Episode Description

For episode 223 of the Metta Hour, we are continuing our Mental Health Series. In this series, Sharon sits down with different teachers, experts, and health advocates to explore and destigmatize mental health by applying the tools of Buddhist wisdom and spiritual practice. For this fourth episode of the series, Sharon speaks with neuroscientist, artist, and activist Dr. Sará King. Sará is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Public Health at the T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion in Human Health and Social Justice at UCSD. She is also the co-director of Mobius, a home for the development of Liberatory Technology, and the founder of MindHeart Collective. In 2022, she was also named one of the “10 Most Powerful Women in Mindfulness” by Mindful Magazine.

In this conversation, Sharon and Sará discuss

• Sará’s personal history that shaped her path
• The hope that Neuroplasticity offers
• How well-being is understood in neuroscience
• Sará’s definition of the term “social justice”
• Loving Awareness
• Growth versus fixed mindset
• The stories that are told about us
• The role of pain in Mental Health
• Sará’s Systems Based Awareness Map
• Cultivating system-based thinking
• Resilience building
• Post-Traumatic Growth

Additional Resources

The conversation closes with a guided meditation led by Sará. To learn more about Sará’s work, you can visit her website.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline call 988 or (800) 273-8255
Psychology Today Find a Mindfulness-Trained Therapist
Active Peace Yoga with Reggie Hubbard
The Psychology Podcast with Scott Barry Kaufman
Mark Epstein Psychiatrist & Author with a Buddhist Lens
Nalanda Institute Contemplative Psychotherapy Program
Express Yourself Black Man Healing Community for Black Men
Black Boys Om Black Boys & Men Healing & Wellness Education
Cloud Sangha Community For Meditation & Wellness
The Trevor Project Support for LGBTQ Mental Health
Therapy for Black Girls Mental Wellness for Black Women and Girls
The Friendship Bench Creating Safe Spaces & Community
Hope for Bereaved Grief Support Groups
Option B Grief, Trauma and Loss Support