By Fleet Maull, PhD In our culture, meditation is often framed as a tool for optimization. We meditate to reduce stress. We meditate to sharpen focus. We meditate to become calmer, wiser, more effective. While these benefits are real and well supported by both contemplative traditions and modern neuroscience, they can subtly distort our relationship to the practice. When meditation becomes another strategy for self-improvement, it easily turns into a performance. We begin eva

By Fleet Maull, PhD There's a moment many of us face, often in our fifties or sixties, sometimes earlier, when we realize we've become careful in ways we didn't intend. We've stopped trying new things. Stopped asking certain questions. We still show up, still function, still care for the people we love. But something has muted. The spark has dimmed. If you've felt this, you're not alone. And it’s important to understand that this dimming isn't inevitable: it happens through d

By Fleet Maull, PhD The human nervous system operates on a scale that's hard to grasp. Billions of neurons firing in intricate patterns, constant communication between brain and body, automatic responses happening faster than thought. It orchestrates everything: our emotions, our sense of safety, our capacity to connect with others, and how we meet challenge and stress. And yet most of us move through life barely aware of it, until something feels off. The health of our nervo

By Fleet Maull, PhD During my years in federal prison, I always looked forward to December. For a few days around the winter solstice and the holidays, the usually harsh and violent prison environment unexpectedly softened. You could feel that shift moving through the cellblocks and the yard. Men who normally kept their guards up, who had to stay vigilant every moment, would let themselves remember who they used to be. Fathers. Sons. Brothers. Someone's beloved. Even in a pla