Self-knowledge is about understanding and opening to the potential that is rising to the surface of your life. In the series finale, Dr. Larry Ward outlines the key takeaways from the past 9 episodes, while sharing a few personal stories and poetic wisdoms along the way. For Dr. Ward, Beyond the News was a journey of discovery and an invitation to learn to listen to our bodies and minds as we listen to the world through the news. The stories and events in each episode served as a vehicle for...

What role does fear play in defining the limits of your heart and mind? Our fears, be they related to abandonment, powerlessness or environmental and social crises, can block us from realizing our true potential. They set boundaries to the capacity of our hearts and minds to be creative and free. Doom scrolling and consuming too much distressing news only serves to amplify these fears and anxieties. In this episode, Dr. Ward outlines the steps we can take to begin moving from fear to...

Close your eyes and picture your mind as a garden. There, planted deep in the soil are seeds or imprints. Imprints like anger, jealousy and hatred, or joy, generosity and compassion. When we listen to or read the news, these seeds have the capacity to rise to the surface and affect how we think, speak and act.  The practice before us, says. Dr Ward, is to grow our awareness of how to water the wholesome seeds that will lead us to a shared place of justice, wellness and harmony. Go deeper...

We turn our attention to thought patterns and the narratives and stories we tell ourselves as we encounter the news. On average, a young adult can have over 6,000 thoughts in just one day. And when we attach an emotion to one of these thoughts, it can become real to us and affect how we feel. By learning how to pause and examine our thoughts more closely, says Dr. Ward, we can gain control over the narratives we create and learn to live with greater equanimity and awareness. Go deeper with...

Our views are not fixed monuments. They are directional, flexible and open to learning. In this episode, Dr. Ward, invites us to pause, look deeply, and consider how we may change our way of seeing and looking at things so that we may live together in wellness, justice, and harmony.  To study and observe our views can help us understand how our beliefs and identities are interconnected. And if we are open to changing our views and recognizing their impermanence, says Dr. Ward, we can move...

"Are you sure?"... Perception, the process of recognizing and interpreting, holds immense power. It shapes our lives, our worldview, and how we interpret the news. Before reacting to the stories you hear, pause and ask yourself, "Are you sure?" This simple yet profound question became a lifelong practice for Dr. Larry Ward, inspired by his teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, the founder of the Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism. Nothing can happen without our mind being involved in what comes...

Continuing the discussion from episode 3, Dr. Ward delves into the societal implications of how we respond to the feeling tones we experience when consuming the news. Feelings of pleasantness, unpleasantness and neutrality are a natural and normal part of being human. Like clouds, they come and they go.  Yet when we scroll through our social feeds or listen to the news, we can unconsciously develop reactions to these feelings that drive our ego and shape our definition of self and others. The...

In this episode, Dr. Ward discusses ways to study and practice with our feeling tones when consuming the news. A feeling tone is a simple, direct and immediate sensation that we experience in our body and mind. In Buddhist teachings, these feelings are often understood along a spectrum ranging from "pleasant" on one end to "unpleasant" at the other, with a range of intensity between those levels. In the middle of the spectrum is the tone "neutral". Studying our feelings tones is important,...

Dr. Ward invites us to study our breath as we encounter the news, noticing how it changes based on the story. By paying kind attention to our respiratory system, we can learn how to calm our breathing in the very moment that we experience a shift. With time and practice, we can learn to let go of stories that harm us. Practice homework: In a notebook, write down a few lines that describe the characteristics of your breath as you consume the news. Was the breath long or short?...fast or...

In this episode, Dr. Larry Ward offers insight on how to listen to your body's reaction to the news—before responding. To take a step back and pause so that you better understand the messages your body is receiving and can then respond in a way that doesn't harm yourself or others. Learning to live in the world with your heart undisturbed by the world is not easy, but it is an essential practice to help us live a life with equanimity. It all begins with recognizing, naming and responding to...

Listen to this short clip of host Dr. Larry Ward introducing the Beyond the News podcast.