278: Sharon Salzberg: Real Love and Meditation

06/05/17 • 45 min

On today’s episode of the Healthy Wealthy and Smart Podcast, Sharon Salzberg joins me to discuss her new book Real Love which will be released on June 6th, 2017! In her tenth book, Sharon Salzberg provides a pathway towards more sustainable and authentic connection by offering a creative toolkit of mindfulness exercises and meditation techniques that guide us to strip away our layers of habit to access a truer understanding of love, “real love.” This journey enables us to become more present and to begin to experience real love—love based on direct interactions, rather than preconceptions. When we are truly engaged in these present experiences we are not only able to feel more connected to our own core selves, but also to those around us, and ultimately to life itself. Divided into three sections, Real Love explores love in three arenas of life: for oneself, love for an other, and love for all of life.

In this episode, we discuss:

-An introduction to Loving Kindness Meditation

-Practical strategies to incorporate meditation into a busy schedule

-Is self compassion through meditation considered laziness?

-What Sharon hopes readers will learn from Real Love and viewing love as an ability not a feeling

-And so much more!

Sharon believes that our human brain, “can tend to fixate on what’s wrong and not appreciate what’s right and what’s good.” Loving Kindness Meditation understands our bias to focus on the negative and balances it with positive reflection for a holistic view of ourselves.

Incorporating meditation into a busy schedule can be as simple as being more present in everyday activities. Sharon stresses that, “Just short moments that break the crazy momentum that we get lost in, they make a difference too.”

According to Sharon, meditation is not a process of resetting our inner thoughts but rather enhancing them. “Our goal is not to wipe out thoughts, our goal is to develop a different relationship to our thoughts... The kind of awareness we are cultivating is balanced, it’s clear, it’s present, it’s loving.”

Sharon shares that the ultimate effect of meditation is revealed through a constant practice. By mastering the skill, “We learn to let go and begin again. When we do that over and over and over again, what happens is that our attention starts to get stabilized.”

For more information on Sharon:

Born in New York City in 1952, Sharon Salzberg experienced a childhood involving considerable loss and turmoil. An early realization of the power of meditation to overcome personal suffering determined her life direction. Her teaching and writing now communicates that power to a worldwide audience of practitioners. She offers non-sectarian retreat and study opportunities for participants from widely diverse backgrounds. Sharon first encountered Buddhism in 1969, in an Asian philosophy course at the State University of New York, Buffalo. The course sparked an interest that, in 1970, took her to India, for an independent study program. Sharon traveled motivated by “an intuition that the methods of meditation would bring me some clarity and peace.” In 1971, in Bodh Gaya, India, Sharon attended her first intensive meditation course. She spent the next years engaged in intensive study with highly respected meditation teachers. She returned to America in 1974 and began teaching vipassana (insight) meditation. In 1976, she established, together with Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield, the Insight Meditation Society (IMS) in Barre, Massachusetts, which now ranks as one of the most prominent and active meditation centers in the Western world. Sharon and Joseph Goldstein expanded their vision in 1989 by co-founding the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS). In 1998, they initiated the Forest Refuge, a long-term retreat center secluded in a wooded area on IMS property. Today she teaches a variety of offerings around the globe. Sharon resides in Barre, Massachusetts, and New York City. She served as a panelist with the Dalai Lama and leading scientists at the 2005 Mind and Life Investigating the Mind Conference in Washington, DC. She also coordinated the meditation faculty for the 2005 Mind and Life Summer Institute, an intensive five-day meeting to advance research on the intersection of meditation and the cognitive and behavioral sciences. At the 2005 Sacred Circles Conference at the Washington National Cathedral, Sharon served as a keynote speaker. She has addressed audiences at the State of the World Forum, the Peacemakers Conference (sharing a plenary panel with Nobel Laureates His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Jose Ramos Horta) and has delivered keynotes at Tricycle’s Buddhism in America Conference, as well as Yoga Journal, Kripalu and Omega conferences. She was selected to attend the Gethsemani encounter, a dialogue on spiritual life between Buddhist and Christian leaders that ...

In this episode, we discuss:

-An introduction to Loving Kindness Meditation

-Practical strategies to incorporate meditation into a busy schedule

-Is self compassion through meditation considered laziness?

-What Sharon hopes readers will learn from Real Love and viewing love as an ability not a feeling

-And so much more!

For more information on Sharon:

Previous Episode

277: Dr. Liam West: Sports Medicine as a New Clinician

On this episode of the Healthy Wealthy and Smart Podcast, Dr. Liam West joins me to discuss how young medical professions can break into the competitive sports and exercise medicine world. Dr. Liam West trained at Cardiff Medical School in Wales, United Kingdom and has transitioned into working in Australian Rules Football both at the elite and Academy levels whilst still working in Soccer for Melbourne Victory. He is also working in research at La Trobe University whilst also helping lead their SEM departments Social Media and content creation

In this episode, we discuss:

-Tools young clinicians use to break into sports and exercise medicine

-Tips for introverts preparing for networking events

-The key element to master for buy-in with athletes

-Why you should seek out communication training to supplement your clinical skill set

-And so much more!

Sports and exercise medicine has a lot of traction globally and getting involved in international conferences can lead to many opportunities. Dr. West believes, “You don’t just need a local network, you need an international network.” One of the easiest tools at your disposal to connect with people outside your geographic region is through the use of social media. However, Dr. West warns, “Be very careful on social media,” and always project professionalism.

Gaining access to a niche field like sports medicine requires hard work and self-initiative, Dr. West reminds us that, “People don’t owe you the experience.”

Sports medicine practitioners face the unique dilemma of supporting a team’s success while looking out for the player’s best interest and health. Maintaining professional boundaries is critical to sustaining objectivity and ensuring positive outcomes and Dr. West stresses, “You’re there to work, do not become a fan.”

While experience is valuable, young clinicians will find that athletes care more about your commitment to their success than how long you have been treating patients as Dr. West points out, “Athletes don’t really care how much you know until they know that you care.” Dr. West believes, “Honesty is really powerful with an athlete.”

For more information on Dr. West:

Dr. Liam West trained at Cardiff Medical School in Wales, United Kingdom. During his first few years there he also completed a Sports Science Bachelors degree to dip his toes into the alluring water of Sports Medicine. During his undergraduate studies he set up a student society to promote, educate and offers opportunities within SEM to his peers both in medicine but all areas of SEM such as physiotherapy, sports science etc. Through the national acclaimed success of this society he then crated similar societies across the UK before founding an overarching UK student society and later a European wide one.

These societies kick started what is now an extremely strong and vibrant junior SEM scene in the UK. In his fourth year of his studies he single handedly ran his own student SEM conference attracting 250 delegates - this introduced him to Karim Kahn and Peter Brukner. A role within BJSM followed and over the years this has developed into being a Senior Associate Editor and a role within education.

After his studies finished he completed a Diploma in SEM whilst working full time as a junior doctor. He picked up his clinical work by working in horse riding, the Women's Soccer Premier League and as the England Under 16 Doctor.

In 2015 he made the switch to live in Melbourne where he still currently resides. He has transitioned into working in Australian Rules Football both at the elite and Academy levels whilst still working in Soccer for Melbourne Victory. He has left hospital medicine and is working in research at La Trobe University whilst also helping lead their SEM departments Social Media and content creation. He wrote a chapter in the newly released Clinical Sports Medicine (Brukner and Kahn).

Away from Academia, after playing soccer all of his life he has now converted this season to playing Australian Rules Football and is slowly learning what a true contact sport feels like.

Resources discussed on this show:

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard

Liam West Twitter

Journal Articles:

BJSM: Inside Track

West, L. R. (2013). Sport and exercise medicine in the undergraduate curriculum. Are we inspiring the next generation of sport and exercise medicine doctors and helping them overcome the barriers they face getting into the specialty? British Journal of Sports Medicine, 47(11), 664-5

Next Episode

279: Cynthia Toussaint: Battle for Grace and CRPS

On this episode of the Healthy Wealthy and Smart Podcast, I had the pleasure of welcoming Cynthia Toussaint onto the show to discuss her experiences as a patient managing Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. Cynthia Toussaint is the founder and spokesperson of For Grace, an organization that promotes better care and wellness for women in pain. Toussaint championed and gave key testimony at two California Senate hearings – one was dedicated to CRPS awareness, the second explored the chronic under-treatment of and gender bias toward women in pain. She will lead a 2017 conference that will convene healthcare and policy leaders to bring pain care into the 21st century. The solutions proposed at the event will mandate structural changes that respond to patient needs and gender inequalities in California. Toussaint is the author of Battle for Grace: A Memoir of Pain, Redemption and Impossible Love.

In this episode, we discuss:

-The story behind Cynthia’s long battle with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

-How Cynthia developed independent survival solutions when medical providers would no longer help

-Why gratitude, acceptance and grieving are necessary components for the management of chronic pain

-For Grace: better care and wellness for women in pain

-And so much more!

Cynthia’s long history of battling unimaginable physical and psychological pain has taught her how to be resilient. She believes, “We don’t know what we can live with until we are there.”

Cynthia has used her past experiences as inspiration for her advocacy and has created meaningful change for CRPS patients. Based on her experience, she stresses, “Don’t ever let anybody say you can’t get something done.”

Cynthia has found that adversity can breed strength and that, “People who go through the impossible odds survive and they go on to make the world a better place.”

After exhausting her family support system and the recommendations of her medical providers were unable to help with her chronic pain, Cynthia found her greatest relief through her own strength and will. She states, “With high impact chronic pain, we have to refuse to be a victim. We have to be our own advocates. We have to be deeply involved with self management.”

For more information on Cynthia:

Cynthia Toussaint serves as Spokesperson at For Grace and has had Complex Regional Pain Syndrome for 34 years. She later developed Fibromylagia and other over-lapping, auto-immune conditions. Cynthia founded For Grace in 2002 to raise awareness about CRPS and five years later expanded the organization’s mission to include all women in pain. Before becoming ill, she was an accomplished ballerina and worked professionally as a dancer, actor and singer.

Since 1997, she has been a leading advocate for women in pain, raising awareness through local, national and worldwide media as well as public speaking. Toussaint championed and gave key testimony at two California Senate informational hearings. The first, in May 2001, was dedicated to CRPS awareness. The second took place in February 2004 and explored the chronic under treatment of and gender bias toward women in pain. Both of these efforts were the first of their kind in the nation.

In 2006, Toussaint ran for the California State Assembly to bring attention to her CRPS Education Bill that Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed after she got it to his desk in its first year. Her next bill, a seven year effort, was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in 2015. This Step Therapy legislation reformed an unethical prescription practice used by the health insurance industry to save money in a way that increased the suffering of California pain patients.

Toussaint was the first CRPS sufferer to be featured in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and on the Public Broadcasting System and National Public Radio. She is a consultant for The Discovery Channel, ABC News, FOX News, the National Pain Report and PainPathways, the official magazine of the World Institute of Pain. Also, she is a guide and guest contributor for Maria Shriver’s Architects of Change website.

Her many speaking engagements include the National Institutes of Health and Capitol Hill.

She is the author of Battle for Grace: A Memoir of Pain, Redemption and Impossible Love. Also, Toussaint is experiencing her first-ever partial CRPS remission largely due to the narrative therapy of writing this book.

Toussaint continues to be a leading advocate for health care reform in California. She was instrumental in changing public opinion which sparked sweeping HMO reform legislation that was signed by Governor Gray Davis in 1999. Her focus has now shifted to creating a single-payer, universal health care plan in California that wo...