For episode 214 of the Metta Hour, we continue our Mental Health Series with teacher and author George T. Mumford. In this series, Sharon is speaking with teachers, experts, and health advocates to explore and destigmatize mental health, applying the tools of Buddhist wisdom and spiritual practice. This multi-part series aires every other week in the coming months. In this episode, Sharon is joined by author and teacher George T. Mumford, a.k.a. The Mindfulness Performance Whisperer. George...

For episode 213 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we are continuing a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” This interview features a conversation between Sharon and Anu Gupta, pulled from the Living An Authentic Life Summit. Anu Gupta is a human rights lawyer, social scientist, educator, and the Founder of BE MORE with Anu. He has dedicated himself to finding solutions to bias through two decades of original research, fieldwork with diverse communities globally, and 10,000...

For episode 212 of the Metta Hour, we continue our Mental Health Series with meditation teacher and author Kimberly Brown. In this series, Sharon is speaking with teachers, experts, and health advocates to explore and destigmatize mental health, applying the tools of Buddhist wisdom and spiritual practice. This multi-part series aires every other week in the coming months. In this episode, Sharon is joined by author and meditation teacher Kimberly Brown. Kim is a guide to the transformative...

For episode 211 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we are continuing a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” In this episode pulled, from the Living An Authentic Life Summit, Sharon and Sarah Ruhl speak about creativity as a spiritual practice and how it naturally emerges from our path.  Sarah Ruhl is an award-winning American playwright, author, essayist, and professor. Her plays have been produced on Broadway, nationwide, and internationally. Among her most popular...

For episode 210 of the Metta Hour, we are beginning a special Mental Health Series! In this series, Sharon sits down with different teachers, experts, and health advocates to explore and destigmatize mental health. Applying the tools of Buddhist wisdom and spiritual practice, this multi-part series airs every other week for the coming months. For the inaugural episode of the series, Sharon speaks with teacher and activist, Reggie Hubbard. Mental Health Resources Psychology Today Website to...

For episode 209 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we have the seventh episode in a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” This interview features a conversation between Sharon and Parker Palmer, pulled from the Living An Authentic Life Summit. Real Life is now available from Flatiron Books in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. To learn more about the book or get a copy, you can visit Sharon’s website here. Parker is a writer, speaker, and activist who focuses on...

For episode 208 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we have the sixth episode in a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta This interview features a conversation between Sharon and Pete Holmes, pulled from the Living An Authentic Life Summit. Pete is a comedian, writer, actor, cartoonist, podcast host, author, and spiritual...

For episode 207 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we are celebrating the release of Sharon’s new book, Real Life, with a recording of her virtual book launch event. Recorded on April 11, 2023, and hosted by the Insight Meditation Society’s Book Club, this event features a conversation with Sharon and JoAnna Hardy, moderated by Dan Harris. Real Life is now available from Flatiron Books in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. To learn more about the book or get a copy, you can visit Sharon’s...

For episode 206 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we are releasing a special extended excerpt of the Real Life Audiobook. Read by Sharon, this hour-long excerpt includes the introduction of the book entitled “Introduction: Embarking on a Journey Together” and the first chapter, “From Constriction to Expansion.” The book Real Life is available April 11th, 2023 from Flatiron Books in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. To learn more about the book or get a copy, you can visit Sharon’s...

For episode 205 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we have the third in a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” This interview features a conversation between Sharon and Sarah Jones, pulled from the Living An Authentic Life Summit To learn more about Sarah’s work, you can visit her website. To hear this interview in it’s entirety, you can sign up for the Living an Authentic Life Summit right here, which runs online from March 29th – April 5th and is free to join. Sarah is a...

For episode 204 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we have the second in a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” This interview features a conversation between Sharon and Zainab Salbi, pulled from the Living An Authentic Life Summit. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta Zainab is a humanitarian, author and journalist. Oprah Winfrey identified her as one of the 25...

For episode 203 of the Metta Hour Podcast, we have the first in a special series celebrating Sharon’s new book, “Real Life.” This interview features a conversation between Sharon and Jon Kabat-Zinn, pulled from the Living An Authentic Life Summit. Jon is Professor of Medicine emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where he founded the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society, and its world-renown Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic. He is the...

For Episode 202 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon is joined by lifelong friend, Jack Kornfield to talk about the power of Community. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta In this conversation, Jack and Sharon discuss the many nuances of community, which is one of the three gems in Buddhism. They speak about: • What the three jewels are • The ways that community supported...

Koshin Paley Ellison joins Sharon for Episode 201 of the Metta Hour speaking about his new book, Untangled: Walking the Eightfold Path to Clarity, Courage, and Compassion. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta Koshin is an author, Zen teacher, Jungian psychotherapist, and ACPE Certified Chaplaincy Educator. After more than a decade as a chaplain and psychotherapist, Koshin...

For episode 200 of The Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with Diana Winston and Sue Smalley, Ph.D. about the re-release of their book, Fully Present: The Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness.  In this episode, Sharon, Diana and Sue speak at length about the advances in research over the past decade in the scientific research of meditation, mindfulness and compassion practice. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed...

For Episode 199 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon and Joseph Goldstein are interviewed by Lily Cushman, recalling their early lives. They each share what drew them to the path of meditation in the late sixties and early seventies and their initial years of practice in the East. This podcast is being released in tandem with the Insight Hour Podcast. Joseph Goldstein has been teaching meditation since 1974. He and Sharon are co-founders of the Insight Meditation Society and the Barre Center...

We have something special to share with you! Dan Harris (host of Ten Percent Happier) flies to Dharamsala, India to spend two weeks in the orbit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This is the first installment of a five-part audio documentary series, something we’ve never done before now. Over the course of the episodes, we talk to His Holiness about practical strategies for thorny dilemmas, including: how to get along with difficult people; whether compassion can cut it in an often brutal...

Sharon welcomes Shakil Choudry for Episode 198 of the Metta Hour Podcast. Shakil is an educator, consultant, and author with over 25 years of experience in the field of racial justice, diversity, and inclusion. He coaches executive teams and facilitates dialogue processes to resolve inter-group conflict, having led projects internationally and with organizations locally. He is the author of “Deep Diversity: A Compassionate, Scientific Approach to Achieving Racial Justice.” Today's podcast...

Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Daniel Goleman join Sharon for a special episode of the Metta Hour Podcast celebrating the launch of their brand new book, Why We Meditate: The Science and Practice of Clarity and Compassion. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta Tsoknyi Rinpoche is a beloved teacher among the new generation of Tibetan Buddhist meditation masters. Widely recognized as an...

For episode 196 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks special guest, Dr. Gabor Maté.  Gabor is highly sought after for his expertise working with addiction, stress, and childhood development. He has written several bestselling books, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, When the Body Says No, and Scattered, and co-authored the book Hold On to Your Kids. His works have been published internationally in nearly thirty languages. Gabor’s new book, The Myth of Normal, has just...

Husband and wife, Barbara Graham and Hugh Delehanty join Sharon Salzberg for Episode 195 of the Metta Hour Podcast. Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta Barbara Graham is a New York Times bestselling author, essayist, and  playwright. She is the author of several books, including her 2022 novel “What Jonah Knew.” Hugh Delehanty is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a...

Sharon welcomes friends and colleagues Andrés González and brothers Ali and Atman Smith back to the Metta Hour Podcast for Episode 194 to celebrate the release of their first book, “Let Your Light Shine.” Today's podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional therapist: betterhelp.com/metta Together Ali, Atman, and Andrés are the founders of the Holistic Life Foundation, a non-profit organization bringing yoga, meditation,...

Diego Perez returns to the Metta Hour for Episode 193 to speak about his new book, Lighter. Diego is a meditator, speaker, and NY Times bestselling author known by his pen name Yung Pueblo. Diego is a practitioner of Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N. Goenka. His writing focuses on the power of self-healing, creating healthy relationships, and the wisdom that comes when we truly work on knowing ourselves. Diego is the author of several bestselling books, Inward, Clarity &...

For episode 192, Sharon welcomes Cecilia Loving to the Metta Hour to speak about Diversity, Inclusion, and embodied Lovingkindness. Cecilia is an award-winning speaker, diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion thought leader, consultant, and author. Her work focuses on restorative justice, storytelling, inclusive leadership, racial inclusion, mindfulness, and well-being. She is the Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at PBS, with over 25 years of experience in...

For episode 191 of the Metta Hour, Sharon speaks with scholar, researcher, and author, Alexander Gardner. Content Warning – This interview includes conversation about suicide. If you are having thoughts of suicide – whether or not you are in crisis – you can find free support & resources via the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/ Today's podcast is brought to you by BetterHelp. Click to receive 10% off your first month with your own licensed professional...