Ep. 152 – Dani Shapiro

Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg

For episode 152 of the Metta Hour Podcast, Sharon speaks with Dani Shapiro.

Dani is the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir, Inheritance, published in January 2019 by Knopf. Her other books include the memoirs "Hourglass," "Still Writing," "Devotion," and "Slow Motion," and five novels. She is also the host of her own podcast, Family Secrets. Dani teaches writing workshops worldwide, has taught at Columbia and New York University, and is the co-founder of the Sirenland Writers Conference in Positano, Italy.

The conversation begins with Dani sharing how she came to writing in her early life and how her father's tragic death shaped her path. She shares how she came to formal spiritual practice after becoming a mother and finding the meditation teachings of Sylvia Boorstein in 2007. Dani reflects on how her meditation practice has become intertwined with her writing practice and how she approaches writing as a spiritual path. They discuss how different aspects of formal meditation practice can act as a training ground for writing. Sharon reflects on some of the challenges she faces as a writer and how she has used mindfulness to work with them. Dani speaks about her what led her to start her podcast, Family Secrets, after finishing her most recent book, "Inheritance" which now has 40 episodes to date. The episode closes with Dani reading a short excerpt from her book, Inheritance.

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