FLAME with Brad Hook
Building a Meditation Practice for a Balanced, Mindful Life
Jeff Patterson has taught meditation and martial arts for 36 years and over 26,000 students. His approach strips the mystique: meditation is a trainable practice, and most people quit because nobody taught them how to build one.
From his academy in Portland, Jeff has watched every kind of student succeed and fail at building a practice — and the difference is rarely willpower. It's structure: understanding the styles (active and passive), starting where you actually are, and treating consistency as the skill rather than the by-product.
The martial-arts lineage matters too: meditation in that tradition isn't relaxation, it's training attention under pressure — which is exactly what modern life demands. Practical guidance for starting (or restarting) a practice that survives contact with a busy week.
In this episode
- Why most meditation practices fail — structure, not willpower
- Active vs passive practices, and choosing yours
- Lessons from 26,000 students
- Attention training vs relaxation
- Building a practice that survives a busy week
New conversations regularly — subscribe wherever you listen.