437: How Meditation Can Help Reduce Anxiety About COVID-19 With Hugh Byrne, Insight Meditation Community of Washington [Main T4C Episode] 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Hugh Byrne has practiced meditation for 30 years and completed a four-year meditation teacher training program with Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein and other senior Insight Meditation teachers in 2000. Hugh also teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and is a certified practitioner in Somatic Experiencing, a mind-body approach to healing trauma. An expert and author in the field of mindfulness and positive habit change, Hugh’s mindfulness and meditation offerings are guided by the vision of helping people shift from autopilot toward behaviors that create greater happiness and freedom of the heart. He is a senior teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW) and the Garrison Institute’s Contemplative-Based Resilience (CBR) program for humanitarian aid workers responding to the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Africa. Hugh has been practicing, teaching and guiding trainings, workshops, intensive retreats for 20 years within the U.S. and internationally. Hugh earned a law degree from London University, a PhD from UCLA and worked for more than two decades in the field of human rights and social justice prior to teaching. Hugh is the author of The Here-and-Now Habit: How Mindfulness Can Help You Break Unhealthy Habits Once and For All and Habit Swap: Trade-In Your Unhealthy Habits for Mindful Ones (April 2020). He is also a popular teacher on Insight Timer, with 20+ meditations for you to listen to!  

***Hugh is currently hosting online guided meditations on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. ET, and Tuesday evenings. He also offers numerous online courses. Those interested in learning more about how to get involved in mindfulness teaching can reach him at [email protected] and on his website at:  www.hugh-byrne.com. 

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: 

• Why Hugh believes we should recognize the uniqueness of the coronavirus pandemic (5:54)
• Why “fight or flight” responses to coronavirus are normal (8:50)
• Why the quote “What you accept, you go beyond” is so important (10:14)
• What “living in a mindful way” means (10:51)
• Why we should allow ourselves to feel sadness or grief (12:25) 
• How we can use gratitude to improve our brains (14:05)
• How science reinforces ideas about the positive effect of happy thoughts (16:01)
• Why we should turn kindness towards ourselves (19:37)
• What the difference is between meditation and mindfulness (23:55)
• How to break into teaching meditation (28:29)