Podcast

The joke used to be that every time Michael opened his mouth what he said was archived here. We couldn’t be more grateful for that now because it is one of the best ways Michael’s teachings will live on.

The Awake in the World Podcast is the heart of the Community Library. Talks are on a wide-range of topics, including: bringing mindfulness and meditation practice into daily life; personal and community issues regarding mental health; and social change.

This podcast has been created so that anyone can have instant access to Michael’s teachings. It has been made possible due to generous donations from members of the community. In the six years that the podcast has been available, over half a million people have pressed play as a way to be more—like the name says—awake in the world.

Each podcast is between 30-60 minutes long. As always, you’re encouraged to follow along weekly as part of your practice. The podcasts were recorded at live events so you might hear coughing, airplanes, cars, sirens, laughter, and peoples’ questions—all part of the intimate experience.

Patience is a Practice of Attunement

Long-term practice requires patience more than discipline. Practice frustrates our results oriented mind. You need patience to stay with life for the long haul. The paradoxes of karma.

The Ivory Tower of Love

It’s harder to practice conditional love than unconditional love. Try loving one person for a very long time. In this podcast episode, Michael gives a talk on Shantideva. As kids, our parents are attuned to our needs. As adults, lovers

Your Crushing Elephant Mind

What should we do with our anger? Venting anger is one of the worst ways to cool down. Outbursts of rage typically pump up the emotional brain’s arousal, leaving people feeling more angry, not less angry.

How to Work with Strong Moods

Michael discusses Chapter 5 of the Shantideva and the way negative emotional mood swings cannot hold together for very long without thoughts. How we have to inject stories into our moods to keep them afloat; and the practices for transforming

Powerful Emotions and S.A.I.N.

Michael talks about the birth of his son Olin Winter a few days ago and then gives a series of simple and practical practices for working with strong emotions. Based on Chapter 4 of Shantideva, A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s

Conscientiousness and the Practice of Attentiveness

Has the powerful but ineffable energy of strong emotions, attachment and aversion reduced us to servitude? A gruff old man takes up yoga and experiences momentary freedom from painful thoughts. Has anyone else been gripped by sorcery lately?

The Whole World is Upside Down

We get a gleaming new partner and then they don’t turn out how we think they will! What we think is stable and reliable turns out to be unreliable. Michael talks about Bird’s Nest Roshi who goes out on a

You Are A Long Distance Train

Michael’s powerful final talk of 2012, during silent retreat. There is a true person who is constantly coming and going from the portals of your face. Who is that true person?

Show Me Something That Isn’t Medicine

Michael gives the last talk at Centre of Gravity before moving to a new location. Medicine and disease cure each other, everything is medicine, so what is the self?

Threads of Yoga

Threads of Yoga by Matthew Remski

Matthew Remski visits Centre of Gravity to talk about his book, Threads of Yoga: A Remix of Patanjali’s Sutras. He reads excerpts from his book and speaks about Patanjali’s ideas, which make up one of the most popular texts in

Ashtanga Yoga Invocation: Steps and Counter-Steps

Listen to the sangha chant the Ashtanga invocation in detail. Michael explains how to look at the nature of thoughts and see how they change but also the way they have no power except for what we invest in them.