How to Get Out of Your Head | Willa Blythe Baker

11/24/21 • 49 min

5 Listeners

It is a common desire to get out of our heads, to escape the internal noise, the chatter, the Sturm und Drang, the sound and fury, etc. You hear about it in pop songs and poetry, this urge to be blown away, to transcend. But how do you actually do it?

Willa Blythe Baker can help answer this question and is a font of practical advice. She is the Founder and Spiritual Director of Natural Dharma Fellowship in Boston, MA and its retreat center Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH. She was authorized as a dharma teacher and lineage holder in the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism after twelve years of monastic training and two consecutive three-year retreats. She has a doctorate from Harvard University and is the author of the new book, The Wakeful Body: Somatic Mindfulness as a Path to Freedom.

This episode talks about Willa’s new book and explores: what somatic mindfulness is; the four levels of your body; specific exercises for getting out of your head; and how to meditate without all the effort. This rangy conversation goes on all sorts of fascinating, esoteric digressions, but always comes back to the practical stuff.

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Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/willa-blythe-baker-399

Subscribe by December 1 to get 40% off a Ten Percent Happier subscription! Click here for your discount.

Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/willa-blythe-baker-399

Previous Episode

The Right Kind of Suffering | Paul Bloom

Is there a good kind of suffering? Paul Bloom says, yes -- there is a kind of suffering that you choose. This voluntary suffering can reduce anxiety and make your life more meaningful. This episode explores that idea, along with: why we are hardwired to worry about bad things (and why that’s ok); the difference between chosen and unchosen suffering; post-traumatic growth and why it’s not always true that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger; benign masochism and the blurring of pleasure and pain; and cognitive empathy vs. emotional empathy.

Dr. Paul Bloom is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto and the Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University. He is the author of six books, the most recent of which is called, The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning.

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Next Episode

An Ancient Antidote to Holiday Stress | Bonus Meditation with Sebene Selassie

1 Recommendations

This meditation will explore an ancient meditation on the classical elements of matter, helping you connect more deeply with your body.

Growing up, Sebene felt like a big weirdo. Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and raised in white neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., she was a tomboy Black girl who loved Monty Python and UB40. She never believed she belonged. Thirty years ago, she began studying Buddhism as an undergraduate at McGill University where she majored in Comparative Religious Studies. Now, Sebene is a teacher, author, and speaker who teaches that meditation can help us remember our inherent sense of belonging, that our individual freedom affects absolutely everyone and everything, and that our collective freedom depends on each and every one of us.

To find this meditation in the Ten Percent Happier app, you can search for “Four Elements,” or click here: https://10percenthappier.app.link/content?meditation=1ba1eb16-2918-4f7d-b4cd-160ecad8e4ab.

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