15 - Yael Shy - Listen to Yourself
Deep Sit Podcast
I have a wonderful guest on today and I'm very excited to share this conversation with you. In thinking about the message of today's conversation I was reminded of a comment I recently heard make when he was . They were talking about Tim's recent silent meditation retreat and the benefits of them, and seeking out master teacher to help with your practice. I'll admit, taking a few days for silent retreat, even a few weeks, months maybe, sounds pretty good to me. But I do see my desire for that experience as an example of looking for answers or...
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14 - Daron Larson - Don't Try to Be Mindful
Deep Sit Podcast
Today on the show we are going to hit mindfulness head on and talk about how we might be getting tripped up by the practice, and how, according to my guest, we might be doing it wrong. Now don't interpret that as a judgement or criticism, but more like permission to take some of the pressure off. I know that over the years of practicing sitting meditation, I've had times where I get a little caught up in the practice, looking for it to do something for me, or I'm watching my meditation streak of days in a row. Then there are these great apps and tools and podcasts to equip us...
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13 - Atz Kilcher (5/5) - Getting On With It (and a Bonus!!)
Deep Sit Podcast
Congratulations, you made it to part 5, the final segment of my epic interview with Atz Kilcher. And while each episode stands on its own, it makes sense to start from the beginning to hear it in sequence to get a full understanding of his journey and the range of wisdom you can glean from his life experience. This episode is a great wrapper for everything we've talked about. I called it "Getting on With It" because for one, that's how Atz ends this segment, but also because for every hardship, every bend in the road, every moment of despair,...
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12 - Atz Kilcher (4/5) - The Victim & Resolution
Deep Sit Podcast
Today is Part 4 of my interview with Atz Kilcher, and after 3 hours of digging deep into the conflict and trauma that Atz has work so hard to overcome in his life, we finally find his Mother, Ruth. I found it interesting that it took us this long to talk about her, but even more interesting when Atz told me he originally intended to write his new memoir, Son of a Midnight Land, about her. But maybe just as it took us 3 hours to finally talk about her, he needs more time to dig into the complexity mystery of his Mom. Surprisingly,...
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11 - Atz Kilcher (3/5) - PTSD
Deep Sit Podcast
We've made it to the half way point in my interview with Atz Kilcher, and after two and a half hours you might expect we'd be getting close to wrapping up, possibly running out of things to talk about. Not the case here, everything up until this point was really just a warm up. As we enter hour three of our conversation we address PTSD, a debilitating mental and emotional disorder that has gone by many names in history, but is perhaps just now getting the attention it deserves in society. This is a topic very near and dear to Atz as he has dealt with...
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10 - Atz Kilcher (2/5) - Generosity & Rejection
Deep Sit Podcast
Today I continue my interview with Atz Kilcher. This is Part 2 and is where Atz really started to help me personally. I don't know if I mentioned this in the intro to Part 1, but my experience sitting with Atz for a day was life changing, and I don’t say that lightly. I don't do this podcast to report the news, or simply deliver someone else's message. My main objective when I sit down with someone is to learn and find the guiding wisdom that I can integrate into my own life. It sounds quite selfish when I put it that...
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09 - Atz Kilcher (1/5) - Hard Work
Deep Sit Podcast
Part 1 - Hard Work: Today I'm kicking off my interview series with . I felt like I sat down with someone, who at the age of 70, with perhaps nothing left to prove, is on the brink of discovering the true or perhaps ultimate meaning and purpose of his life. Atz is the son of Alaskan homesteaders, gaining unexpected fame late in life on reality TV on the series , and of course he is father to , one of the greatest singer-songwriters of our time. But amazingly, Atz might just now be hitting his stride in a way that is probably unimaginable...
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08 - Shinzen Young - Arrive Where You Started - Pt 2
Deep Sit Podcast
Arrive Where You Started - Part 2 Today I have someone very special on the show, one of the most respected and well-known teachers of mindfulness and meditation. His name is , and his recent book, , immediately caught my attention because I've never thought of enlightenment in scientific terms before, and of course what really turned me on to meditation was how neuroscience has captured what happens in the brain. Given that the word enlightenment is even hard for some people to say without feeling they've gone full on new-aged hippy, talking about it more...
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07 - Shinzen Young - Arrive Where You Started - Pt 1
Deep Sit Podcast
Arrive Where You Started - Part 1 Today I have someone very special on the show, one of the most respected and well-known teachers of mindfulness and meditation. His name is , and his recent book, , immediately caught my attention because I've never thought of enlightenment in scientific terms before, and of course what really turned me on to meditation was how neuroscience has captured what happens in the brain. Given that the word enlightenment is even hard for some people to say without feeling they've gone full on new-aged hippy, talking about it more...
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06 - Normal is Overrated - Pilar Gerasimo
Deep Sit Podcast
From the moment we sat down for this conversation, my guest today gave me a sense of genuine inspiration to be a better person, to be a more authentic person, living with gratitude, acceptance, and grace. Her name is , and many of you know her as the founder of , which she ran for 15 years. But now she has embarked on some new ventures including a wonderful podcast calledwith her co-host , she has developed a concept calledwhich forms the basis for an upcoming book. We will get into all of that in this conversation, and her perspective on how to approach...
info_outlineArrive Where You Started - Part 1
Today I have someone very special on the show, one of the most respected and well-known teachers of mindfulness and meditation. His name is Shinzen Young, and his recent book, The Science of Enlightenment, immediately caught my attention because I've never thought of enlightenment in scientific terms before, and of course what really turned me on to meditation was how neuroscience has captured what happens in the brain. Given that the word enlightenment is even hard for some people to say without feeling they've gone full on new-aged hippy, talking about it more practically, like an everyday occurrence, that can even be measured, well...sign me up!
Shinzen is an intriguing guy, and I wanted to know what makes him tick. Taking this path took root early in life, but also required a powerful sense of curiosity and determination. Come to find out, for Shinzen it also involved feeling a little miserable and anxious trying to fit in to the conventional aspirations of our Western society.
So in this two-part interview, we spend a considerable amount of time exploring the motivations and events that led Shinzen down this path. It is a very personal, honest, and revealing account of his pain, endurance, and the eventual peace of mind he experienced in becoming a Buddhist monk.
We discuss enlightenment, what it means, whether it's important for us to strive for, and how it just might be at the core of our very being. We also dive into meditation techniques we can employ not just in seeking enlightenment, but also to feel a little better in our day to day lives. Shinzen even takes time to evaluate and coach me in part 2 on my own practice, and it sounds like I'm doing pretty well. So enlightenment must be right around the corner!!
To summarize, not only am I speaking with a master-teacher of mindfulness and meditation, I'm talking to someone who feels meaning and purpose in every ounce of his body. When he discovered this path at the young age of 14, he never looked back and knew, without a shred of doubt, this was what he would dedicate his life too. So there's plenty to learn here about life, meaning, purpose and of course, enlightenment that only a master of his trade can teach.
Please welcome my guest today, Shinzen Young.
Thanks for listening,
PF