From Monastery To Mindful Government

A couch, a non-alcoholic hazy IPA, and a confession: leaving the monastery wasn’t just about tacos and rules—it was about hugging family again and answering a call to serve a world on edge. What followed is a surprising arc from Spirit Rock to healthcare to a teacher training program that’s now helping seed mindfulness across the Environmental Protection Agency and beyond.

We walk through the real reasons mindfulness belongs inside complex institutions: not as a perk, but as a skills-based response to stress, climate anxiety, and high-stakes decision-making. You’ll hear how EPA leaders enrolled in our certification, why they’re inviting more colleagues, and what a mindful federal initiative could look like across agencies like the Forest Service, Housing, and even the military. The science is clear—reduced stress and anxiety, better communication, stronger resilience—and the stories show how a short practice can change a meeting, a policy conversation, or a homecoming after work.

This is a grounded look at scaling compassion without losing integrity. We talk about attention as a shared resource, how training trainers multiplies impact, and why adopting mindfulness at work naturally shifts habits at home: how we speak, what we buy and eat, and how we show up for people we love. If you care about mental health, leadership, and a more humane approach to public service, you’ll find both practical tools and a dose of hope.

If this resonates, subscribe, share the episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review with one way you’ll plant a mindful seed this week. Your practice can be the spark that lights the next room.

Become a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher: Certify.MindfulnessExercises.com

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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 — this podcast explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work.

Each episode offers a mix of:

• Practical mindfulness and meditation teachings
• Conversations with respected meditation teachers, clinicians, authors, and researchers
• Real-world insights for therapists, coaches, yoga teachers, educators, and caregivers
• Gentle reflections for anyone navigating stress, anxiety, burnout, grief, or change

If you’re interested in:

• Mindfulness meditation for everyday life
• Trauma-sensitive and compassion-based practices
• Teaching mindfulness in an authentic, non-performative way
• Deepening your own practice while supporting others

…you’re in the right place.

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