How A Police Reporter Found Mindfulness And Helped Share It With Millions

Mindfulness can calm you down, but what if that’s only the entry point? I’m joined by Melvin McLeod, longtime editor at Lion’s Roar and a co-founder of Mindful Magazine, to talk about the side of mindfulness most people don’t hear about: the part that refuses to flatter us. Melvin shares the moment he was a young police reporter in Montreal, opened a Buddhist book, read a single paragraph, and felt a deep recognition. What he sensed wasn’t escapism. It was integrity, a promise that genuine practice would tell the truth and give us what we need, not what we want.

Melvin's new book: With A Single Breath

From there, we zoom out to the bigger question of impact. Melvin explains why “Capital B” Buddhism, as an Asian religion in the modern West, may remain limited in reach even when its teachings are profound. We talk about the secular mindfulness movement associated with Jon Kabat-Zinn, and why evidence-based mindfulness meditation has become a powerful, modern contemplative tradition that millions will actually try. Along the way we explore how mindfulness connects to universal human longings: awareness, compassion, and insight that improve mental health, relationships, and the way we show up in society.

The heart of our conversation is a challenge and an invitation. Instead of treating mindfulness as a stress tool or focus hack, Melvin argues it’s time for the mindfulness movement to take a “next step” and offer a complete path of transformation, including the depth people used to seek in religion, without the baggage that turns so many away. If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find these conversations.

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ABOUT THE SHOW

Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life.

Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — the show explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work.

Each episode offers a mix o...