Reeling from the events of the last 10 days in Western North Carolina (which directly and tragically affected two friends who have been on The Road Home podcast), as well as close friends directly affected by the bombing and aggression in the Middle East, Ethan returns to some basic thoughts on the truth of our interdependence, and the limits of looking at our path from an individual perspective.

If you'd like to make a donation to Pandemic of Love to directly help their mutual aid work in Western North Carolina/Asheville, please Venmo @PandemicofLove as they give $250 grants to vetted families in immediate need of basic supplies.

If you'd like to make a donation to the rebuilding of podcast guest and friend Deborah Eden Tull's home, please do so via Gofundme.com

If you'd like to help relief efforts in Beirut and beyond, please visit Doctors Without Borders.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training, starting October 11.

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Ethan looks at the nature of anxiety as a special-case emotion and offers a short dharma talk on working with anxiety, then guides a 15-minute lovingkindness with supportive visualization practice for working with any anxiety we might be feeling during election season or beyond.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training, starting October 11.

Buy Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds wherever books are sold in paperback, audiobook or e-book! Visit https://ethannichtern.com to join Ethan's maililng list and see his latest offerings!

Ethan talks to author, meditation teacher, scientist and lawyer Anu Gupta about his new book Breaking Bias: Where Stereotypes and Prejudices Come From--and the Science-Backed Method to Unravel Them. They discuss Anu's life, how bias brought him to the brink of taking his own life, and his extensive work with organizations getting to the roots of internalized biases. They get into bias from both a Buddhist philosophical and scientific perspective. Finally, discuss the current state of America in terms of bias, as well how prejudice might be affecting our experience of the upcoming elections.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindful Meditation Teacher Training. Check out the free The Journey of Becoming a Meditation Teacher with Rebecca D'onofrio and David Nichtern on Thurs Sep 19!

Anu Gupta is a human rights lawyer, scientist, scholar of bias, meditation teacher, and the founder and CEO of BE MORE with Anu, an e-learning company that trains professionals across corporate, nonprofit, and government sectors to advance inclusion and wellness by breaking bias. His work has reached 300+ organizations, training more than 80,000 professionals and impacting over 30 million lives.

Ethan provides a dharma talk on the (originally Jungian) idea of The Shadow and the current popularization of "Shadow Work." He explores the ways that Tantric Buddhism offers to work with our more difficult and suppressed experiences, as well as the concept of treating our most difficult experience as "beautiful monsters."

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindful Meditation Teacher Training. Check out the free The Journey of Becoming a Meditation Teacher with Rebecca D'onofrio and David Nichtern!

Visit https://ethannichtern.com for books, upcoming events, classes, and to get on his monthly email list! You can get a copy of Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Throught Life's Eight Worldly Winds in paperback, audiobook, or e-book!

Ethan provides a dharma talk on why practicing self-compassion can be so tricky and so "blocked." He offers some helpful tips you might not have considered (or maybe you have!) for practicing lovingkindness and compassion, both on the meditation seat and in life in general.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindful Meditation Teacher Training. Check out the free Imposter Syndrome event on September 3 with Duncan Trussell and David Nichtern!

Visit https://ethannichtern.com for books, upcoming events, classes, and to get on his monthly email list!

Ethan talks to teacher Shawn J. Moore, aka The Mindful Rebel, aka "Part Buddha, Part Biggie" about his somewhat unique path to mindfulness and dharma, and about the meaning of holding space, allowing yourself to just be, and transformational leadership.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindful Meditation Teacher Training. Check out the free Imposter Syndrome event on September 3 with Duncan Trussell and David Nichtern!

About the Guest: Residing at the intersection of leadership and mindfulness, Shawn J. Moore creates sacred spaces for stillness and self-inquiry to help social impact leaders align their strengths, intentions, and impact. Through his integrative approach, he holds transformative containers for self-renewal, personal discovery, and capacity-building that ease clients on their journey towards peace, clarity, and freedom. Shawn is committed to empowering change-makers to become embodied leaders – unified in mind, body, and heart – with the tools to mindfully pause, reconnect to their inner knowing, make strengths-driven decisions, and lead the change they believe the world needs. Shawn has an intuitive way of weaving all that he has learned on his path to help those on the inner journey of discovery – including meditation, sound healing, yoga nidra, and coaching, all through the lens of Buddhist philosophy.

Ethan provides a dharma talk on the relationship between Self, Non-Self, Guilt and Remorse, and delves into a classic teaching called the "four powers" for how we meet our habitual stuck places and negative behavior with an eye toward gradual transformation.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindful Meditation Teacher Training. Check out the free Imposter Syndrome event on September 3 with Duncan Trussell and David Nichtern!

Visit https://ethannichtern.com for books, upcoming events, classes, and to get on his monthly email list!

Ethan talks to one of his key teachers along the path, Dr. Gaylon Ferguson about Beginner's Mind, Original Mind and the relationship between Zen and Tantric Buddhism drawing from Dr. Ferguson's new book Welcoming Beginner's Mind: Zen and Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature.

Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including the Yearlong Buddhist Studies program and Mindful Meditation Teacher Training. Check out the free Imposter Syndrome event on September 3 with Duncan Trussell and David Nichtern!

Dr. Gaylon Ferguson, PhD, was core faculty in Religious and Interdisciplinary Studies for fifteen years at Naropa University. A senior Buddhist teacher, he has led mindfulness retreats since 1976 and is the author of the new book Welcoming Beginner’s Mind (2024), Natural Wakefulness, and Natural Bravery.