Rebel Buddhist

About Rebel Buddhist

Rebel Buddhist is all about freedom - inside and out - so if you want to tame your mind but not your life, this podcast is for you. In each episode, Master Certified Coach Ana Verzone, DNP, will teach you practical, effective tools from the fields of psychology, eastern spirituality, and self-coaching so you can train your mind to work for you instead of against you. Learn how to get out of your own way and cultivate the compassion and resilience you need for this wild new world. Explore how you can discover your own path to enlightenment and live an adventurous life with no regrets. Start now by downloading the free Rebel Buddhist Training Kit at RebelBuddhist.com

Publisher

Ana Verzone

Category

education · health & fitness · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

6 May 2020

Latest episode

19 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

12 of 292 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   19 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   A Year in Review for Wild Awake Hearts

   We’re ending this year with a deep reflection: a year in review for wild awake hearts. You know it’s the end of the year when there you are, just trying to drink your tea in peace, and your feed is full of “Optimize Your 2026,” “New Year, New You,” and shit like that. Meanwhile, the Buddha is somewhere looking at all these color-coded habit trackers like, “Beloveds… you know you’re still going to die, right?” So let’s try something different. Something with a Buddhist flair. Something that lets you walk into the new year not as a “better project,” but as a freer, truer, more alive version of you. You will learn: // Why conventional year-end reviews often turn into spiritualized self-attack, and what to do instead. // How to use Buddhist teachings like impermanence and not-self to soften, not harden, your reflection. // A simple way to honor both heartbreak and beauty, inspired by Mark Nepo’s “Adrift.” // How to bring a social justice lens into your inner work so your practice isn’t separated from the world’s pain. // Questions that reveal where we abandoned ourselves this year, and where we showed up bravely. // How to recognize your own moments of aliveness and decolonize the dreams you’re chasing. // Why remembering lineage is a rebellious act // Ways to honor the earth as a living relative in your year-end reflection, not just a backdrop. // How to set intentions that feel like prayers rather than punishments, and one simple ritual you can do today. Resources: // Episode 154: Off the Cushion - Activism + Spirituality // Episode 174: Decolonize Your Mind - A Story of My Mother and Me // Episode 184: The Power of Intention, Ritual, and Ceremony: Rediscovering the Sacred in Everyday Life // Episode 260: Wild + Woven – Why We Need Both Nature and People // Episode 286: The Concept of No-Self (and Greater Intimacy) – Off the Cushion Part 7 // If you’re new to the squad, grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll also get access to the Rebel Buddhist private group, and tune in every Wednesday as I go live with new inspiration and topics. // Want something more self-paced with access to weekly group support and getting coached by yours truly? Check out Freedom School – the community for ALL things related to freedom, inside and out. We dive into taking wisdom and applying it to our daily lives, with different topics every month. Learn more at JoinFreedomSchool.com. I can’t wait to see you there! // Have you benefited from even one episode of the Rebel Buddhist Podcast? I’d love it if you could leave a 5-star review on iTunes by clicking here  or on Spotify by clicking here.

2. 

   5 Dec 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Wherever We Go, There We Are: The Myth of "Geographic Cure"

   This is a PSA and reminder for us all that sometimes changing our circumstances (like through a move, leaving our job or a relationship etc) really is the most compassionate, wise, and liberating choice…and sometimes it’s just changing what our suffering looks like on a superficial level. I’ll share my own story of leaving Alaska for Spain and jam on how to know when it’s helpful to change our environment and when it’s not. Plus, we’ll explore how Buddhist psychology can help us discern whether to stay or go. In this episode, you will learn: //The myth of the “geographical cure,” and why moving abroad rarely delivers the fresh start people imagine // Why the mind always travels with us. // How to tell the difference between suffering created by our environment and suffering created by our internal patterns. // When changing circumstances is a wise, life-supporting choice, and when it becomes avoidance in disguise. // What Buddhist teachings on emptiness and perception show us about our relationship to place.// How trauma science and positive psychology explain the limits of “starting over.”// A simple reflection practice to help you discern whether you need an internal shift, an external shift, or both. Resources: // Episode 28: Practical Emptiness // Episode 29: Should I Stay or Should I Go? // Episode 202: The Healing Power of Emptiness // If you’re new to the squad, grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll also get access to the Rebel Buddhist private group, and tune in every Wednesday as I go live with new inspiration and topics. // Want something more self-paced with access to weekly group support and getting coached by yours truly? Check out Freedom School – the community for ALL things related to freedom, inside and out. We dive into taking wisdom and applying it to our daily lives, with different topics every month. Learn more at JoinFreedomSchool.com. I can’t wait to see you there! // Have you benefited from even one episode of the Rebel Buddhist Podcast? I’d love it if you could leave a 5-star review on iTunes by clicking here  or on Spotify by clicking here.

3. 

   28 Nov 2025TRANSCRIPT

   Spiritual Audacity

   Today we’re exploring what it’s like to live with a kind of inner fire that refuses to stay quiet. Ziji + Spiritual Audacity. A deep, embodied courage that comes from being radically awake in our own lives. We’ll look at how this shows up personally and in the collective, and how choosing to live from our real nature, steady in love, committed to truth, and devoted to collective liberation. In this way, our practice becomes both a practice and a rebellion. You will learn: • Why speaking up matters when truth is being distorted. • How spiritual audacity becomes love in action. • How the lie of separation weakens us, and connection strengthens courage. • Why disappointing others is often necessary to stay aligned. • How anger can catalyze action without taking over. • How collapse and reactivity keep us stuck, and what the middle way looks like. • How spiritual audacity interrupts old stories and reconnects you to your basic goodness. Resources: // Episode 37: How to Disagree Like a Buddha // Episode 154: Off the Cushion – Activism + Spirituality // Episode 252: Resistance Calisthenics for the Rebel Ones // If you’re new to the squad, grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll also get access to the Rebel Buddhist private group, and tune in every Wednesday as I go live with new inspiration and topics. // Want something more self-paced with access to weekly group support and getting coached by yours truly? Check out Freedom School – the community for ALL things related to freedom, inside and out. We dive into taking wisdom and applying it to our daily lives, with different topics every month. Learn more at JoinFreedomSchool.com. I can’t wait to see you there! // Have you benefited from even one episode of the Rebel Buddhist Podcast? I’d love it if you could leave a 5-star review on iTunes by clicking here  or on Spotify by clicking here.

Inside a recent episode

A Year in Review for Wild Awake Hearts

Published 19 Dec 2025 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Because we want to walk into the new year, not as like another project, but a more free, a more honest, a more authentic, alive version of ourselves, right? And an important way to do this is to take decent time, reflecting and learning and absorbing with that, we've just been through this past year, right? This past trip around the sun. Because the truth is looking back is supposed to crack us open a little bit. You know, one of my teachers used to say the heart breaks and breaks until it stays open. And I think that's what a genuine year -end review does. It's not a bullet list, but it's a reflection of how has my heart been touched? […]

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

94 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

45 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.