#275: Improving Your Relationships, Buddhist Style | Martine Batchelor

This episode is a mix of the technical, the practical, and the delightful. We’re talking about a meditation technique that can impact relationships, your biases, and how you handle things such as lying, sex, alcohol, and social media. The key word here is the ancient term "vedana." And it involves, literally, any feeling state we experience. Basically, everything that comes up in your mind has one of at least three feeling tones: pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. When you’re mindless, a pleasant feeling tone can lead to overindulgence or clinging; unpleasant can lead to aversion; and neutral can lead to numbing out. Unchecked, this unfolding process can have disastrous results, as it pertains to your reactions to food, other people, you name it. My guest today is going to tell us about how to bring mindfulness to this aspect of our experience. Martine Batchelor was a Buddhist nun in Korea for 10 years. She’s written a number of books, including The Path to Compassion and Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits. She lives in France, with her husband Stephen Batchelor, who was a guest on the show not long ago. Where to find Martine Batchelor online: Website: https://martinebatchelor.org/ Martine Batchelor's Dharma Talks - https://dharmaseed.org/teacher/119/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/martinebatch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martine.batchelor Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/martinebatch/ We care deeply about supporting you in your meditation practice, and feel that providing you with high quality teachers is one of the best ways to do that. Customers of the Ten Percent Happier app say they stick around specifically for the range of teachers, and the deep wisdom they impart, to help them deepen their practice. For anyone new to the app, we've got a special discount just for you. If you're an existing subscriber, we thank you for your support. To claim your discount, visit tenpercent.com/august Other Resources Mentioned: More on Vedana Understanding the Five Aggregates Can Help You Get Out of Your Head: https://tricycle.org/magazine/five-aggregates/ Meditation Month 2019: Feeling Tone and Noting Sensations: https://tricycle.org/trikedaily/meditation-month-feeling-tone/ Deconstructing the "Self": https://www.lionsroar.com/deconstructing-the-self/ To learn more about and practice with feeling tone, check out Joseph's meditation on Feeling Tone in the Ten Percent Happier app: https://10percenthappier.app.link/FeelingTonePod Additional Resources: Ten Percent Happier Live: https://tenpercent.com/live Coronavirus Sanity Guide: https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide Free App access for Frontline Workers: https://tenpercent.com/care Full Shownotes: https://www.tenpercent.com/podcast-episode/martine-batchelor-275