The poet Rumi shared this wisdom: "Grief can be the garden of compassion. If you keep your heart open through everything, Your pain can become your greatest ally in your life's search for love and wisdom." The poetry of Rumi makes that process sound like a smooth and blissful journey. Of course, the reality is that the work of being open amidst tough stuff, seeing our suffering, accepting our pain, and moving on can be messy and difficult. AND, no matter how many times we try and fall short, it's still healing work. We'll dig into this journey throughout the episode, how we can be open to and see the truth of our pain, and how to apply compassion and practical steps to move beyond what might be holding us back.

About: The Joy Lab Podcast blends science and soul to help you cope better with stress, ease anxiety, and uplift mood. Join Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek for practical, mindfulness-based tools and positive psychology strategies to build resilience and create lasting joy.

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Sources and Notes:

• Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life.
• Previous episodes for this series:
• • Part 1: Ordinary Human Compassion & Self-Compassion to Improve Mental Health
  • Part 2: Understanding Ourselves & Others
  • Part 3: Reducing Self-Criticism & Judgment by Recognizing Our Shared Human-ess
• Gabor Mate's website

Full transcript here

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