Cortland Dahl

Cortland Dahl, PhD, is a scientist, translator, author, and meditation teacher with a lifelong interest in meditation and the science of flourishing. His journey began in the early 1990s when he first learned to meditate. His passion led him on a journey around the world, from monasteries in Burma to zendos in Japan, as well as eight years living in Tibetan refugee settlements in Nepal and India. During his travels, Cort became fluent in Tibetan and became a translator and scholar, receiving a master’s degree in Buddhist studies and publishing 12 volumes of translations. He went on to study at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he was mentored by the renowned neuroscientist Dr. Richard Davidson and received a PhD in mind, brain, and contemplative science, the first-ever degree of its kind awarded by the university. He has since published numerous scientific articles, including a new scientific framework for the cultivation of well-being, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). As part of his PhD dissertation, Cort created the Healthy Minds Program, now a free mobile app that has been featured by The New York Times, Vogue, Sports Illustrated, and many other publications. More recently, he authored “A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism: The Path of Awareness, Compassion, and Wisdom” and the forthcoming “Born to Flourish: How to Thrive in a Challenging World,” with Dr. Richard Davidson. Cort currently serves as executive director and board member for Tergar International, the organization that oversees the Tergar community in the West, as well as a senior instructor for the Tergar community. He is also a scientist at the Center for Healthy Minds and chief contemplative officer for its affiliated nonprofit, Healthy Minds Innovations.

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Richard Davidson & Cortland Dahl: “Flourishing ...

Cortland Dahl
Richie Davidson — April 28, 2026

The world’s mental health crisis is real, but so is your capacity to meet it. What if the skills that lead to genuine flourishing are already built into you, waiting to be activated?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with Richard Davidson—one of the most highly cited scientists in the world and a pioneer in the neuroscience of emotion and meditation—and Cortland Dahl, contemplative scientist, Buddhist translator, and co-founder of Tergar International, about their new book, Born to Flourish: How New Science and Ancient Wisdom Reveal a Simple Path to Thriving. Drawing on decades of research with long-term meditators, guidance from the Dalai Lama, and the world’s wisdom traditions, they offer a science-backed framework for wellbeing that is both profound and surprisingly accessible.

Join Tami, Richard, and Cortland to explore:

Why flourishing is a skill—not a personality trait or a stroke of luck—and how we know this from hard scientific data
The four pillars of wellbeing: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose—and why two of them have been largely ignored by Western science
What it means to be “born to flourish” and the research on infants that proves it
How just five minutes a day of intentional practice—piggybacked onto everyday activities—can produce measurable changes in behavior and biology
Why flourishing doesn’t mean happiness: you can grieve, rage, or struggle and still be flourishing
The role of neuroplasticity in reshaping our relationship to anxiety, reactivity, and negative narrative
Why flourishing is contagious—and why that matters more than ever right now

If the world feels like it’s falling apart, Richard and Cortland make a compelling, evidence-based case that the path forward is not as hard as you think.

Listen now and discover what you were born to do. →

This conversation offers genuine transmission—not just concepts about awakening, but the palpable presence of realized teachers exploring the growing edge of spiritual understanding together. Originally aired on Sounds True One.

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Post Views: 4,700

Cortland Dahl, PhD: The Energizing Force of Compassion

Cortland Dahl — January 21, 2025

Imagine how our world would change if all of our actions were rooted in love and compassion. Is that even possible? In this podcast, Tami Simon sits down with Dr. Cortland Dahl, the renowned Buddhist scholar, translator, scientist, researcher, and author of several books including his newest, A Meditator’s Guide to Buddhism, to discuss how compassion can become the energizing force that motivates you and inspires you each and every day.

Listen now for their insights on attuning to the intelligence of your heart; a neuroscientific approach to healing anxiety; the exciting research and new modalities emerging from the study of contemplative practice; how quickly we can begin to enjoy the profound benefits of meditation; the four pillars of a healthy mind: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose; appreciation and noticing the positive; living life in a meditative way; bringing your innate compassion up to the surface of conscious experience; doing the dishes as an act of love—how every action can become a gift; generosity, the inner richness that can never be exhausted; how empathy and compassion activate the brain’s “care network”; compassion in relationships; the universal longing for meaning and purpose; transformative pain, and why physical discomfort does not equal suffering; dealing with uncertainty; unlocking the insights of our emotions and finding the beauty in difficult experiences; a pith instruction: look at your mind; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com.

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Zabie Yamasaki: What the Nervous System Often Needs Is...

— May 5, 2026

What if the problem isn’t that you’re not doing enough—it’s that you’re doing too much, too fast, and on borrowed time?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with Zabie Yamasaki—founder of Transcending Trauma through Yoga, whose yoga-as-healing curriculum is now taught at over 50 universities including Stanford, Yale, and Johns Hopkins—about her new Sounds True book, Protect Your Energy: A Gentle Guide to Nurture Your Nervous System, Cultivate Rest, and Honor Your Needs.

Drawing from her own journey through hypervigilance, burnout, and a rolling series of panic attacks that landed her in the emergency room, Zabi offers both the science and the soul of nervous system healing.

Join Tami and Zabi to explore:

Why burnout is so sneaky—and how we’re constantly borrowing from tomorrow to get through today
The difference between managing your energy and managing your time—and why that distinction changes everything
What it means to “hold the default nervous system in the room”—and the hidden toll it takes on parents, teachers, healers, and leaders
How boundary work is nervous system work—and why lack of boundaries shows up in your body long before you recognize it as a boundary problem
“Shapes of rest”—simple body-based practices that offer genuine restoration, not just collapse
Somatic self-consent: the embodied check-in practice that helps you navigate the gray zone between yes and no
Why, especially right now, protecting your energy isn’t selfishness—it’s resistance

This is a conversation for everyone who keeps going even when their body is begging them to stop—and who needs permission, finally, to rest.

Listen now and start protecting your energy. →

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Post Views: 2,078

Richard Davidson & Cortland Dahl: “Flourishing ...

Cortland Dahl
Richie Davidson — April 28, 2026

The world’s mental health crisis is real, but so is your capacity to meet it. What if the skills that lead to genuine flourishing are already built into you, waiting to be activated?

Join Tami, Richard, and Cortland to explore:

Why flourishing is a skill—not a personality trait or a stroke of luck—and how we know this from hard scientific data
The four pillars of wellbeing: awareness, connection, insight, and purpose—and why two of them have been largely ignored by Western science
What it means to be “born to flourish” and the research on infants that proves it
How just five minutes a day of intentional practice—piggybacked onto everyday activities—can produce measurable changes in behavior and biology
Why flourishing doesn’t mean happiness: you can grieve, rage, or struggle and still be flourishing
The role of neuroplasticity in reshaping our relationship to anxiety, reactivity, and negative narrative
Why flourishing is contagious—and why that matters more than ever right now

If the world feels like it’s falling apart, Richard and Cortland make a compelling, evidence-based case that the path forward is not as hard as you think.

Listen now and discover what you were born to do. →

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Post Views: 1,452

Banafsheh Sayyad: Being 100 Percent Present and 100 Pe...

Banafsheh Sayyad — April 21, 2026

Can the body become a doorway to the divine—not by transcending it, but by fully inhabiting it?

This week, Tami Simon speaks with Banafsheh Sayyad—master Iranian sacred dancer, choreographer, transformational teacher, and founder of Dance of Oneness—about her new Sounds True book, Dance of Oneness: Embody Love and Luminosity to Transform Your Life. A trailblazing innovator of Sufi dance forms previously performed only by men, Banafsheh draws from flamenco, Persian dance, Tai Chi, Sufi whirling, and her background in Chinese medicine to guide practitioners into deeper embodiment, healing, and spiritual presence.

Join Tami and Banafsheh to explore:

The Dance of Oneness modality—its three interwoven streams of movement, wisdom teachings, and energy healing
What it means to be “100 percent present and 100 percent fully gone”—and why both are essential
Whirling as a portal: the trance state it opens, the stillness it reveals, and what it means to be danced rather than to dance
The ascending and descending currents of energy in the body—and their marriage at the heart
How flamenco gave Banafsheh a form for grief, anger, and sovereign feminine power after leaving Iran
The three layers of the heart—and how movement can break through armoring to restore openness
Discipline as the foundation of surrender: why a sturdy chalice is what allows you to receive
A guided embodiment practice you can do right now

Whether you’re a seasoned movement practitioner or have never considered dance as a spiritual path, this interview is an invitation to come home to the body—and discover what can move through you when you do.

Listen now and begin dancing toward oneness. →

Cortland Dahl

Author Info for Richie Davidson Coming Soon

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Richard Davidson & Cortland Dahl: “Flourishing ...

Cortland Dahl, PhD: The Energizing Force of Compassion

You Might Also Enjoy

Zabie Yamasaki: What the Nervous System Often Needs Is...

Richard Davidson & Cortland Dahl: “Flourishing ...

Banafsheh Sayyad: Being 100 Percent Present and 100 Pe...

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