Content in the Center: Exploring the Middle Way

Shell Fischer's Podcast

#Buddhist #Religion #Buddhism #Meditation #Mindful Shenandoah Valley #Fitness #Mental Health #Shell Fischers #Mind

40:54

Taxes, Voting, Recycling—oh my! After navigating this jungle of grown-up responsibilities together, we're taking a quick summer breather to recharge our adulting batteries. But before we temporarily hang up our responsible pants, join us for this special episode packed with our favorite kernels of wisdom from the season so far AND get an exclusive preview of the fresh adulting adventures awaiting you when Grown-Up Stuff returns in late summer! Think of this episode as your adulting victory lap—complete with confetti and zero paperwork required! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.…

2 years ago 46:37

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When we practice what the Buddha called The Middle Way, we start to realize with more clarity that contentment resides at the center of our wanting and not wanting, our indulgence or deprivation. We learn that nothing is really happy or unhappy in and of itself - no person, thing, or situation, and that our joy or sorrow depends entirely on how we are relating to our experience. This talk explores how can use our meditation practice to learn to “walk in the middle” more often in order to discover more joy, ease, and balance in our lives.

118 episodes

Content in the Center: Exploring the Middle Way

Shell Fischer's Podcast

15 subscribers

published 2 years ago

MP3•Episode home

118 episodes

#Buddhist #Religion #Buddhism #Meditation #Mindful Shenandoah Valley #Fitness #Mental Health #Shell Fischers #Mind

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Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
So Special/So Wounded: Navigating Our Hopes & Fears 50:28

13 weeks ago50:28

50:28

We all tend to seek out and hope for gain, status, praise, and pleasure, and resist or fear loss, disgrace, blame, and pain – even though all are inescapable, and visit each of us in different forms throughout our lives. And how we relate to these hopes and fears – often called the 8 Worldly Winds – often dictates how we experience our entire world. This talk explores how our meditation practice can help us to pay closer attention to these various winds so that we can learn how to better allow them to rise and pass without clinging so tightly to them, and therefore, discover more freedom and ease in our lives. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
Just Thinking, Sweetie: Working With Busy Mind 49:18

20 weeks ago49:18

49:18

Often during our meditation practice, we encounter a state known as “busy mind,” which is when there’s a kind of ongoing flow of anxious or repetitive mental chatter that tends to keep us locked in the realm of the past or the future, and therefore, mostly distracted from the reality of the present moment, or … the life we’re actually living. This talk explores how this particular mind state is created, and how we can use our mediation practice to mindfully observe and slow down the flow of thoughts, and in turn calm both the mind and body. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
BREATHE: Right Now, It's Like This 46:46

28 weeks ago46:46

46:46

During difficult times, allowing ourselves to pause, breathe, and come back home to the present moment is exactly how we can regain our footing, become more grounded, and shore up our ability to more wisely respond instead of automatically react to whatever’s happening. This talk offers us a variety of ways that our meditation practice can help us learn to rest our attention in awareness itself, and discover more calm, compassion, and wisdom in the face of our challenges. It includes a brief meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
TRY SOFTER: Working With Change & Grief 43:54

33 weeks ago43:54

43:54

An essential aspect of our meditation practice involves training ourselves to very consciously and compassionately navigate the truth of constant change, instead of allowing ourselves to become so unconsciously distracted by the swirl of it that we end up missing out on the life we’re actually living. This talk explores how we can use our mindfulness practice to discover more kindness, presence, and a sense of safety - especially during the more major periods of change and grief in our lives. It includes a 10-minute meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
THIS IS IT: Now What? 40:33

39 weeks ago40:33

40:33

Instead of resisting, denying, or trying to ignore a big change in our lives or in our world, the Buddhist teachings invite us to open up to it and deeply acknowledge: “This Is It,” and then ask ourselves: “now what?” Meaning, what’s the wisest, most compassionate response to this change? How can I relate in a way that is going to open my heart, rather than shut it down? This talk explores how we can use our mindfulness practice to help us remain calm in the midst of chaos, and discover the most beneficial answers.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
CLAIM YOUR SEAT: Buddha’s Teachings on Doubt 44:33

44 weeks ago44:33

44:33

Our common experience of doubt – in ourselves, and in our ability to make good decisions for ourselves, especially - is actually the very last thing the Buddha himself struggled with just before he became enlightened. In fact, his own awakening was his profound message to us: that we all have the innate capability to discover for ourselves what will lead us towards more happiness, and what will lead us towards more suffering. This talk explores how we can use our healthy doubt as the antidote to our unhealthy doubt in order to reveal what is true.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
Some Things Just Hurt: Allowing Our Pain 46:40

50 weeks ago46:40

46:40

Whenever we experience pain or suffering, our common tendency is to believe that not only is the cause of our suffering in some way wrong, but that our own response to it is also wrong. And therefore, we tend to surmise that we, ourselves, are also somehow wrong. Happily, the Buddhist teachings are designed to help us notice this common pattern, and learn how we can bravely open up to our own suffering and really get to know it – very intimately – so that we can become wiser and more compassionate, and eventually, become free of it. This new talk from Shell explores how we can better allow ourselves our own feelings through the lens of a half-a-dozen different teaching phrases. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
My Relationships: Medicine, or Poison? 49:58

1 year ago49:58

49:58

The Buddha insisted that our relationships make up the “whole” of our spiritual life, and and urged us to use our mindfulness practice to become more aware of who we’re choosing to associate with in order to assure our sense of peace and well-being. Happily, his teachings offer us numerous ways that we can use our meditation practice to better discern whether our relationships are offering us poison (or, something that makes us feel bad), or medicine. This talk explores how we can tap into our wise bodies and hearts to help us make these important decisions. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
Put Your Heart Into It Again: The Buddha On Determination 52:57

1 year ago52:57

52:57

As opposed to the act of “striving,” which involves a kind of unhealthy or stressful clinging to some sort of expectation, and typically arises from our more self-centered mind, or ego - the quality of aditthana (or determination, in the Pali language) almost always arises from the heart, as in, from our heart’s desire. And because our heart is just naturally wise and compassionate, if we commit ourselves to following it, it will almost always lead us towards more joy, ease, and peace in our lives. This talk explores how we can not only use our meditation practice to establish this powerful quality, but learn how to more mindfully discern whether we’re being driven by our tricky minds, or by the much vaster space of our heart. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
Do No Harm/Take No Sh*t: A Buddhist Lesson on Boundaries 42:32

1 year ago42:32

42:32

Whenever we perceive that some sort of harm is being done – either by another person, people, or even on a more national or global level - how can we best confront this without nurturing aversion in our own hearts, or letting it consume us in some way? This talk explores the Buddha’s teachings on how we can use our meditation practice to help us to say “no” or maybe “that’s enough” without doing further harm to either ourselves or others, or allowing our aversion to shut down our hearts. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
What Would Buddha Do? Taking Refuge in the Beloved 43:44

1 year ago43:44

43:44

This talk addresses the question: How can we flow between all the different roles, hats, or identities that we place on ourselves every day, and that kind, wise, compassionate presence within us that is actually free of those often-limiting identities, or beliefs about who we think we “should” be? The answer involves using our meditation practice to examine how we can begin to loosen our strong grip on all of our toxic “shoulds,” and uncover and find comfort in what is often called our Buddha Nature, or, the truth of who we really are. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
It Takes A Long Time to Grow Young: Nurturing Contentment 49:10

1 year ago49:10

49:10

Right before the Buddha’s enlightenment, a single memory from his childhood apparently not only led him to nirvana, but to the profound teachings of the Middle Way – the whole thing. Essentially, what he remembered was what contentment (or passaddhi ) had felt like to him, at age 8. This talk explores how the Buddha was led to this understanding, along with some of his teachings on how we can train ourselves to experience even more of this precious quality in our lives. It includes a 10-minute meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
How To Work With Fear & Grief: Pause 44:44

2 years ago44:44

44:44

The Buddhist teachings are continually calling our attention to the truth of what is called annica , or impermanence, because essentially, it’s exactly what we tend to struggle with, in the form of both the fear of uncertainty, and the grief that comes with change. But instead of trying to avoid our fear and grief – which is our natural tendency - the teachings are asking us to instead pause, and allow ourselves to BE with these feelings, so that ultimately, we can transform them, and discover more peace. This talk explores how we can use our meditation practice to train ourselves in the sacred, healing art of the pause. It includes a meditation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
"It's All Yours" - Responding to Disrespect and Insult 50:31

2 years ago50:31

50:31

As the Buddha’s teachings remind us over and over, even though it’s difficult, we never want to let another person’s anger, disrespect, or cruelty harden our own hearts. Instead, we want our meditation practice to serve as a kind of guard for our hearts - a strong shield that can protect us against the power that other people's disrespect can often have over us. This new talk explores how we can develop the mindfulness tools that can help us to more calmly and kindly respond to the unkind behavior of others. It includes a mediation at the end.…

Shell Fischer's Podcast

1
EMPTY OF EXPECTATION: Exploring "Beginner's Mind" 47:32

2 years ago47:32