Podcast
Latest Podcast Episode
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or SoundCloud // Support the podcast on Patreon
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.
Mindfulness & Intimacy (Part 2)
In this talk Michael continues to present his approach to spiritual practice with grounded psychological insight into key practices of both the yogic and Buddhist traditions. These talks are part of a series on the psychology of yoga and Buddhism
Mindfulness & Intimacy (Part 1)
In this talk Michael presents his approach to spiritual practice with grounded psychological insight into key practices of both the yogic and Buddhist traditions. These talks are part of a series on the psychology of yoga and Buddhism and were
Best of Awake in the World: In that Lump of Flesh and Bones
This week we’re revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. In this talk, Michael argues that yoga and mindfulness are best practiced via the body versus striving for the attainment of philosophical or intellectual concepts. He encourages trusting
Best of Awake in the World: Do People These Days Need Enlightenment?
This week we’re revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. In this talk, Michael considers the final lines of the first pada of the Yoga Sutra through the lens of a Buddhist koan: Case 62 of the Book
The Form is Hugging You
Michael gives a talk about the importance of form, and the importance of not becoming caught by form, and how this insight expands out to allow spontaneity, creativity, and freedom to be whatever you need to be moment by moment.
Nest Building
In this talk on awareness, Michael uses the metaphor of a nest to describe our accumulation of narratives, memories and viewpoints, and argues that non-attachment (vairagya) is crucial and “viewpoint interruption” is a practice in itself.
Not Too Tight, Not Too Loose
Michael leads a thirty-minute meditation focusing on the finer points of the posture (form), and explains how physiological details and psychological states affect one another.
Best of Awake in the World: The Good Enough Meditator
This week we’re revisiting a favourite Awake in the World podcast episode. In this talk, Michael highlights the hindrances to practice described in line 30 of the Yoga Sutras and then offers some techniques to work with them.
Knowing the Unknowable
In this talk on the Third Foundation of Mindfulness (from the Satipatthana Sutta), Michael covers the Kleshas, karma and learning to discern skillful versus unskillful mind states.
An Army of Coolness
Michael gives a talk about the Buddha’s “Fire Sermon,” and connects it to practice, being in relationship, and the cultivation of generosity, creativity and loving action.
A Ball Thrown into a River
In this talk Michael covers part of the Ariyapasasana Sutta (the Buddha’s own account of his awakening), the difference between Patanjali’s definition of yoga and the Buddha’s Second Truth, recognizing and working with (or against) the momentum of culture, and
A Case of Mistaken Identity
Michael argues that “yoga citta vritti nirodha” can be interpreted as “the ending of our misidentification with the movement of consciousness” and that our attempts to ground or reify our self-identity lead to dissatisfaction and anxiety.
Support the Library
The Community Library will continue as long as we have supporters. The more support we have, the more we can ensure that the teachings Michael left behind can be available for free to anyone in the world.