Jhana gets talked about like a remote mountaintop experience, but Liam McClintock argues it can be trained with a surprisingly human doorway: love. I sit down with Liam, founder of FitMind and author of “FitMind: Four Steps to Lasting Bliss,” to dig into how metta (loving-kindness meditation) can unify the mind, stabilize attention, and reveal the subtle mechanics of craving and the sense of self. If you’ve ever felt like meditation turns into effort, strain, or self-criticism, this conversation offers a different route.
We unpack what jhana means in Liam’s tradition and why the term can be controversial in Buddhist circles. Rather than “bearing down” on a tiny target like the breath at the nostrils, Liam describes a softer, open-hearted concentration where joy becomes the fuel. He shares why this approach can be especially effective for Western meditators, how it relates to neuroscience and markers like heart rate variability, and why these altered states of consciousness are not about escapism but insight into suffering and its cessation.
Then we get concrete. Liam walks through what metta practice looks like, from sparking the feeling with a memory, to sending kindness to yourself first, to expanding outward until the phrases and images fade and the felt quality of care becomes the anchor. We also break down his Four Rs for distractions, Recognize, Release, Relish, Remain, a simple framework for coming back without tightening your attention or blaming yourself.
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ABOUT THE SHOW
Mindfulness Exercises with Sean Fargo is a practical, grounded mindfulness podcast for people who want meditation to actually help in real life.
Hosted by Sean Fargo — a former Buddhist monk, mindfulness teacher, and founder of MindfulnessExercises.com — the show explores how mindfulness can support mental health, emotional regulation, trauma sensitivity, chronic pain, leadership, creativity, and meaningful work.
Each episode offers a mix o...