Rebel Buddhist

  We’re ending this year with a deep reflection: a year in review for wild awake hearts. You know it’s the end of the year when there you are, just trying to drink your tea in peace, and your feed is full of “Optimize Your 2026,” “New Year, New You,” and shit like that. Meanwhile, the Buddha is somewhere looking at all these color-coded habit trackers like, “Beloveds… you know you’re still going t...

This is a PSA and reminder for us all that sometimes changing our circumstances (like through a move, leaving our job or a relationship etc) really is the most compassionate, wise, and liberating choice…and sometimes it’s just changing what our suffering looks like on a superficial level. I’ll share my own story of leaving Alaska for Spain and jam on how to know when it’s helpful to change our env...

Today we’re exploring what it’s like to live with a kind of inner fire that refuses to stay quiet. Ziji + Spiritual Audacity. A deep, embodied courage that comes from being radically awake in our own lives. We’ll look at how this shows up personally and in the collective, and how choosing to live from our real nature, steady in love, committed to truth, and devoted to collective liberation. In thi...

I know it can be fun + inspiring to listen to how to make progress on our path: open our hearts, be more patient, confident, have healthy boundaries, learn to forgive… AND the challenge can be knowing WTF to do with it all on a day-to-day basis. So today, we are wrapping up the off-the-cushion series with how to bring these wisdom teachings together into a daily practice that doesn’t feel overwhel...

This week is a revisit of an episode exploring metta (the Buddhist practice of lovingkindness) and how when we hold back to protect our hearts, we can welcome in more vulnerability, re-opening ourselves to lovingkindness through vulnerability. We’ll jam on what to do when we hit a wall and why we might struggle to express lovingkindness toward ourselves and others. In this episode you will learn:...

When everything around us is changing, how do we stay grounded without shutting down? In this week’s episode, we dive into The Three Marks of Existence. Qualities that are true for anything that exists. Yes, anything! We’ll explore impermanence, suffering, and the concept of “not-self” and talk about how releasing clinging to our sense of Self can deepen connection and freedom and ease in our live...

Ever notice how just when your practice starts to deepen, our mind gets loud as hell, distracted, unmotivated, or tired? Don’t worry - it’s totally normal. This week, we’re getting real about what’s known as the Five Hindrances; the craving, aversion, doubt, fear/worry, and existential MEH  that keep us stuck. We also explore how to manage them so we can continue to become the little Rebel Buddhas...

This week’s episode is a special replay on how to step off the cushion and into the world, interweaving our spirituality with activism. We’ll be exploring compassion in action and how to take our practice from our internal work out into the world. Because our world IS what we are. It’s living through ALL of us. You will learn: // How to reconcile the seemingly different energies of activism and sp...

This we wrap up our discussion of the Eightfold Path by talking about 3 components of Meditation/samādhi: Wise Effort, Wise Mindfulness, and Wise Concentration. We’ll talk about how our meditation practice isn’t just to calm the mind, and why we need it now more than ever. Plus I’ll give you some ways you can begin practicing samādhi in your own daily life. You will learn: // The real reason we me...

We can often think that very few ancient teachings could apply to these historic times, when things seem upended in ways the world has never seen (or so it seems;). This week, we explore lessons that are over 2600 years old that remind us of our humanity and what really matters, no matter the era, our job, our age, our nationality, our sexuality, our religion, or any other way we might identify. T...

This week’s episode continues our Off the Cushion and Into the World series. We’ll try to save ourselves some time and headache by starting to step onto the actual path the Buddha laid out for how to live with more freedom — the Noble Eightfold Path. Today, we focus on the first section: Wisdom, or Pañña — specifically, “ Right” - or Wise - View and Right/Wise Intention. I’ll break down what each...

This week we dive into something extra personal for me - snapshots of struggles in my own life story. We’ll explore the power of the choices we all make and why we often struggle to believe that we’re just as capable as anyone else to create the life we want. And I’ll give you some encouragement so you can go out and find your own freedom! In this episode, you’ll learn: Why assumptions about someo...

This week we’re stepping right into the heart of a Buddhist version of a Reality Check. When the Buddha came out of his meditative state, he didn’t run to tell people about all the trippy things he experienced. Instead, he chose his first teaching to be about the Four Noble Truths - the fact that dissatisfaction is part of the human experience, and there’s a way to not get hooked by it. I’ll break...

This week is the first in our Off the Cushion and Into the World series. This series came from multiple requests for a course on Buddhist philosophy and psychology, and I wanted to offer this series on the foundational teachings here on the podcast. As the Dalai Lama said, you don’t have to be Buddhist to benefit from the teachings of Buddhism! You can use the tools to have less suffering in your...

This week’s episode is all about one of the foundational teachings of Buddhism: ehipassiko. We’ll jam on what it means to “live the question” and why it’s important for us to see things for ourselves instead of relying on others’ experiences. Plus, we’ll talk about how to not judge others for how they choose to live their lives. In this Episode we talk about: // WTF it means to “live the question”...

This week we talk about the misguided idea that if it’s meant to be, it should be easy, and if it’s hard, it’s a sign that something is NOT meant to be. While there’s some validity to certain experiences like this, it isn’t universally true. In this episode, I share ways you can actually differentiate if your suffering is an indication of misalignment, or if it’s a part of the universality of the...

This week’s episode is about some of the things we can do to help us show up as our best selves when there is someone in our life who has a mental illness. We’ll jam on cultivating practices that help us come to these challenges with more love, compassion + wisdom. Plus I’ll tell you the ONE thing you can do that matters more than anything else. You will learn: // 3 ways to practice self-compassio...

This week we have some inspiration from my bodhisattva cab driver in Eugene, Bruce. He has intimate knowledge of The Ripple Effect. We’ll jam on how he uses it to make the world a better place through his Soul Work - even more evidence that our soul purpose can have nothing to do with our career. You will learn: // How two short interactions with a random stranger completely changed my life // How...

In this episode we talk about the two wings of freedom: wisdom and compassion. I’ll explain the importance of cultivating a balance of both, and what can happen when we are practicing one without the other (HINT: often, more harm than good). We will also go over some tips to help us cultivate both wisdom and compassion in our daily lives. You will learn: // The importance of having both wisdom AND...

This week I ask the question: would you still act in kindness if no one ever knew? We all want to be recognized for our actions - it’s part of our human nature (and our culture). But when we act anonymously, we may find ourselves feeling freer. You will learn: // Why we often want to be recognized for our good deeds, and how that isn’t always a good thing // How letting go of our need to be seen m...

This week we’ll discuss how it’s ok to make other people and ourselves uncomfortable…even if it makes you want to puke ;) We’ll dive into why discomfort can be a good thing and how to tell if it’s actually harming you. We’ll also talk about the myth of “feel good healing,” and why we need discomfort to grow! You will learn: // Why discomfort doesn’t equal unsafe… and what it ACTUALLY means instead...

This week we explore something that often makes a lot of people uncomfortable: Sacred Rage. Many of us don’t feel like it’s healthy to express rage, and/or we are thrown or upset when we see others express it. We’ll dive into why rage is actually necessary when it comes from a place of compassion + love and talk about ways we can use that rage for the betterment of ourselves and the more-than-huma...

This week’s episode is a special replay on a daily practice we can do to decrease unnecessary suffering - which is what this podcast is all about! It’s completely natural that things end - relationships, careers, objects we adore, and more. Yet we have so much resistance when things do come to an end, often feeling like it wasn’t supposed to happen. We’ll talk about the concept of “little deaths”...

This week, we dive into Spiritual Practice vs Consciousness Exploration - and the dangers of not knowing the difference. I’ll talk about how we can use conscious exploration to nurture our spiritual growth (instead of letting it distract us) and how we can approach altered states with caution. Plus we’ll take a look at what Buddhism has to say about this and other psychic skills like telepathy, as...

In this week’s episode, we dive deeper into the concept that freedom is a FEELING - and not only the freedom TO, but freedom FROM. We’ll also jam on when to know it’s time to let go, and how our freedom affects more than just ourselves. You will learn: // Freedom ACTUALLY is (and what it isn’t) // How to know when it’s time to let go // The two sides to freedom // How freedom isn’t just personal -...