Beyond Thought: A Journey from Prison to Presence - Matt Tenney

A New Way of Being

Matt Tenney has clocked well over 10,000 hours of meditation. He’s also a leadership coach working with some of the biggest companies in the US. But his journey started in a very different place — as a military officer facing decades in prison.

It was during that time, especially in solitary confinement, that Matt began to see clearly how suffering really works. He realised it’s not the outside world that causes it — it’s our identification with the voice in our heads. The thoughts that tell us who we are, what we should be doing, and how we compare to others.

Matt shares how he came to recognise the awareness that sits behind all of that — and how tuning into that space is where real peace and freedom come from.

We talk about:

• His personal story of transformation

• How desire fuels suffering

• What mindfulness really means — and how to apply it in daily life

• How to create space between what happens and how we respond

• And why happiness isn’t something to achieve — it’s what’s left when we stop believing the thoughts that obscure it

This conversation goes deep — but in a grounded and practical way. If you’ve ever felt stuck in your head or caught in the trap of always needing to achieve more, this one’s for you.

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