Not Scratching the Itch: Buddhist Recovery and Hardcore Truths with Mikey Livid

BRN Podcast: Buddhist Recovery Network

⚠️ Trigger Warning:This episode contains discussion of suicide, grief, and traumatic loss. Please listen with care.

In this powerful and unflinchingly honest episode, Buddhist teacher and punk rocker Mikey Livid shares his journey from bar fights and blackout nights to Buddhist practice, pastoral counseling, and teaching on death row. Mikey speaks with raw compassion about grief, addiction, and the punk scene that first gave him permission to scream about suffering—and the Dharma that taught him how to sit with it.

He and host Beth Herzig explore the transformative potential of loving-kindness meditation, the value of authentic service in recovery, and Mikey’s upcoming book Blood, Guts and Buddhism. From horror movies to heartbreak, this conversation covers the full spectrum of what it means to be human—and to meet it all with love.

More about Mikey:

Mikey Livid (he/him) is a Buddhist teacher, author, and counselor. Mikey is the guiding teacher at Wild Heart Meditation Center in Nashville, TN. He regularly brings Buddhist meditation classes into addiction treatment centers, prisons, and a variety of settings. Mikey is the author of his upcoming book Blood, Guts, & Buddhism: The Dharma of Horror Movies, Heartbreak, and The Nature of Suffering. Mikey is the co-host of the punk rock, mental health podcast Punks On Hope and is the singer for the punk band The Rip Taylors.

LINKS:

https://linktr.ee/MikeyLivid

https://www.wildheartmeditationcenter.org

Join Us for the BRN JULY ACADEMY WITH MIKEY LIVID

https://givebutter.com/JULY25