What does it actually mean to “trust life” — especially when life is handing you something genuinely hard? In this Meditation Party episode (originally aired in 2024), Dan, Sebene Selassie, and Jeff Warren dig into that question from multiple angles: as a personal mantra, a philosophical stance, and a daily practice. Plus: listener questions on rumination, work-life balance, and the eternal napping-vs.-meditating debate.
“Trust Life” vs. “This Is the Curriculum” — Sebene shares the origin of her tattoo and what the mantra has meant through years of health challenges. Jeff offers his own version — and why fighting your circumstances is, as Sebene puts it, “bananas.”
The three timescales of practice — Jeff breaks down how meditation works in the moment, over months and years, and across the arc of a whole life. The third one is where things get interesting.
Obsessive thinking / rumination — Practical tools from all three, including one from Sebene involving a trampoline, and one from a clinical psychologist that will make you feel ridiculous in the best way.
Listener Q&A — Work-life balance, intention-setting, and the eternal napping-vs.-meditating debate.
Recommendations — A fantasy novel, a clowning workshop, a 48-hour celebrity memoir, and a Netflix documentary that may make you want Lionel Richie to run for president.
Sebene Selassie describes herself as a “writer, teacher, and immigrant-weirdo.” She teaches meditation on the ten percent happier app and is the author of a great book called You Belong. She’s based in Brooklyn.
Jeff Warren is also a writer and a meditation teacher. He and Dan co-wrote the book, Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. He also hosts the Consciousness Explorers podcast. He’s based in Toronto.
Related episodes:
How to Stay Calm No Matter What’s Happening | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
Meditation Party: The “Sh*t Is Fertilizer” Edition | Sebene Selassie & Jeff Warren
Meditation Party: Magic, Mystery, Intuition, Tattoos, and Non-Efforting | Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren
Science-Based Tools for When You’re Stressed, Obsessed, or Overthinking | Dr. Jenny Taitz
