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Jonathan Foust

Jonathan Foust

Senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Community of Washington and co-founder of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute, Jonathan Foust share weekly talks, guided meditations and inquiries that explore how to cultivate an awakened heart and mind.

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  • 38 episodes
  • Avg 46 min
  • English
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  • Today · 47 min

    From Fear to Wisdom (2 of 2)

    We continue our exploration on moving from Fear to clear-seeing. You'll explore a few protocols that have helped me enormously in shifting from feeling caught to feeling empowered again. Fear can serve as an early-warning detection system and when explored mindfully, can point the way toward more skillful means. I reference The Sedona Method the work of Tim Ferris and the work of Byron Katie.

  • Today · 47 min

    From Fear to Wisdom (1 of 2)

    This talk explores how to move from Fear to Clear-Seeing and new possibilities. You'll learn how unresolved fear restricts the possibilities in your life and how you can turn toward fear through cognitive processes as well as somatic inquiry. When you shift from "How do I get rid of this?" to "What can I learn from this?" you may start to feel new possibilities.

  • Today · 46 min

    Four Ideals to Guide Your Practice

    This talk explores four sutras offered by the Buddha on how to awaken your heart and mind. You'll learn the importance of cultivating a lifelong aspiration to awaken, to actively cultivate spiritual friendships, to be open and kind and to take time away from the complexity of life to see ever more clearly into the nature of reality. This talk is inspired by an article in Tricycle Magazine (Summer 2022) by Dale S. Wright entitled Four Ideals to Guide Your Practice.

  • Today · 45 min

    Choose What is Already Changing

    This talk explores how to embrace impermanence. You'll learn about the inevitability of change and how understanding your reactivity and biases can help you access a quality of awareness that can help you move from reactivity to wisdom, compassion, creativity and enthusiasm.

  • Today · 46 min

    Just Because You Believe It Doesn't Mean It's True

    This talk explores how to amplify self-awareness and see more clearly into what is true. You'll learn how you tend to get locked into certain perspectives and explore a profound "technology" for deconstructing thoughts and beliefs. Asking the right questions can point your attention beyond the lens of your perspective to see with greater clarity what is true.

  • Today · 46 min

    How to Listen to Your Body

    This talk explores the power of somatic inquiry. You'll learn how awareness of the body can be a means for steadying the mind as well as developing your capacity to be the non-judging observer. You'll learn how you can develop your awareness of the "felt sense" inside as a powerful tuning fork for intuitive inquiry.

  • Today · 45 min

    Water the Root and Enjoy the Fruit: Living from Awake Presence

    This talk explores the power of stepping back and hitting the reset button in your life. You'll learn about what can happen when you remember the results you are driving toward and the power of pausing and ruthlessly taking stock as to how you actually doing. When you consciously disengage from the busyness of your life and immerse yourself in presence you can refresh your sense of what is most important to you and move forward informed by creativity and infinite possibility.

  • September 7 · 39 min

    The Art of Starting Over …. Over and Over

    This talk explores one of the most essential—and liberating—skills on the spiritual path: the willingness to begin again. Inspired by S. N. Goenka's simple instruction to "start again," we'll look beyond returning to the present moment and explore how each new beginning also invites us to remember what matters most. Drawing on the experience of moving across the country, letting go of what no longer belongs, and discovering that every ending is also a beginning, this talk offers a fresh perspective on the practice of starting over—not only during life's major transitions, but in the countless moments of everyday life. You'll learn how to re-arrive with awareness, reconnect with your deepest intention, recognize what no longer serves your future, and cultivate the courage to begin again with wisdom rather than self-judgment. Whether you're navigating a significant life change or simply finding your way through the ordinary challenges of daily living, you'll discover that starting over isn't a sign that you've failed—it's the very heart of awakening.

  • September 7 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections #10: Live in Balance

    This talk explores the tenth of the ten perfections. You'll learn how you cannot make steadiness and serenity happen, but can create the conditions that allow this inner state to arise. When you remember the fundamental quality of reality, you can more easily open to embrace your true nature.

  • September 7 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections #9 : Live from Your Heart

    The talk explores the power of loving kindness. You'll learn how to be more of a well-wisher to all, some techniques to more effectively express kindness in the world and a reflection on what might happen in your life if you were to be more adept at responding to challenges with an open heart.

  • September 7 · 47 min

    The Ten Perfections #8: Stay the Course

    This talk explores the power of grit. You'll learn the importance of first creating goals that are fully aligned with your heart and spirit and then developing your capacity to stay on your path, developing both perseverance as well as deep, intuitive inner listening.

  • August 24 · 47 min

    The Ten Perfections #7: Live in Truth

    This talk explores how to attune to what is true. You'll learn how to discern between conventional and eternal truth, two essential teachings of truth and how to use your relationships and wise speech as a doorway to greater clarity and self-awareness.

  • August 24 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections #6: Stay Present Under Pressure

    This talk explores how to cultivate the quality of patience and self-restraint. You'll learn about the power of refraining from those who have caused you harm, how to endure hardship, how to cultivate greater confidence in ultimate truth and about the near-enemies of patience and forbearance.

  • August 23 · 55 min

    The Ten Perfections #5: Engage with Skillful Effort

    This talk explores how to cultivate vitality, courage and resilience in your life. You'll learn how you can manage the energy you have and how to build vigor and confidence to pursue that which calls you.

  • August 23 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections #4: See More Clearly

    This talk explores how to cultivate wisdom and insight. You'll learn about the importance of cultivating the wise heart, what gets in the way of seeing clearly, the anatomy of an insight and how to balance wisdom with compassion.

  • August 23 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections #3: Let Go

    This talk explores the potential of mindful renunciation. You'll learn how critically important it is to know what is most important, cultivate the thoughts, behaviors and actions that will bring about that outcome and as well, identify and modify the the thoughts, behaviors and actions that get in the way of that outcome.

  • August 23 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections: #2 Walk Your Talk

    This talk explores how paying attention to your behavior can support you in your life. You'll learn how all traditions have guidelines regarding your moral behavior, how morality is often based on a negativity bias and how ultimately, it's up to you to determine what you really want and define for yourself what it means to be virtuous and in integrity.

  • August 23 · 48 min

    The Ten Perfections #1: Give Freely

    This talk explores the power of cultivating an attitude of love and care in your life. You'll learn what the Buddha said about giving, how intimately receiving is connected to generosity, the shadow-side of the practice and the power of taking generous actions when you feel called.

  • May 21 · 48 min

    Conversations with Depth Practitioners: Stephen Josephs

    How has your meditation practice shifted and changed since you first took it up? Please join this conversation with Stephen Josephs, who shares how his mediation has evolved over 60 years of daily practice. As one of the leaders in the Kundalini Yoga tradition at it's peak in the west, Stephen was a devoted practitioner in what he calls the 'fire practices,' willful and powerful practices that can dramatically change one's state. But after many years of dedicated effort, the fire started to go out. His practice evolved into what he calls the 'water practices' - techniques and attentional strategies that are more about dissolving the sense of a separate self. In this conversation he shares some of the essential elements of the water practices and we explore that gnarly question: What it is that is actually dissolving? You'll come away with some key insights from a depth practitioner and a taste of how the dissolving practices might be of benefit to you. With over 60 years of daily meditation practice, Stephen Josephs, Ed.D., brings a wealth of wisdom to his work. His expertise spans a diverse array of mind-body systems—including yoga, tai chi, and qigong—as well as specialized training in NLP, psychodrama, and body-centered psychotherapy. This breadth of experience fosters an open-hearted approach that helps students quickly realize the benefits of mindfulness. For the past 40 years, Stephen has focused on leadership development, integrating meditation as a core pillar for executive growth. He is also the co-author of Leadership Agility, a definitive study on how leaders mature and expand their capacity to lead. For more information and to reach out to Stephen: https://www.stephenjosephs.com/ Teachers and Resources: Connierae Andreas and Core Transformation: https://conniraeandreas.com/ Dr. Les Fehmi and Open Focus: https://openfocus.com/home/ Bruce Frantzis https://www.energyarts.com/about/

  • May 21 · 33 min

    The 8 Fold Path 8: The Collected Mind: How Concentration Opens the Door to Freedom

    This talk explores the culminating factor of the Eightfold Path—Right Concentration—and the profound power of a steady, unified mind. In a world of constant distraction and fragmented attention, we investigate how deep focus becomes a gateway to inner stillness, clarity, and freedom. Drawing from classical Buddhist teachings and lived experience, this talk reveals how training attention is not just about meditation, but about reclaiming the depth, presence, and aliveness of your entire life. You'll learn how to strengthen and stabilize attention through practical, time-tested methods, how to work skillfully with common obstacles like restlessness and doubt, and how concentration naturally matures from effort into ease. You'll also discover how a steady mind supports insight, emotional resilience, and a deep sense of well-being—opening the door to a more fully lived and awakened life.

Showing 1–20 of 38 episodes