Pico Iyer: The Art of Stillness

Pico Iyer: The Art of Stillness

August 26, 2026 · 34 min

About this episode

Pico Iyer discusses the importance of stillness in our chaotic lives and shares insights from his book on the adventure of staying put.

This episode is a re-release; it originally aired on March 8, 2015. Best-selling author and travel writer Pico Iyer discusses the benefits of bringing stillness into our lives. Pico, a lifelong traveler who has journeyed all over the world, from India to Ethiopia to Cuba to Kathmandu, realized our lives are crowded, chaotic and noisy. He says there has never been a greater need to slow down, tune out and give ourselves permission to be still. Pico walked away from a successful career writing for Time magazine in New York City, where he worked on the 25th floor and had a nice apartment on Park Avenue. "I was making a great living, but that's not the same as making a life," Pico says. In his book "The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere," he writes about the unexpected adventure of staying put and that sitting quietly in a room just might be the ultimate adventure. Pico also reveals how we can take our feelings of home with us wherever we go. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Oprah

Guest: Pico Iyer

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Time magazine

Books & works: The Art of Stillness: Adventures in Going Nowhere

Places: New York City, Park Avenue, India, Ethiopia, Cuba, Kathmandu

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