From Bedstand Buddhist to Silverback: An Interview With Meditation Teacher Blake Ashley

Hey, sorry for the cicadas in the background – we are in the Northern Thai jungle, and it's virtually impossible to remove the noise. But the conversation itself is very clear, so may it be of benefit to everyone watching and listening. In this interview, we touched on Blake's path to meditation — how a series of life upheavals led him to Shinzen Young in Tucson — and on the core themes of his teaching practice: working with emotional body sensations, the three-minds framework behind his book Sanshindo, the role of somatic awareness, and the question of why human consciousness resists what relieves it. We also spoke about Japanese contemplative arts, Shinzen as a teacher observed in daily life, and what practices actually help in turbulent times. Topics and questions: • How Blake found Shinzen Young and why he never needed another teacher • The two watershed moments: the air mattress story and discovering emotional body sensations in practice • Working with students who feel too much vs. those who feel nothing • Substituting curiosity for fear as the key move in working with challenging emotion • The somatic body as a third mind — and why language drowns it out • Sanshindo and the three-minds framework as an entry point for secular and Asian audiences • Why liberation is counterintuitive: the survival-brain hypothesis • Shinzen observed in daily life: frictionless movement around obstacles • The "don't know" practice for turbulent times • Breathing technique (extended exhale) for nervous system regulation Blake's website: https://noplacetostand.com/ Sanshindo book: https://www.amazon.com/Sanshindo-Inte... Victor's website: https://victorshiryaev.co/ Shot in Kamin Springs Forest Retreat Center, which is dedicated to keeping and promoting Shinzen Young's legacy.   / kamin-springs-forest-retreat-61578570525822   00:00 — Introduction: Why Blake Is at Coming Springs 01:45 — How Blake Found Shinzen Young: Life Falls Apart in Tucson 05:00 — Two Watershed Moments: The Air Mattress and the Emotional Body 09:03 — Working With Emotional Body Sensations: The Key to Everything 11:49 — Substituting Curiosity For Fear And Mapping The Emotional Body 13:41 — Challenging Emotions In The Cannibal's Cooking Pot 17:03 — Easy Rest And The Body As A Glorious Conduit 22:03 — The Richness of the Present Moment: What This Practice Is For 23:12 — The Fixated Self, The Porous Self, And A Different Relationship To Emotions 26:00 — There Is No One To Have An Experience 29:35 — Why Liberation Is Counterintuitive: The Survival Brain Hypothesis 33:27 — A Knife's Edge Between Stability And Chaos 37:07 — Frictionless Movement in the World Of A Fluid Self: Shinzen in Daily Life 38:57 — Kyudo, Shakuhachi, and the Japanese Contemplative Thread 44:19 — Sanshindo: Integrating The Three Minds 51:23 — "All Is Well, Even Though It's A Mess": Working With The Don't-Know