10-25-23: Sean Fargo,
Softening Identity And Accepting What Is
01:00 Guided meditation led by Sean Fargo (Softening Into Presence)
28:40: Counting exhales to help build focus, concentration
29:20: How an experience changes when we focus on it - and discerning if focus is helpful
34:50: The benefit of exploring, ‘Who am I, and what am I identifying with?’
37:50: Mindfulness exercise: Noticing the ‘I am’ in ‘I am stressed’ versus ‘there is stress’
40:00: Moving from existential rigidity to phenomenological fluidity
40:40: How we harm our children by saying ‘you are XYZ,’ even if well-intended
42:00: Focusing on process versus results in practice and teaching
44:50: Question: Can you speak more about how to not identify with anger when I feel it in my body?
54:00: The question of ‘owning’ our emotions and feeling what we feel
57:05: How acknowledging emotions gives us space in which to choose how to react
59:30: Acknowledging spiritual bypassing with self-compassion
1:03:20: How our thoughts lead to emotions, and in that way we’re responsible for what we feel
1:17:17: Question: How does mindfulness practice actually help reduce stress and burnout?
1:23:30: Turning towards challenging feelings with trauma sensitivity, gentleness and patience
1:33:30: Approaching self-compassion in baby steps, too
1:35:15: How to work with the feeling that we don’t deserve happiness
1:37:54: A short answer for how mindfulness addresses burnout
1:44:25: Reviewing the myths of self-compassion
1:49:00: Mindfulness as both preventative and curative
1:53:00: Mindfulness as noticing change, and why that invites continued presence
1:55:15: Trapped, unmoving energy as the cause of suffering
Resources Mentioned In This Q&A:
Dr. Jud Brewer: The Process of Selfing
Building a Workplace Mindfulness Program, with Dr. Lena Adams Kim of Mindful EPA
David Treleaven: Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness
David Treleaven: Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, Part 2
Willoughby Britton: Identifying and Managing Adverse Effects of Mindfulness Meditation
ABOUT Sean
I am a results-driven mindfulness coach and consultant. I transform stressed professionals into mindful, resilient leaders using evidence-based mindfulness techniques and tools for them to flourish.
I am passionate about scaling mindfulness, meditation, and compassion trainings to millions of people around the world.
As a former Buddhist monk of 2 years, instructor for the mindfulness program born at Google, and Founding Board Member for the Institute of Organizational Mindfulness, I blend ancient wisdom trainings with evidence-based mindfulness exercises for practical transformation, resilience and growth.
“Sean is a wonderful teacher, well practiced in the teachings of mindfulness and compassion, dedicated and thoughtful.” – Jack Kornfield, Best-Selling Author & Founder of Spirit Rock Meditation Center
“Sean helped me develop a mindful leadership training program specifically tailored to our culture here at Tesla. I couldn’t be more grateful. Sean really embodies what he teaches.” – Levi Bersola, Safety Coordinator, Tesla