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Ethan Nichtern is the author of Confidence: Holding Your Seat through Life’s Eight Worldly Winds and several other titles, including the widely acclaimed The Road Home. A renowned contemporary Buddhist teacher and the host of The Road Home Podcast, Ethan teaches meditation and Buddhist psychology classes and retreats online via Dharma Moon and around the US.

Kellie Schorr and Claire Parsons talk with Ethan about his new book and the concept of confidence and the idea of it being a practice. We also discuss how fear can play a role in our culture and how it can effect our ability to build confidence.

Check out the promo video where he talks about this book here. You can find his book on Amazon here.

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If you meditate, chances are you may have heard of or have used Insight Timer.

This app was brought to my attention because it wasn’t just a timer—it has classes, courses, talks and most especially it has a community. Our culture and society has become more and more digitalized. Socializing is done via messaging, texting and by using likes, dislikes and emojis. We meme, we snap, we gif, along with many other nouns that we now verb—all from our phones. It’s amazing and has connected us from one side of the globe to another.

Unfortunately it has also divided us from one side of the globe to another.

What I like about Insight Timer is that it uses this technology to connect—to find likeness and community—and brings it to the practice of meditation. In our busy-ness of life, sometimes getting to a meditation group is not ideal. Sometimes it is actually not even possible depending on where we live. Old school practices may push back, and while it is true that there is nothing better than actually meditating in a group, Insight Timer elects to fill this gap of those that need a social network of meditators.

So when one of our writers brought to our attention the open call by Insight Timer for interviews and podcasts, we jumped. Was I nervous about meeting Christopher Plowman, the CEO of Insight Timer? Yes. But that quickly faded after a he popped up on our screens and began chatting about his new puppy.

You know how people will say that someone is unexpectedly down to earth despite the fact that person is a little famous? Christopher Plowman was exactly that. In just a minute we felt like we were a group of friends chatting about meditation, and the power of one idea that snowballs into a dream.

As just a small start up company, the people at Insight Timer have worked tirelessly to keep up with technology and to stay one step ahead of what we as meditators are looking for in an app that is not only functional but a bridge to those who are all looking to find a little peace, a little connection, a little understanding, and best of all, it is at no cost.

Grab some coffee or tea and listen as we talk about how Insight Timer was born and what they hope to accomplish in the future.

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Claire Parsons started writing for us here at The Tattooed Buddha with a column titled: The Bodhisattva of Power Suits, but she is not new to writing. She started her own blog called Brilliant Legal Mind and has also written two books: How to Be a Badass Lawyer, and Mommy Needs a Minute.

Claire E. Parsons is a practicing lawyer in the Cincinnati, Ohio area, and the mom of two girls. She started meditating to manage stress and curb overthinking, but the practice changed her life. Over time, she got training and began teaching other lawyers and professionals about mindfulness. Claire is also a frequent writer and speaker for these and other organizations. She has published and spoken about numerous topics, ranging from complex legal issues, to law practice, networking and marketing, as well as mindfulness and wellness for lawyers and other professionals. She writes regularly on LinkedIn and even co-authored a book this year with 19 other women lawyers about how they used the platform to network and pursue career goals during the pandemic.

We talk about meditation, her job as a special education lawyer, her thoughts on Buddhism and how she got here to this point, and how to find time to write when she has a full schedule with career and parenting.

Check out Claire's personal blog here.
Check out Claire's books: How to be a Badass Lawyer and Mommy Needs a Minute.
Check out Claire's blog on the Tattooed Buddha: The Bodhisattva of Power Suits.
Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley
Link to Ben Gioia

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram! Interested in being a guest on our podcast? Contact us at editor@thetattooedbuddha.com.