Beyond the News
Join host Dr. Larry Ward as he explores current events through the lens of Buddhism and neuroscience, sharing practical skills for how to engage with the information we receive from the wider world. While we cannot ignore the news or modern media, we can learn new ways to shift our perspective from reactivity to reflection, and gain a deeper understanding of our body and mind along the way. Dr. Ward is the author of America’s Racial Karma, a senior teacher in the Plum Village tradition of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the co-founder of The Lotus Institute. He brings an interdisciplinary approach to his "Deep Buddhism" teachings, incorporating elements of Buddhist psychology with neuroscience, trauma resiliency and social imagination.
Beyond the News
Ep. 1: Learning to Listen to Your Body
In this episode, Dr. Larry Ward offers insight on how to listen to your body's reaction to the news—before responding. To take a step back and pause so that you better understand the messages your body is receiving and can then respond in a way that doesn't harm yourself or others. Learning to live in the world with your heart undisturbed by the world is not easy, but it is an essential practice to help us live a life with equanimity. It all begins with recognizing, naming and responding to the sensation in the body as we receive the news. Every news story mentioned, whether from the past or current, is a teaching example.
Go deeper:
Tracking and creating your own language of your body sensations. Create a journal. Call it “Befriending my nervous system”. Write down the times when you notice sensations in your body that are pleasant, unpleasant or neutral. Create your own language of these three sensations that you uniquely feel. And note how you want to respond to the information you receive in the news.
Notes:
- Buddhist sutra on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The first being mindfulness of the body in the body.
- The vagus nerve. The longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human body. Carrying signals between your brain, heart and digestive system.
- Somatic practice of tracking bodily sensations.
Beyond the News is made possible through the generous support from Hemera Foundation and the Frederick P. Lenz Foundation. You can help us continue our podcast offerings by giving to thelotusinstitute.org/donate. Your generosity is a gift that supports our programs and events, and the Lotus Institute's global community of friends like you. In gratitude.
