274: Stop Missing Your Life with Cory Muscara
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274: Stop Missing Your Life with Cory Muscara
Episode 274: Show Notes
In this episode of The Light Watkins Show, Light sits down with Cory Muscara, mindfulness teacher, meditation expert, and author of Stop Missing Your Life. Cory's fascinating journey into mindfulness began in an unlikely way—trying to impress a girlfriend during college. Fast forward to today, he has spent over 15,000 hours meditating, including an intense six-month stint as a Buddhist monk in Burma, where he meditated up to 20 hours a day in challenging conditions.
Cory shares the pivotal moments that shaped his understanding of presence, patience, and personal growth. From chasing butterflies in his childhood backyard to grappling with physical and emotional pain in a monastery, Cory’s insights into navigating life's challenges are raw, relatable, and inspiring. He also unpacks the difference between primary and secondary pain, offering tools to shift suffering into self-discovery.
The conversation goes beyond mindfulness, delving into how Cory transitioned from a monastic lifestyle to creating a thriving career teaching others. He reflects on the importance of finding your voice as a teacher, embracing your humanness, and how his relationship with his wife continues to teach him about vulnerability, patience, and love.
Whether you’re seeking tools for presence, struggling to balance spirituality with real-world challenges, or simply curious about the transformative power of meditation, this episode is packed with actionable insights and heartfelt wisdom. Tune in to learn how mindfulness can reshape your relationship with yourself, others, and the world around you.
Key Points From This Episode:
From Business Hustler to Mindfulness Expert: Cory shares his journey from being a young entrepreneur with a passion for business to pursuing meditation and mindfulness.
Butterfly Lesson: Patience and Growth: Cory recounts a childhood story about peeling open a butterfly chrysalis and how it taught him the importance of letting processes unfold naturally.
Meditating to Impress a Girlfriend: Cory started meditating in college to impress a girlfriend, which unintentionally became a gateway to a lifelong spiritual journey.
The Economics Major’s Turning Point: A visit to the New York Stock Exchange led Cory to question traditional success and sparked his interest in true happiness.
The Intensity of Monastic Life: Cory describes his six months in a Burmese monastery, meditating up to 20 hours a day under challenging conditions.
Primary Pain vs. Secondary Pain: Cory explains how mindfulness helped him distinguish between unavoidable primary pain and the secondary pain created by resistance and negative stories.
Lessons from Vipassana Practice: Cory shares how his deep meditation practice unlocked a profound state of presence, equanimity, and spaciousness.
The Role of Family Support: Cory credits his parents, especially his father, for supporting his unconventional path despite initial skepticism.
Building a Mindfulness Business: Cory details how he transitioned from teaching mindfulness to a small group of students to running retreats and corporate workshops.
Integration vs. Adherence: Cory reflects on balancing respect for traditional teachings with integrating tools from other disciplines to create a holistic approach.
Redefining Presence: Cory critiques the superficial “just be present” mantra and explores a deeper, more authentic version of presence.
Relationships as the Ultimate Teacher: Cory discusses how relationships bring up unhealed parts of ourselves and require continuous humility and integration.
Quotes:
"True change isn’t fast or forced; it’s the slow unwinding of what no longer serves you." — Cory Muscara
"Happiness isn’t a goal—it’s the clarity of knowing what truly matters." — Cory Muscara
"Real wealth is a life that feels good on the inside, not just the outside." — Cory Muscara
"The most expensive thing you can lose is time spent living someone else’s idea of success." — Cory Muscara
"The pain of life is inevitable; the suffering from resisting it is optional." — Cory Muscara
"Pain is a teacher, but only when you stop running from the class." — Cory Muscara
"The story you tell about your pain often hurts more than the pain itself." — Cory Muscara