Shamatha Vipassana Explained For Modern Minds

You can’t breathe in the past or the future, and you can’t switch off thinking on command. That’s where Susan Piver brings a refreshing kind of relief to meditation practice, especially if you’ve ever judged yourself for having a busy mind. We talk about Shamatha Vipassana, the mindfulness awareness approach she teaches, and why the real skill is not perfect focus but the simple act of noticing and returning.

We also get practical about what mindfulness is and what it is not. Mindfulness is the trainable part: placing attention where you choose and coming back when it wanders. Awareness is the wider field that opens over time, often on its own. Susan shares why insight lives in awareness, why deeper practice can make us feel more (sometimes unexpectedly), and why teachers should expect inner states to shift in ways that do not follow a tidy script.

Along the way, we touch on what science can measure like stress and cortisol, insomnia support, and reduced depression relapse when paired with other care, while also honoring the contemplative side that doesn’t fit neatly in a chart. If you teach mindfulness, support clients, or simply want a kinder relationship with your own mind, this conversation gives you a clear frame you can use immediately. Subscribe, share this with a friend who thinks they’re “bad at meditating,” and leave a review. What belief about meditation do you want to unlearn next?

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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...