Ep. 275 – Kid's Series: Holistic Life Foundation
Metta Hour with Sharon Salzberg
Be Here Now Network
4.6 • 682 Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2025
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For episode 275, we are continuing a new series on the Metta Hour, centered on kids, in honor of Sharon’s first children’s book, Kind Karl, out now!
Co-authored by Jason Gruhl, this illustrated picture book is for 4-8 year-olds and is a new children’s adaptation of Sharon’s beloved book Lovingkindness.
To learn more about Sharon’s children’s book, Kind Karl, and pre-order a copy with a special pre-order gift, you can visit Sharon’s website, right here.
For this podcast series, Sharon speaks with educators, caregivers, and researchers about the ways meditation, mindfulness, and lovingkindness can impact children of all ages and the family systems that support them. For the fourth episode of the series, Sharon speaks with Ali Smith, Andres Gonzales and Atman Smith of the Holistic Life Foundation.
Andy, Ali, and Atman co-founded the Holistic Life Foundation in 2001, a non-profit organization bringing yoga, meditation, and breath-work to thousands of at-risk kids in Baltimore and beyond. Their work has received wide national attention due to their remarkable results in public schools where suspension rates plummet and graduation rates skyrocket. Outside of the Holistic Life Foundation, Ali, Atman, and Andy also teach to diverse populations worldwide, including drug treatment centers, mental crisis facilities, homeless shelters, and Yoga, Wellness, and Mindfulness Festivals.
Their first book, “Let Your Light Shine” was published in 2022 by Penguin Random House.
In this conversation, Sharon, Atman, Andres and Ali speak about:
• The creation of the Holistic Life Foundation
• Experiencing meditation early in life
• Working in underserved communities
• Teaching with trauma awareness
• HLF Retreats and certification programs
• The importance of sharing love
• Benefits of mindfulness for kids
• Partnering with schools and education systems
• Modifying practice for younger minds
• How to champion love
• Encouraging authentic, in-person interaction
• Giving from a place of overflow
• Caring for ourselves to better care for others
The episode closes with a guided practice. You can learn more about the Holistic Life Foundation’s work on their website, right here. And get a copy of the book“Let Your Light Shine” right here.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Compounding global conflicts, an intensifying climate crisis, and a rise in authoritarianism, |
| 0:07.7 | has many of us feeling a mix of fear, anxiety, and a real need for support. |
| 0:13.6 | On Wednesday, December 10th, join 10% Happier podcast host Dan Harris and Buddhist teacher Ethan |
| 0:20.2 | Ethan Nicktern for a free online conversation |
| 0:23.1 | about how Buddhist teachings can help us stay grounded, available, and engaged, even when the |
| 0:29.3 | world feels like it's on fire. They'll also discuss the upcoming Dharma Moon year-long Buddhist |
| 0:35.7 | studies program and how studying Buddhism can help us show up |
| 0:39.5 | more fully for ourselves and others during difficult times. Visit www.darmamoon.com |
| 0:48.2 | backslash stability for more info and to reserve your spot for the free online event on December 10th. |
| 1:07.6 | Hello and welcome to the Meta Hour podcast with Sharon Salzberg. |
| 1:13.6 | I'm Lily Cushman. I produce this podcast. |
| 1:17.6 | And today we are returning to our kids series with episode 276. |
| 1:24.6 | Sharon is joined today by the three co-founders of the Holistic Life Foundation, |
| 1:32.2 | Ali and Otman Smith and Andres Gonzalez. This series, if you're just tuning into it for the |
| 1:40.0 | first time, is in honor of Sharon's very first children's book written with Jason Gruel. |
| 1:47.6 | It's an illustrated book for four to eight year olds called Kind Carl, A Little Crocodile with |
| 1:54.8 | big feelings. And if you're hearing this episode today on December 9th, 2025, today is PubDate for the book. |
| 2:04.8 | So we're very, very excited to introduce Carl to the world. |
| 2:09.0 | And this podcast series is something we wanted to do to just further explore and highlight the various teachers, caregivers, providers who all specialize |
| 2:21.5 | in the realm of kids and mindfulness, as well as the way that these tools can support the |
| 2:29.5 | family systems around children. So this is the fourth episode in the series. |
| 2:36.0 | And you may already be familiar with the guys from the Holistic Life Foundation. |
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