A New Way of Being

The End of Self-Improvement: Joan Tollifson on the Art of Just Being

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Episode notes

In this episode, we explore a thought-provoking question: Is self-improvement really the path to happiness, or is it a trap that keeps us chasing something we already have?

My guest is Joan Tollifson, an author, teacher, and lifelong explorer of the nature of being. Together, we discuss why the idea of “improving yourself” is inherently flawed, how meditation helps us access peace and creativity, and the value of simply taking some moment to 'be' in our lives.

We also touch on:

• What actually is the “self” we’re trying to improve?
• Recognising the aware presence that doesn't need improving
• Meditation and its many different forms - and how we both 'do it'
• The power of taking moments of stillness to just 'be'
• The opportunity that being triggered presents us with
• Finding peace and ease by dropping the stories we tell ourselves

My free mini-course on Beating Burnout and Finding Flow: https://www.simonmundie.com/beat-burnout-mini-course

Joan's website: https://www.joantollifson.com/

Joan's Substack: https://joantollifson.substack.com/

My book: https://www.simonmundie.com/book

Website: simonmundie.com

YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/YouTubeSimonMundie

Substack: https://simonmundie.substack.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonmundie/

Joan's books include Bare-Bones Meditation: Waking Up from the Story of My Life (1996); Awake in the Heartland: The Ecstasy of What Is (2003); Painting the Sidewalk with Water: Talks and Dialogs about Nonduality (2010); Nothing to Grasp (2012); and Death: The End of Self-Improvement (2019).

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