The Journey from Contraction to Expansiveness

"What choices will lead me to greater integration and wholeness?" renowned author, meditation pioneer, and teacher Sharon Salzberg asks in her latest book, Real Life: The Journey from Isolation to Openness and Freedom. "We're told so many stories about who we are and what we are capable of that are given to us. They're not born of our own clear seeing," she says. "Being able to step back from our conditioning and really question…When can I breathe? When do I feel like I can't breathe? One of the things we discover is that it's not through a certain feeling arising, like fear. It's through being enveloped in and overcome by it. So, we don't have to put ourselves down or be ashamed of what we feel. We can see that the way that we relate to our thoughts, feelings, and sensations is going to make a big difference." In our conversation, we explore invaluable tools to reframe that relationship, and in so doing, discover the expansiveness that is always available to us.