• Healthy boundaries
• Loving the Inner critic 
• Research on Self-Compassion
• Self-Compassion Example Scenarios
• Kristin’s new community offering

Kristin closes the conversation with a guided meditation on Self-Compassion.

You can learn more about Kristin’s work right here and get a copy of her new book, Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout right here.

You can join Kristin’s Self-Compassion Community right here and take her Self-Compassion Quiz right here. 

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For episode 251, Ethan Nichtern returns to the Metta Hour to talk about his new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds.

Ethan is a contemporary Buddhist teacher and the host of The Road Home Podcast. He is the author of several books, including The Road Home, and has been featured by CNN, NPR, the New York Times, Vogue, and Business Insider, and more.

In this conversation, Sharon and Ethan discuss:

• What Ethan’s been up to the past 7 years
• What inspired Ethan’s new book
• The image of tube people
• The dichotomy of hope/fear
• The eight vicissitudes
• Ethan’s definition of equanimity
• Holding Your Seat
• Learning to stay with your own mind
• The positive sense of pride
• Confidence as self-respect
• Building confidence if trauma is present
• Window of Tolerance
• The Four Powers of Confidence
• Ethan’s life as a Dad

Ethan closes the conversation with a guided meditation on Raising Windhorse. You can learn more about Ethan’s work and get a copy of his new book, Confidence, right here. Listen to Ethan’s Road Home Podcast right here.

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