Toni Bernhard

Toni Bernhard joins us to speak about her newest book, How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide.

Do you suffer with chronic pain? I don’t mean the occasional twinge in your shoulder from an old football injury, but an intense, unpleasant sensation that doesn’t go away? Or perhaps your body just stopped working as you expect it should, to a debilitating degree. What would you do? Or if this is your experience, how’s that going for you?

If you’re a listener to another podcast I’m lucky enough to host, you may already be familiar with today’s guest. Toni Bernhard has been a longtime meditator, going on long meditation retreats and spending many hours rigorously practicing, but soon discovered that she simply could no longer engage in those difficult and taxing forms. She had to learn ways to make ‘being sick’ the heart of her spiritual practice — and through truly learning how to be sick, she learned how, even with many physical and energetic limitations, to live a life of equanimity, compassion, and joy. She is author of the award-winning “How to Be Sick: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for the Chronically Ill and Their Caregivers,” “How to Wake Up: A Buddhist-Inspired Guide for Navigating Joy and Sorrow,” and the newly released “How to Live Well with Chronic Pain and Illness: A Mindful Guide”.

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Music for This Episode Courtesy of Rodrigo Rodriguez

The music heard in this podcast is from Rodrigo Rodriguez. You can visit his website to hear more of his music, get the full discography, and view his upcoming tour dates.