239: How To Love Your Enemies And Be A Whole Lot Happier With Sharon Salzberg

Head to melissaambrosini.com/239 for full episode resources and more inspiring weekly episodes. This episode is brought to you by BLUblox. Head to www.BLUblox.com now and enter the code MELISSA for 15% off your order. When something or someone triggers you, how do you cope? For many, it’s way too easy to get bogged down in pain, anger, and defensiveness… and it can feel hard to climb out of it. But today’s podcast guest, Sharon Salzberg, is here to show us how to move through this pain, calm our engines, and transform our relationship with our enemies… even if your ‘enemy’ happens to be yourself. Sharon Salzberg is a central figure in the field of meditation, a world-renowned teacher and New York Times bestselling author. She has played a crucial role in bringing meditation and mindfulness practices into mainstream culture since 1974, when she first began teaching. She is the co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society and the author of ten books including her New York Times bestsellers, Real Happiness, her seminal work, Lovingkindness and my personal favourite, Love Your Enemies. Sharon’s approach to meditation and embodying compassion (both for yourself and others) is life-altering. She’s accessible, she’s down to earth, and she’s funny… if you’ve ever felt like meditation is “too hard”, “too stuffy”, or that it “won’t work for you”, I’m betting you’ve never heard Sharon’s take on it before. So if you want highly actionable techniques that will help you move past pain, break the anger habit, and find peace within yourself and with the world, pop in those earbuds… this episode is for you. In this episode we chat about: •Her story and how she got into Buddhism (04:42) •What it was like losing her mother at 9 years old (09:00) •How to heal from trauma (11:35) •How to lift the weight of pain and suffering (15:13) •My favorite mantra when I’m feeling challenged (19:48) •Can you completely heal from trauma, or does it leave a residue? (20:15) •The Buddhist principles that have impacted her most (25:21) •How to love your enemies (28:11) •The number 1 book she would put in the school curriculum (39:23) •Where to start if you’re new to meditation (43:37) •Her morning routine and meditation practice (46:26) •The simple technique to carry over the tranquility of your meditation into your daily life (49:09) •Her game-changing meditation advice (53:06) •Plus so much more!