Elizabeth Gilbert is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of nonfiction and fiction books such as Big Magic and Eat Pray Love. Her new memoir is All The Way To The River: Love, Loss, and Liberation.
On Sunday, September 21st from 1-5pm ET, join Dan and Leslie Booker at the New York Insight Meditation Center in NYC as they lead a workshop titled, "Heavily Meditated – The Dharma of Depression + Anxiety." This event is both in-person and online. Sign up here!
Get ready for another Meditation Party at Omega Institute! This in-person workshop brings together Dan with his friends and meditation teachers, Sebene Selassie, Jeff Warren, and for the first time, Ofosu Jones-Quartey. The event runs October 24th-26th. Sign up and learn more here!
Episode cheatsheet
The big takeaway
Elizabeth Gilbert opens up about her tumultuous love life, struggles with addiction, and journey through grief and recovery following the illness and loss of her partner, Rayya Elias. Her core message: transforming your relationship with yourself—through self-compassion, nervous system regulation, and finding an internal sense of home—can be the foundation for all other healthy relationships.
From self-abandonment to self-compassion: Elizabeth Gilbert's path to Inner Refuge
Key takeaways
Recovery requires ruthless self-honesty: Liz names her own patterns—love addiction, codependency, compulsive caretaking—as the starting point for change. Pretending or minimizing kept her stuck.
Regulating the nervous system is the real work: Liz describes this as her full-time job: meditation, breathwork, meetings, and service keep her steady enough to engage with life.
Home has to be internal: Trying to turn other people into “home” only deepened her cycles. Building an inner refuge through spiritual practice and self-compassion gave her lasting stability.
Self-compassion breaks destructive loops: Talking to herself with kindness rather than shame (“You’re not in trouble for wanting that”) allowed cravings to pass and made space for creativity, healthier relationships, and integrity.
6 practical tips to break free from self-sabotage and find a sense of inner peace:
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