How to Train a Happy MindPodcast Press Kit
“The time has come to find a way of thinking about spirituality and ethics that is beyond religion.”
How to Train a Happy Mind is a meditation podcast that adapts the rich tradition of Tibetan Buddhist meditation techniques to a modern secular audience, requiring no belief beyond our current understanding of science and psychology. Episodes explore in-depth the techniques of analytic meditation, a lesser known, but highly effective, type of meditation that uses imagination, emotions, and critical inquiry to probe our inner and outer realities and expand our compassion.
These Tibetan Buddhist mind training techniques expand on the popular mindfulness approach to meditation to help us better understand our minds from the inside out, and build healthy mental habits that are the true causes of happiness.
Each week in discussions, guided meditations and interviews, we explore the vast variety of analytic meditation topics including love, compassion, sleep, tonglen, vipassana, stress, the body, meditation posture, anger, anxiety, addiction, grief, forgiveness, patience, confidence, loneliness, work, relationships, and more.
You can read more about how How to Train a Happy Mind came to be in our first blog post: What is A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment?
The How to Train a Happy Mind podcast launched in February, 2020 as A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment. After the release of Scott Snibbe’s popular meditation book in 2024, How to Train a Happy Mind, the podcast was renamed with the same title, and remains a project of the nonprofit organization A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment.
Release Schedule
New episodes are released weekly each Tuesday. Episodes alternate between a discussion on a topic followed by a meditation on the same topic. Episodes range from 15-30 minutes.
PEOPLE
SCOTT SNIBBE, Host
Scott Snibbe is a twenty-five-year student of Tibetan Buddhism whose teachers include Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He is the author and host of the How to Train a Happy Mind book and podcast, and leads meditation classes and retreats worldwide infused with science, humor, and the realities of the modern world. Snibbe’s new media art can be found in the collections of New York MoMA, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and other institutions, and he has collaborated with musicians and filmmakers including Björk, Philip Glass, Beck, and James Cameron.
Stephen Butler, CO-FOUNDER
Stephen Butler has been a student of Buddhism for 30 years. Since 1999 he has trained under Geshe Ngawang Dakpa, one of the last Lamas schooled in Tibet’s original monasteries. Stephen’s other teachers include His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Denma Locho Rinpoche, and Choden Rinpoche. He holds a degree in East Asian Studies and Religious Studies from the University of Arizona.
Stephen currently serves as the executive director of the nonprofit Compassion Institute. Previously, he worked in the field of Native American and Indigenous music to deepen our understanding of Indigenous cultures. At Canyon Records he produced more than 230 studio and live productions, including 20 Grammy-nominated recordings by artists including R. Carlos Nakai and Northern Cree. Stephen’s volunteer work in Himalayan Nepal, India, Sera Jey Monastic University, and San Francisco’s Tse Chen Ling merge his interest in Dharma, his passion for cultural preservation, and his work in media production.
Podcast Details
Listen and subscribe: How to Train a Happy Mind is available for free on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, Radio Public, TuneIn + Alexa, and RSS feed.
Website: howtotrainahappymind.org
Episode web pages: Each episode is posted on our website with a full transcript, accessible at howtotrainahappymind.org/podcast, or the complete archive at howtotrainahappymind.org/archive.
Social Media: we can be found under the trainahappymind account name on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIN.
Podcast Reviews
★★★★★ Rated 5 out of 5
“This is unlike any explanation of meditation and enlightenment that I've ever heard of. This is so refreshing. I love the view of it from science and practical application in the modern world. I can't wait for the next episode to come out. Everybody talks about mindfulness meditation but I'm really digging the exploring of analytical meditation too.”
L. Van Curen
Facebook Page Review
★★★★★ Rated 5 out of 5
“This is an important podcast. The main thing neuroscientists agree on about the way our brain functions is that our reptilian brain will drive us towards our most destructive behaviors. Meditation is a way to bypass that. For this simple reason, skeptics should listen and get this in their toolbox.”
A. Jais
Apple Podcast Review
★★★★★ Rated 5 out of 5
“I’ve listened to everything from calm to headspace to 10% to Sam Harris’s podcasts and really like the perspective these creators have taken to make me understand why and how I can be more appreciative of what meditation is and the value it can bring me.”
Arpac3000
Apple Podcast Review
★★★★★ Rated 5 out of 5
“I’m just starting to explore meditation and have now done the first guided meditation twice. It was an incredible experience both times. I’m really excited to see where this podcast goes from here.”
ben of the trees
Apple Podcast Review
PODCAST TRAILER
Sample Episodes
Episode 1: What Is A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment?
Episode 2: What is Meditation?
Episode 6: What is the Mind?
Episode 7: Guided Meditation: What Is the Mind?
Embedding the show
Show episodes can be embedded using the Spotify Player. Copy the URL link for any episode and paste it onto your page to embed from A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment’s Spotify Page.
Podcast Summary
Long: The How to Train a Happy Mind podcast brings meditation to modern people hungry for happy, meaningful lives. Each week, host Scott Snibbe and his guests share powerful mind training techniques that go beyond mindfulness to harness our intelligence, emotions, and imagination. Learn how to build a happy mind, fulfilling relationships, and a better world through a secular approach to meditation that is based on modern science and psychology, yet grounded in the authentic thousand-year old Tibetan Buddhist tradition of analytical meditation.
Short: How to Train a Happy Mind adapting the ancient inner science of Buddhist meditation to twenty-first century people seeking happy minds, fulfilling relationships, and a better world.
Funding and Support
How to Train a Happy mind is a project of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit A Skeptic’s Path to Enlightenment. The show accepts donations, 100% of which go toward supporting and expanding our programs. You can support the show at howtotrainahappymind.org/support.
Contact
General: contact [at] skepticspath.org
Scott Snibbe: snibbe [at] skepticspath.org
The team is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and are available for both in-person and remote interviews.
GALLERY
