Mark Van Buren: The Mental Fitness Trainer

We meet with Holly Herring---one of our columnists for The Tattooed Buddha. We chat about Holly's work with those that are homeless, her journey to being a writer and the process of writing. We also learn about how Holly and Michelleanne Bradley met and became friends, which in turn led her to write for The Tattooed Buddha!

Sit back and hear more about Holly and some of her stories.

Beggars: The Right and Need to Choose
There is Compassion in Harm Reduction {Trigger Warning}

Want to see more of Holly's writing? Click here.


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Podcast edited by Brad Parsons at Train Sound Studio, www.trainsoundstudio.com

,Rebekah Reineke introduced us to Boyan, a mindfulness teacher originally from Bulgaria and currently living in London, UK.

Boyan's website highlights various tools that aid in calming the mind and working toward practical applications of these tools. We discuss meditation, neurolinguistic programming and how it can help us achieve the goals we wish toward and physical forms of meditation like yoga, Tai Chi and boxing.

Check out Boyan's website here and listen as we get to know him better!

We had the opportunity to speak with John Brehm on our podcast awhile back and it was such a pleasure to have him as our guest again. John is an amazingly talented poet and has written and edited books on poetry in the past.

We hope you enjoy listening to our dialogue with John and please check out his latest book, Dharma Talk published by Wisdom Publications!

Other books by John Brehm: The Dharma of Poetry, The Poetry of Impermanence, Mindfulness and Joy, No Day at the Beach, Help is On the Way, Sea of Faith.

Go check out John Brehm's website here.

Here is John's author page on Wisdom Publications.

Did you like this podcast? Check out our last podcast with John!

Michelleanne Bradley talks about feeling the anxiety of traveling. Seeing people rush around the airport and the feelings that accompany that, she discusses how realizing the need to face people with kindness and compassion. This translates to everyday life, not only travel. 

What if we not only take care of others with this compassion and grace, but what if we also take care of ourselves with that same grace?

  Today we have some guests on our podcast to discuss the role of women in Buddhism. Dana and Michelleanne talk with Mary Stancavage, Holly Herring and Ayya Yeshe. We share how we all came to practice, our history with this practice and belief in God, the types of Buddhism we all practice. Women play […]

The post Women in Buddhism {Part I} appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha.

Today we have some guests on our podcast to discuss the role of women in Buddhism. Dana and Michelleanne talk with Mary Stancavage, Holly Herring and Ayya Yeshe. We share how we all came to practice, our history with this practice and belief in God, the types of Buddhism we all practice. Women play an integral role in Buddhism and we discuss this and the lack of teachings and access that nuns and lay women can face.

More about Mary Stancavage here: https://marystancavage.org/about-mary-stancavage/
Find Holly Herring's writings here: https://thetattooedbuddha.com/author/holly-herring/
Ayya Yeshe's blog: https://ayyayeshe.wordpress.com/ And Ayya Yeshe's foundation: https://bodhicitta-vihara.com/aboutus/
Michelleanne Bradley's writings here: https://thetattooedbuddha.com/author/michelleanne-bradley/
Dana Gornall is the co-founder of The Tattooed Buddha and you can see her writings here: https://thetattooedbuddha.com/author/dgornall/

  What exactly is a mental fitness trainer? Author Mark Van Buren explains how he came to this point in his life to become a mindfulness instructor and what led him to writing A Fool’s Guide to Actual Happiness and Your Life is Meditation (Wisdom Publications). We talk about the difference between “fluff” and real mindfulness in […]

The post Mark Van Buren: The Mental Fitness Trainer appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha.

What exactly is a mental fitness trainer? Author Mark Van Buren explains how he came to this point in his life to become a mindfulness instructor and what led him to writing A Fool's Guide to Actual Happiness and Your Life is Meditation (Wisdom Publications). We talk about the difference between "fluff" and real mindfulness in everyday life and applying it, what to do when you f*ck up and how to get back on the cushion again.

Mark tells us about working an every day job and how a mindfulness practice helps with that and he also talks about his music career.


Buy Your Life is Meditation here.

Buy A Fool's Guide to Actual Happiness here.

See more about Mark Van Buren on his site here.

Check out his Facebook page here.

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Dr. Jon Kolkin is an internationally recognized artist with a lifetime of experience pursuing his passions while simultaneously maintaining a healthy balance between his personal and professional life. His unique strategies have allowed him to achieve a high level of success as a professional fine art photographer, physician, educator, global humanitarian, and international speaker. He […]

The post A Conversation with Dr. Jon Kolkin, Photographer and Creator of the Book Inner Harmony {Podcast} appeared first on The Tattooed Buddha.

Dr. Jon Kolkin is an internationally recognized artist with a lifetime of experience pursuing his passions while simultaneously maintaining a healthy balance between his personal and professional life.  His unique strategies have allowed him to achieve a high level of success as a professional fine art photographer, physician, educator, global humanitarian, and international speaker.

He created the series Inner Harmony, which is a compilation of photos taken while immersed in Buddhist communities across Asia working primarily as a medical volunteer in under-resourced communities. For over a decade he photographed everyday life of Buddhist monastics and laypeople in Bhutan, Myanmar, China, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, Japan, Nepal and Taiwan, revealing keen insight into the otherwise hushed world of meditation and mindfulness.

Kolkin’s renowned Inner Harmony photographic series has already exhibited in numerous museum and art galleries in the U.S. and abroad, garnering 20 international photography awards and feature coverage (twice) in LensWork magazine. Kolkin will continue to exhibit in solo and group shows through 2026. 

Kolkin, who has met with the Dalai Lama on several occasions, shares His Holiness’ commitment to spreading compassion worldwide. Kolkin spearheaded the first-ever summit on Fostering Compassion and Universal Ethics through Museums, which brought museum delegates from North America to India for a conference and intimate gathering with the Dalai Lama to discuss how museums and informal learning platforms can contribute to creating a more compassionate world.  Kolkin served as an advisor to the documentary film, Man of Compassion, dedicated to the life and legacy of His Holiness, featuring commentary by Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

We talk with Dr. Kolkin about his experiences while taking photos during this time of his life, what it was like to meet the Dalai Lama and the process of creativity and the heart-mind connection.

Sound editing: Duane Toops
More about Dr. Jon Kolkin here

Find the book Inner Harmony here