Episode Details

This week, Thomas sits down with meditation instructors Susanne Ahlendorf and Martin Bruders for a deep exploration of heart-centered meditation, moving beyond the physical heart to uncover its emotional, energetic, and spiritual layers.

Discover why your emotional defenses, aka the "guardians of the heart", are an intelligent part of your healing journey, and how vulnerability leads to deeper connection and a more embodied meditation practice.

We also explore a path toward entering the “cave of the heart,” which may sound like traveling to a distant and ethereal place, but is actually an awakening to the reality of your authentic self.

✨ Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube:

👉 https://youtu.be/_Wb1CSonBeg

Video episodes are typically posted at 8am PT/ 11am ET

Susanne and Martin are teaching a new meditation course this April that will provide a powerful, in-depth exploration of these topics. It's called:

❤️ The Heart of Meditation: Exploring the Depths of Your Practice

In this 4-week online course, you'll explore the emotional layers of the heart and learn meditation practices to help you consistently access a peaceful and resourced inner space.

Learn more & register here 👉 https://thomashuebl.com/meditation-course-april-2026/

✨ Registration is open for “Foundations of Trauma-Informed Coaching & Consulting.”

This 8-week live online course, co-taught by Thomas Hübl and Amy Elizabeth Fox, is for coaches, consultants, group facilitators, and HR professionals who want to bring greater presence, depth, and trauma-informed awareness to their work with leaders and teams.

The course begins on April 26. Learn more & register here 👉https://traumainformedcertificateprogram.com

Explore more teachings and meditations from Martin and Susanne via their co-founded organization, Make Space for Grace 👉 https://www.makespaceforgrace.de ... and on their YouTube Channel 👉 http://www.youtube.com/@MeditationEnglish

✨ Susanne Ahlendorf is a non-medical practitioner for psychotherapy, a group leader for meditation and Inner Science practice, who accompanies people on their personal and spiritual development path. For her, meditation is a way of unfolding love in life.

Connect with Susanne here:

👉 https://www.susanneahlendorf.de

✨ Martin Bruders is a qualified social worker, mediator, and coach. He worked for over 28 years as a comedian and presenter at over 2000 corporate events in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. His inner exploration journey is as much about his meditation practice as it is about his daily life. He loves to permeate life deeper and deeper, always in search of intimacy with the divine; sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing.

Connect with Martin here:

👉 https://www.martinbruders.de

✨ Order Thomas and Internal Family Systems founder Dr. Richard Schwartz's co-authored book, Releasing Our Burdens, here:

👉 https://www.releasingourburdens.com

Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led larg