SHARON SALZBERG
By the time Sharon Salzberg is 16 years old, she knows the people around her don’t admit to suffering, much less talk about it. A year later, she makes a life-changing decision to travel alone to India to study meditation. It doesn’t all go as expected. Sharon talks about how being kind, especially to herself, became her biggest mountain to climb.
TIG NOTARO
NIALL BRESLIN
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
TERENCE BLANCHARD
Growing up in New Orleans, Terence Blanchard is a shy kid with a lot of uncertainty. In this episode, the legendary Jazz trumpeter tells the story of how his mentors, teachers, and heroes gave him the confidence to find his voice and live to his full potential.
FELIX BARRETT
Growing up in the suburbs of England, Felix Barrett — founder of immersive theater company Punchdrunk — considers himself a good kid. He’s a rule-follower with a deep respect for authority. But a few eye-opening evenings at the theater introduce him to the exciting, and sometimes dangerous, world of rule-breaking.
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
Letting go can come in stages, or so Rohan experiences on a recent holiday with his family. As his 7 year-old son Arne builds his swimming skills, Rohan realizes he’s gone from an active, hands-on support role, to one of a patient observer. It’s in this letting go that both he and Arne can progress, enjoying the freedom Arne has garnered through his perseverance.
JAY SHETTY
CHIP CONLEY
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
BAKARI SELLERS
ZURI ADELE
Actress Zuri Adele spent parts of her childhood largely isolated. But while attending Spelman College in Atlanta, Zuri becomes immersed in the rich history and ritual of the African diaspora. This week, Zuri shows us how embracing her community and her unique place in history allows her to trade her feelings of isolation for connection.
VARSHINI PRAKASH
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
On our special planet we call home, we only experience two days per year where day and night measure equal length. For Rohan, the arrival of Spring is an opportunity to reflect on balance, on renewal, and yes, on the welcome perspective of being one speck of creation in this incredible, dynamic cosmos.
AD
ISABEL ALLENDE
Best-selling author Isabel Allende has led an extraordinary life marked by moments of tragic loss. A coup in her home country of Chile forces her family into exile, and an unexpected illness takes away one of the most important people in her life. And yet, at 80 years old, Isabel feels a lightness that contradicts the attachment she felt in her youth.
CURTIS RIVERS
Through his long and storied career as a stuntman, Curtis Rivers has appeared in scores of films and television shows, ranging from James Bond movies to Captain America to Game of Thrones. In today’s Meditative Story, Curtis shares how his ability to visualize the path ahead became a key component to his success, and allowed him to forge a new future for himself along the way.
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
Valentine’s Day is an opportunity to celebrate love of all kinds — whether it’s the unconditional love of a pet, the instinctual reflex to help those who are suffering, or, perhaps most important, the time we take to send love back to ourselves. ake some time with Rohan as he guides you through a celebration of love in its many varied forms.
HANNAH CROSS
Hannah Cross is a licensed clinical social worker. The way she approaches her work is rooted in a life-changing early job, one she almost didn’t take — at a youth incarceration center. Working with these young people, she comes to realize that while the textbook approach might sometimes fail, there’s a reliable healing power in a simple, loving presence.
JADE BOWLER
As a teenager, Jade Bowler is laser-focused on her dream of leaving home, with ambitious plans for the future. It’s only after her plans fall apart that Jade realizes big achievements aren’t the only thing that can bring her happiness. Reveling in smaller, quieter moments of casual magic shows her the beauty of everyday existence.
ERIC WHITACRE
Figuring out how to express your authentic self is a journey in discovering what lights you up. For Eric Whitacre, the choral composer and conductor, these lessons came to him through his passions for outer space, water, and music. Join Eric and Rohan in this conversation about how Eric learned to channel his energy into creating meaningful connections and finding his place in the world.
ERIC WHITACRE
JAI PUNJABI
Staying connected with our loved ones is not always easy. As a founder of Wait What, the company behind Meditative Story, Jai Punjabi’s work in New York means his once-a-year visit to the family home in Bombay, India, is precious time. Join Rohan and Jai as they unpack the ways in which the spirit of culinary improvisation can translate from the kitchen to the rest of our lives.
TIM SHRIVER
CRISTINA MITTERMEIER
When life is overwhelming, sometimes the smallest action is what helps us move forward. Cristina Mittermeier is a nature photographer and adventurer who’s used to navigating treacherous situations in the name of protecting the climate. But when her life takes an unexpected turn, she learns how to take small steps forward to begin unlocking her power.
TOM MUSTILL
How can we maintain a sense of freshness, awe, and wonder in our perspective on the world? Today’s Soul Curriculum episode finds Rohan diving deeper into this question with nature filmmaker and author Tom Mustill. Tom shares more about his experiences living close to our animal kin, and what he’s learned from their behavior, both spectacular and mundane.
In this episode, we’ve collected 4 powerful, personal stories of wake-up calls, when the universe showed these storytellers an entirely new perspective on the world that they could not ignore — and life was never the same again.
TOM MUSTILL
ALEX MORRIS
In today’s Soul Curriculum, Rohan speaks candidly with writer Alex Morris about how to become more comfortable asking for help. As Alex shares, it’s often our preconceptions of how we will be received that prevent us from reaching out. However, as Alex realizes in his own story, when we take the risk and acknowledge our need for help, people around us rise to our aid and can help make our world wider.
SARA BENINCASA
As a young writer and performer, Sara Benincasa found her voice doing stand-up comedy. For years, it seemed better than therapy. But slowly, doubts surfaced. While the external validation she received made her feel successful and even loved, something was missing. In this episode of Meditative Story, Sara shares how she came to look inward, instead of outward, for richer feelings of worth.
PATTON OSWALT
CASE KENNY
ALEX MORRIS
FLORENCE WILLIAMS
RACHEL CARGLE
Growing up, Rachel Cargle was used to seeing things her family couldn’t afford. As she got older, became a writer, lecturer, and philanthropist, she continued to seek opportunities just beyond her grasp. Hard work and creativity allowed her to grow successful as an entrepreneur, but deeper challenges still remained. In this episode of Meditative Story, Rachel unfolds how she found fulfillment by turning her gifts outward.
KINO MACGREGOR
How do the challenges and trauma we encounter in our lives tie to our ancestral roots? How do we hold on to these experiences in our physical body? These are questions that we explore featuring author, entrepreneur, and yoga instructor Kino MacGregor. Rohan and Kino go deeper into how generational pain can become expressed in the body, and explore ways in which physical practices can provide an antidote.
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
On the Mexican holiday Día de Muertos, or Day of the Dead, we allow ourselves space for our memories and our grief about those we’ve lost — as well as for joy, and even humor, around the continuity between life and death.
SHANI TRAN
LEX GILLETTE
CARLA HALL
Celebrity chef Carla Hall wasn’t always interested in cooking. As a child, she finds that puzzles and play help her to discover her true character. When she falls upon a hard time, she instinctively turns to memories of her grandmother’s kitchen for comfort. In this story, Carla shares how sensory play finally allows her to solve her biggest puzzle yet — herself.
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE & HENRY SHUKMAN
Rohan spends time with Henry Shukman, author and spiritual director of the Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe. The two dive into the theme of deep listening and what it can open up in us; how to hone our ability to be present to the world around us and to each other; and the importance of finding mentors to guide us along the way.
LEX GILLETTE
KRISTIN WINDBIGLER
When Kristin Windbigler moves to rural Humboldt County, California, she falls in love with the wild, green, growing landscape. Her dream of being a journalist leads her to San Francisco. And it isn’t until she moves back home again that she realizes just how special her hometown is — a place where our differences fall away.
REV. MONIQUE ORTIZ
GRACIA MARIA
DR. MARLA SPIVAK
Before becoming a MacArthur-winning entomologist, Dr. Marla Spivak is adrift – first as a young woman in search of direction, then deep in the Amazon, severely ill and fearing death. Time and again, it’s the hum of bees that shows her a path forward.
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
TONY TJAN
Tony Tjan grows up in the cold and dramatic landscape of Newfoundland, where snow piles high and storms rage – but the neighbors always keep a door open to help one another.
ROHAN GUNATILLAKE
In telling three short stories from his life as a meditator, host Rohan Gunatillake explores the way a few simple words of wisdom, said at the right moment, can build your strength and resilience for a lifetime.
DAVID DUCHOVNY
Years after graduating, actor David Duchovny realizes that what he mistook for dislike from a teacher was in fact an encouragement to go his own way, in his own time.
JAI PUNJABI
Hoping to preserve the recipes of his beloved family dishes, Jai Punjabi returns to his parents’ home in Bombay and discovers that the secret is not in the ingredients, but in a way of being.
CAL RIPKEN JR.
Legendary shortstop and third baseman Cal Ripken Jr. holds the record for the most consecutive games played. But just showing up was never an end in itself – it’s how he showed up that distinguishes his legacy.
What he learns: How to show up for others
ANGELA AHRENDTS
After a series of bold choices, legendary executive Angela Ahrendts realizes that with each new day she has an opportunity to discover a new sanctuary – and that the truest sanctuary is the one within us.
ANDREW BIRD
Looking for space to recalibrate, singer-songwriter Andrew Bird heads to his family’s desolate farmhouse. It’s there that he begins seeing, sensing, and hearing new music.
PAOLA ANTONELLI
Struggling to make a decision that will shape the rest of her life, a young artist returns to the place where she feels most true to herself: the sea.
REID HOFFMAN
A busy venture capitalist realizes that the driving force in his life are his friends. In his story, he celebrates the way friendship has shaped his life.
KEITH YAMASHITA
A rushed and busy executive suffers a massive stroke; in the days and months that follow, he learns to live again, more wisely and more lovingly.
ZENJU EARTHLYN MANUEL
One small girl, in the backseat of her family car, takes a road trip through the segregated South to her father’s Louisiana hometown.
Krista Tippett
In the midst of the Cold War, a young security analyst steps away from the tables of power, and finds herself in an island garden, reconnecting with what truly matters to her.
MICHELLE THALLER
While working on an experiment about the age of the universe, an astronomer is reminded once again about both the impersonal immensity around us, and the deeply personal significance of each of us.
Larry Jackson
Working late nights in the studio on a project that feels like it’s going nowhere, a young music producer learns the clarifying power of setting audacious goals.
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON
Arianna Huffington takes us on her journey from Athens to Cambridge, and shares a lesson she learned from her mother of embracing life’s journey without being attached to the outcome.
PICO IYER
Stuck on a long layover in Japan, a young writer steps out to see the city – and finds himself feeling at home, for the first time in his life.
LUCY KALANITHI
While grieving her husband, a young mom helps their daughter build a relationship with him that is based on joy as well as loss.
