My guest this week is Dr. John Astin, author of the excellent book, This Extraordinary Moment (affiliate link). John has a really mind-blowing way of seeing all of reality, as you’ll hear in this great conversation. We talked about familiar concepts from meditation and mindfulness—for example, awareness of reality and finding equanimity—but John expands the frame in a way that’s truly liberating. He shows again and again how the reality we usually take for granted is way more stunning than we can even imagine. The upshot of seeing with new eyes is that our happiness is no longer tied to the ups and downs of whatever is happening. I know you’ll take a lot from the wisdom and insights John shares.

My guest this week is Colin Campbell. He wrote an amazing book called Finding the Words: Working Through Profound Loss with Hope and Purpose (affiliate link), about his experience of incredible grief and loss. I really enjoyed talking with Colin—as you'll hear, he's frank, down-to-earth, compassionate. I know you'll get a lot out of this conversation.

My guest this week is Dr. Mitch Greene. Mitch is a sport psychologist and this is his third time on the podcast. This time we talked about his great new book, which I enjoyed reading, called Courage Over Confidence: Managing Mind Chatter and Winning the Mental Game (affiliate link). This is a great conversation for any competitive athlete, at any level—from doing weekend 5Ks to Olympic competition.

My guest this week is Dr. Brie Turns-Coe, an associate professor of marriage and family therapy and author of the excellent new book, Parent the Child You Have, Not the Child You Were (affiliate link).

My guest this week is Dr. Jonah Paquette, author of Happily Even After (affiliate link), who is back for the fourth time on the podcast. Jonah is the happiness guru I turn to for exploring the science of well-being and flourishing. This time we focused on how to cultivate happiness more consistently in our lives—and why we tend to wait till we're seriously unhappy before using the practices that build positive emotions. As always it was a great discussion.

My guest this week is Dr. Willa Blythe Baker, author of an excellent book called The Wakeful Body (affiliate link). Willa and I had a great conversation about how the body draws us into connection with ourselves and with this moment. She had recently arrived in Hawaii, and you can hear the sounds of birds singing in the background!

My guest this week is Acharya Shunya, author of the recent book, Roar Like a Goddess: Every Woman’s Guide to Becoming Unapologetically Powerful, Prosperous, and Peaceful (affiliate link). We had a great conversation about the divine feminine, finding your authentic voice, and living wholeheartedly and without apology.

Growing up with a highly critical parent can have long-lasting effects. In this week's episode I discuss 16 signs that you were raised with a lot of criticism. Toward the end of the episode I offer reason to hope, because these tendencies aren’t written in stone. With attention and practice you can learn new patterns. With that in mind, I describe a simple 3-step practice to learn a new way of relating to yourself. This exercise is adapted from my latest book, Mindful Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. 

My guest this week is Amanda Gilbert, a meditation teacher, speaker, and author of a book called Kindness Now: A 28-Day Guide to Living with Authenticity, Intention, and Compassion (affiliate link). This was Amanda’s second time on the podcast and it was great to catch up with her. This time we focused our discussion around how to develop a consistent meditation practice. If you’ve felt drawn to meditation but have struggled to do it regularly, this conversation is for you.

My guest this week is Dr. Joel Minden, a regular on the Think Act Be podcast. This time we focused on taking things less personally, whether we’re assuming people are upset with us when they’re not, or we’re blaming ourselves when things don’t work out, or anything else. We also talked about thinking errors, or cognitive distortions, that lead us to take things too personally. Toward the end we explored why we don’t have to see our own faults and limitations as personal failings. I think you’ll take a lot from this conversation.