Mindfulness Exercises, with Sean Fargo
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© 2026 Mindfulness Exercises, with Sean Fargo
Description
Practical, trauma‑sensitive mindfulness for everyday life — and for the people who teach it. Expect grounded guided meditations, evidence‑informed tools, and candid conversations with leading voices in the field.
Hosted by Sean Fargo — former Buddhist monk, founder of MindfulnessExercises.com, and a certified Search Inside Yourself instructor—each episode blends compassion, clarity, and real‑world application for practitioners, therapists, coaches, educators, and wellness professionals.
What you’ll find:
• Guided practices: breath awareness, body scans, self‑compassion, sleep, and nervous‑system regulation
• Teacher tools: trauma‑sensitive language, sequencing, and ethical foundations for safe, inclusive mindfulness
• Expert interviews with renowned teachers and researchers (e.g., Sharon Salzberg, Gabor Maté, Byron Katie, Rick Hanson, Ellen Langer, Judson Brewer)
• Clear takeaways you can use today—in sessions, classrooms, workplaces, and at home
Updated 2-3x weekly. Follow the show, try this week’s practice, and share one insight in a review to help others discover the podcast.
Explore more resources and training at MindfulnessExercises.com and the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification.
238 Episodes
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If “good vibes only” has ever left you feeling worse, you’re not alone. We dig into spiritual bypass—the habit of reaching for positivity to avoid discomfort—and show how it quietly amplifies stress, anger, and grief. Instead of shoving hard feelings away, we walk through a grounded, mindful approach that helps you feel safely, learn from what your body is saying, and move forward with clear action. We start by naming what bypass looks like in everyday life: focusing on peace and acceptance ...
We share why real human presence matters more than yet another guided track and how embodiment turns mindfulness from a script into a living practice. We also explore signals of rising demand, from global mental health needs to local community spaces. • rising interest in human mindfulness guides • teaching through personal stories and eye contact • searching for market data and credible sources • loneliness, paid walking companions, and community need • head, heart, and whole-body awareness...
We weigh how AI can support mindfulness while naming what it cannot replace: human presence, shared reality, and the heart’s wisdom. Practical boundaries, ethical concerns, and community care guide a nuanced path between helpful tools and hollow substitutes. • Lifetime access and open attendance clarified • Name introductions and community tone setting • AI’s strengths in personalization and scalability • The limits of simulation versus lived presence • Risks of outsourcing awareness and cre...
What if fear, grief, anger, and old hurts didn’t run the show anymore? We share a gentle way to build real emotional capacity without white-knuckling your way through pain. Instead of diving into the deep end, we map a clear, safe progression—starting with mild memories, grounding in the body, and adding just enough mindfulness to feel what’s there without getting swept away. We begin by setting the container: a quiet space, a stable seat, and a few minutes connecting to breath and body. Fro...
What if the safest place you can find is the breath you’re already taking? We sit down with Anthony Abbagnano — founder of Alchemy of Breath and author of Outer Chaos, Inner Calm — to explore how conscious breathing can shift anxiety, resolve trauma responses, and restore a sense of agency in everyday life. His story arcs from a startling early awakening at boarding school to months of stillness during a life-threatening illness, revealing the quiet power of will on the inhale and surrender o...
What if discipline wasn’t something we do to students, but a skill we help them build? We sit down with Nicholas Bradford, founder of the National Center for Restorative Justice, to unpack how mindfulness and restorative practices turn everyday conflicts into opportunities for growth, dignity, and repair. Visit his website: National Center For Restorative Justice From pre-K name calling to serious incidents that rock a school community, we break down a concrete sequence for accountabil...
When life speeds up and practice slips, it’s easy to believe mindfulness stopped working or was never yours to begin with. We challenge that story by centering a quieter truth: capability. Not a slogan, not toxic positivity—just the lived sense that you can meet what’s here, one breath at a time, without needing to fix or flee. From the first moments of reflection to the closing invitation, we explore how a small reminder can create a big shift. We trace the arc from losing momentum to remem...
What if your mind isn’t confined to your skull but lives in the space between us? We dig into interpersonal neurobiology to show how mind, brain, and relationships form a single, living system—and why integration is the hidden thread behind resilience, clarity, and connection. Rather than a tug-of-war between nature and nurture, you’ll hear how epigenetics turns experience into gene expression, and how neuroplasticity keeps your brain open to change across a lifetime. Dr. Dan Siegel's website...
You don’t need a perfect mind to meditate; you need a simple place to return to. We guide a clear, down-to-earth practice for resting attention on a home base—often the breath, but just as easily a body sensation or the flow of sound—so you can meet experience without strain. Rather than chasing calm or fighting thoughts, we practice the art of beginning again: notice you’ve drifted, let go gently, and come back to one felt breath. Sharon Salzberg's website: SharonSalzberg.com We start by tu...
A couch, a non-alcoholic hazy IPA, and a confession: leaving the monastery wasn’t just about tacos and rules—it was about hugging family again and answering a call to serve a world on edge. What followed is a surprising arc from Spirit Rock to healthcare to a teacher training program that’s now helping seed mindfulness across the Environmental Protection Agency and beyond. We walk through the real reasons mindfulness belongs inside complex institutions: not as a perk, but as a skills-based r...
When your mind won’t slow down, the fastest way out is often through the body. We lead a steady, grounded body scan that starts at the feet and moves through contact points, face, breath, and belly—simple cues that unwind hidden effort and restore a sense of ease. No jargon, no pressure to relax; just clear guidance that helps you notice what’s real in the moment and let the rest unclench. We begin by settling with a few deliberate breaths and feeling the feet meet the ground. That contact b...
Need a reset that actually sticks? We guide a calm, clear meditation that helps you settle your body, soothe your nerves, and steady your mind—without forcing the breath or chasing silence. Starting with simple grounding, we let the body meet the seat and the floor, then gently scan attention through legs, spine, head, and face to release hidden tension and welcome ease. As the practice deepens, we bring the hands into the experience to create reliable anchors. The left hand rests over the h...
What if your attitude is not just a mood but a biological instruction set? We take a bold tour through the Gene Keys, the system that links the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching to the 64 codons of DNA and frames your inner state as a frequency that tunes gene expression. Instead of forcing change, we look at how contemplation lifts you from shadow to gift to siddhi, with concrete examples like Gene Key 25’s journey from constriction to universal love and Gene Key 46’s shift from seriousness to del...
What if the most important moment in meditation is not the breath you follow, but the instant you notice you’ve wandered—and choose to return with love? James Baraz joins us to unpack that gentle pivot, showing how a kind return trains patience, forgiveness, and steadiness in daily life. James Baraz's website: https://www.awakeningjoy.info/ We walk through practical instruction, the value of real silence, and how to read the room so guidance supports rather than crowds out insight. Jam...
A simple wooden bench beneath redwoods can teach more about mindfulness than a stack of books. Sean Fargo shares how years as a Buddhist monk distilled into one essential practice: sit at the base of a tree, feel your breath, and let nature lead. From Thai forests to a Berkeley backyard, he traces the quiet power of practicing outdoors and explains why fresh air, shifting light, and the textures of the world sharpen attention and soften judgment. We explore a practical, element-based approac...
What if home isn’t a location but a feeling you can access anywhere? On a quiet stretch of California’s Central Valley, we explore how mindfulness turns a long drive into a place of safety, gratitude, and deep belonging. Instead of rushing from one address to the next, we lean into breath, body, and the living world around us—the weight of the seat, the warmth of the sun, the whisper of wind, even the tumbleweeds—and discover a home that doesn’t depend on walls. We get honest about the old h...
What if forgiveness didn’t ask you to forget, pretend, or minimize? We open a kinder door: releasing the grip of the past without erasing it, and training attention so old stories don’t run the show. Through a grounded, step-by-step loving-kindness practice with Sharon Salzberg, we move from caring for ourselves to offering warmth to a benefactor, a neutral person, and ultimately to all beings—showing how compassion can be both steady and discerning. Sharon's website: SharonSalzberg.com We s...
Happiness often feels slippery—too abstract to hold, too dependent on luck or perfect circumstances. We take a different path and lay out a grounded map you can actually use. The conversation with Austin Hill Shaw centers on three core human needs that, together, create a durable sense of wellbeing: connection, contribution, and meaning. Rather than chasing a mood, we practice a rhythm that returns us to what makes life feel alive. Austin's website: AustinHillShaw.com We start with connectio...
The holidays can be dazzling and demanding at the same time—lights and laughter on the outside, pressure and mixed emotions on the inside. We tackle that paradox head-on with simple, compassionate mindfulness tools you can use in real time to steady your nervous system and protect what matters most. We start with family dynamics, where old patterns and sensitive topics often intensify stress. You’ll learn mindful listening that lowers reactivity, silent loving-kindness that shields your hear...
Perfectionism says mindfulness must be done “right.” We flip that script. In this conversation, we share an everyday approach to mindfulness designed for overwhelmed and neurodivergent brains—one that starts with safety, honors choice, and turns presence into something you can actually enjoy. We begin by grounding in self-compassion and a simple reframe: rather than labeling thoughts and feelings as right or wrong, notice whether they feel pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. That shift softens...
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