Power Down and Tune In to Solitude with Pema Chodron

In this clip, the American Buddhist nun and author Pema Chödrön talks to Bill Moyers about the value of not only powering down our electronic devices but also quieting the racing mind. “You quickly learn that distractions are not just phone calls and emails. Our own mind and our longings, our cravings and our fantasies are also major distractions,” Chödrön says.

Susan Chapman had the honor of mentoring with Pema during her time at Gampo Abbey, and serving as her secretary. Ani Pema’s warm, direct and humorous teaching style reminds us that the teachings on mindfulness are always available, “right on the spot.”

From the perspective of Mindful Communication, Pema is teaching on how mindfulness meditation teaches us about the season of “Winter” in the Four Seasons of Mindful Relationship: learning to be alone with ourselves and to make friends with our minds and hearts in solitude.