The Road Home with Ethan Nichtern

Ethan begins to explore the themes of his new book by looking at how our meditation practice can help us to work with the crucial and elusive experience of confidence. He explores our attitude of how we enter into the meditation session and engage with our own sense of worthiness as our minds, and our lives, knock us around. How do we learn to "Hold our Seat" in the midst of a messy mind and a world on fire. Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training starting June 14. Sign up for the free lecture with David Nichtern and Duncan Trussell on "Deepening Your Practice to Teach: The Journey from Meditation Practitioner to Meditation Guide." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books. Sign up for the free virtual release party with Jaimal Yogis and Ethan Nichtern on May 23!

Using the recent solar eclipse (and a few suprising responses to Ethan celebrating it) as a jumping off point, Ethan looks at the worldviews of scientific materialism and animism, Ethan looks at the role of magic in developing a grounded but awe-inspired approach to our spiritual practice. Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training starting June 14. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

How do you go from a life in fashion to being a well-known and respected spiritual teacher and icon? Ethan is joined by friend, teacher and author of the brand new book Spiritually, We (out now) for a discussion of Sah's path into meditation, Buddhism, developing his own movement-based practice system and becoming a teacher and healer. Check out all the cool offerings at our sponsor Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training starting June 14. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Sah D'Simone is a spiritual revolutionary, artist, and the internationally bestselling author Spiritually Sassy. He's known for hosting the top-rated Spiritually Sassy Show podcast and for creating the Somatic Activated Healing (SAH) Method™. Sah works in the Spiritual Care Department at Cedars-Sinai Hospital and is a guest lecturer at Columbia University. His remarkable contributions to homeless youth in Venice Beach, California earned him the CARE award from the city and county of Los Angeles. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

Starting off from the recent work—and calling out—of scientist and wellness personality Andrew Huberman, Ethan explores the relationship between trying to control one's biological reality in relationship to controlling one's environment and relationships. Ethan looks at discipline from a Buddhist perspective, and how the practice of discipline leads us—ironically—to let go of control and perhaps, in turn, experience real joy. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Trainings. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

Is "Buddhist Guilt" a thing? How does it stop us from meditating? Using his own experience with himself, students, and the classic teachings, Ethan's gives tips for how to work with obstacles that stop us from meditating and that obstruct our practice when we get to the meditation seat. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training beginning March 22, 2024. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. Pre-Order Ethan's new book, Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds to be released May 21, wherever you get your books.

Using American political media's obsessive focus on (only one of) the presidential candidate's advanced age, Ethan examines a Buddhist view on the ways in which aging brings about both greater wisdom and, perhaps, greater stuckness, and the ways in which youth includes great imagination and also impatience. Ethan examines the concepts of eldership, mentorship, and lineage from a Buddhist perspective and examines his own growth path "aging" as a person, as a Buddhist student and teacher, over the last 20-25 years. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training beginning March 22, 2024. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! You can get an advanced PDF of the book and a free audio meditation if you order in advance! For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Ethan discusses the Buddhist practice of generosity by looking at an amazing billionaire's gift by Dr. Ruth Gottesman, another famous billionaire's apocalypse bunker, and, of course, the annual headache of doing your taxes. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training beginning March 22, 2024. Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! You can get an advanced PDF of the book and a free audio meditation if you order in advance! For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Holding the awful events of the world in mind, Ethan discusses anxiety as we try to hold together our personal world, our relationships, and the larger world in chaos. He goes further into the nooks and crannies of the four noble truths in relation to generalized anxiety, and closes by offering a guided meditation to work with your anxiety right now. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the free online event on Feb 27 with David Nichtern and Robert Thurman, "Teaching Mindfulness and The Role of The Teacher." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! You can get an advanced PDF of the book and a free audio meditation if you order in advance! For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

In this inventive episode, Ethan discusses our obsession with apocalyptic thinking using the four noble truths. A lifelong fan of science fiction, he discusses the Buddhist roots of dystopian obsession, and the confusing craving to annihilate existence in the question for peace. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the free online event on Feb 27 with David Nichtern and Robert Thurman, "Teaching Mindfulness and The Role of The Teacher." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. Pre-order Ethan's new book Confidence: Holding Your Seat Through Life's Eight Worldly Winds, due out May 21, 2024! For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Ethan is joined by author, teacher and writing coach Lisa Weinert. They discuss the power of storytelling as both a spiritual and psychological method for healing. They also talk about why the act of writing is so excruciating, as well as the relationship between storytelling and embodiment. They definitely do not discuss their 9th Grade English teacher, Mr. Hubner. Lisa is the author of the book Narrative Healing: Awaken the Power of Your Story (Hachette, 2023). She has taught and lectured on the power of storytelling at institutions such as Wesleyan University, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and Fortune 500 media companies. Beginning her career in book publishing, Weinert eventually became a certified yoga instructor with a specialty in trauma-informed and restorative yoga, leading her to combine her professional training with her own experience with trauma to create Narrative Healing, a writing program that seeks to release our stories in a way that is accessible and empowering. For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com, and check out the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training along with many other wonderful offerings.

Ethan discusses the often confusing term "Basic Goodness." He breaks down some thoughts on why the term—and the transformative experience it points toward—can be elusive and confusing. He also goes into some of the historical origins of the term that illuminate its meaning and offers tools for how to work with it to ask wise questions about our experience in both meditation and everyday life. Check out all the cool offerings at Dharma Moon, including the free online event with David Nichtern and Duncan Trussell, "Meditation and Beginners Mind." Also check out upcoming in-person retreats in May and June. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness. For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com

Ethan is joined by author and teacher Deborah Eden Tull. Eden’s Buddhist teaching emphasizes the personal, interpersonal, transpersonal, societal, ecological, mystical, and global impacts of awareness practice. Her current focus is Sacred Activism, empowering people in conscious response and regenerative leadership as we collectively navigate the climate crisis. She is a member of the national Eco-Dharma Advisory Committee of Buddhist teachers and leaders in the eco-dharma movement. Eden’s first book, The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide for the Sustainable Food Revolution (Process Media), was published in September 2010 and her second book, Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and the Planet, was published by Wisdom Publications in May 2018. Her newest book, Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown, was released by Shambhala Publications in 2022. For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com, and check out the upcoming Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training along with many other wonderful offerings.

Ethan gives his "hot takes" as an active participant and casual observer of American politics on the severely compromised state of American democracy. He addresses the idea that we are all burnt out on America, and discusses the three aspects of compassionate action, and why, for the benefit of ourselves and others, getting off our screens and into simple participatory action is key. For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com Also, check out Dharma Moon’s upcoming free event: Meditation and Beginner's Mind with David Nichtern and Duncan Trussell. For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness.

Ethan is joined by author, teacher, Nonviolent Communication trainer and Somatic Experiencing practitioner Oren Jay Sofer. They discuss being "dharma dads," not having enough time to practice meditation with a kid, how to make classic teachings modern, Oren's new book Your Heart Was Made For This, and Oren's complex experience of being a Jewish and Buddhist American in the wake of the atrocities in Palestine and Israel. Oren has practiced meditation in the early Buddhist tradition since 1997, beginning his studies in Bodh Gaya, India with Anagarika Munindra and Godwin Samararatne. He is a long-time student of Joseph Goldstein, Michele McDonald, and Ajahn Sucitto, and a graduate of the IMS - Spirit Rock Vipassana Teacher Training, and current member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Oren is the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication, a practical guidebook for having more effective, satisfying conversations. He is also co-author of two books on teaching mindfulness to teens and adolescents: The Mindful Schools Curriculum for Adolescents and Teaching Mindfulness to Empower Teens. His latest book is called, Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices to Meet a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com, and check out the Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program with Ethan and an amazing faculty!

Ethan is joined by friend, author, meditation teacher, and mutual aid activist Shelly Tygielski. They discuss the grind of modern work life, the experience of Enoughness, alternative economic models and the power of mutual aid. Shelly runs a popular Instagram feed, @mindfulskatergirl. As a philanthropist and social activist, Shelly Tygielski has been hailed by individuals ranging from President Joe Biden to Arianna Huffington and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn to Maria Shriver. She is the founder of the global, grassroots mutual aid organization, Pandemic of Love. Her work has been featured in over 100 media outlets, including CNN Heroes, The Kelly Clarkson Show, CBS This Morning, the New York Times and Washington Post. She is the Executive Producer and co-host, of the television show "All Hands on Deck." Shelly is a trauma-informed mindfulness teacher and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Philanthropic Leadership from Indiana University's Lilly School of Philanthropy. For more info on Shelly, visit For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com Also, check out the New Year's Eve Intention Setting Gathering and Dharma Moon’s Yearlong Buddhist Studies program

Ethan discusses the question of "God" from a Buddhist perspective, examining the ideas of theism, atheism, and non-theism. He delves into ways the concepts of God, gods, and goddesses are already relevant to Buddhist thought, and also talks about the salvation that does and doesn't happen at a Taylor Swift concert. For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com Also, check out the upcoming free online lecture (Jan 9): Right Livelihood - What Buddhism Can Learn From Capitalism and Dharma Moon’s Yearlong Buddhist Studies program (starts Jan 23rd). For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness.

Ethan discusses the difference between resolution, intention and aspiration as we head into the New Year, along with the wellness phenomenon of "Quitter's Day." For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com Also, check out the upcoming free online lecture: Right Livelihood - What Buddhism Can Learn From Capitalism and Dharma Moon’s Yearlong Buddhist Studies program . For an easily downloadable, self-paced video course to establish a mindfulness meditation practice, check out Foundations of Mindfulness.

Ethan is joined by friend, bestselling author, dharma practitioner and astrologer Juliana McCarthy. They discuss the odd scientific precision of astrology and this moment in astrological history, which McCarthy calls arguably "the most significant astrological moment in human history." Juliana runs a popular Instagram feed, @etherealculture. She gives talks regularly and leads various workshops and retreats. If you’re interested in online talks, videos, and class, visit her Patreon page here. She also wrote a book called, The Stars Within You: A Modern Guide to Astrology, published by Roost Books and distributed by Penguin Random House. Learn more about it here. For more info on Ethan visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com Also, check out the New Year's Eve Intention Setting Gathering and Dharma Moon’s Yearlong Buddhist Studies program

In this episode, Ethan talks with his friend, mentor and teacher Sharon Salzberg about the power of studying Buddhism within a supportive community for working with one's mind and other's effectively and compassionately at a time of turmoil. Ethan also presents a deep overview of Dharma Moon's Yearlong Buddhist Studies Program which begins on Tuesday, Jan 23, 2024. For more info visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com. For more info on Sharon Salzberg, please visit SharonSalzberg.com

In this episode, Ethan discusses the importance of reflecting in meditation on the past (the past year, in this case) as a means of working with our karma or habitual patterns before we set resolutions or intentions for the time ahead. He also wonders, as a parent, how so many Encanto and Taylor Swift songs made it onto his streaming service playlists for the year in review. For more info visit EthanNichtern.com and DharmaMoon.com.