Meditation Meets AI: What the Future Holds for Contemplative Practice & Yoga Therapy

About this episode

Amy Wheeler and Steve Haberlin discuss the integration of AI in contemplative practices and its implications for mindfulness and yoga therapy.

Episode overview In this episode, Amy sits down with Steve Haberlin to explore what’s changing in contemplative practice as artificial intelligence becomes woven into daily life. Steve shares why he created a customized GPT mindfulness guide (“MetaZen”), how he’s studying its use with doctoral students, and why he advocates a “human-first” approach: learn from a skilled teacher when possible, then use AI as a supportive bridge—not a replacement. Together, they unpack the promise and the concerns: access and personalization on one side, and privacy, data harvesting, and ethical guardrails on the other. The conversation closes with a look at education’s future, the pressures faculty may face, and Steve’s upcoming book MetaMeditation . What you’ll hear in this episode Key themes How Amy and Steve connected through LinkedIn and why that kind of professional relationship-building matters now What a “custom GPT” is and how Steve designed MetaZen as a science-grounded mindfulness guide Live facilitation with AI : a brief demonstration of an AI-led mindfulness practice Why human relationship still matters in meditation training (and what’s lost if we remove it) The “opportunity gap”…

People in this episode

Host: Amy Wheeler

Guest: Steve Haberlin

Topics covered

• artificial intelligence
• contemplative practice
• mindfulness
• yoga therapy
• education
• ethical concerns

Keywords

• AI in meditation
• custom GPT
• mindfulness guide
• human-first approach
• ethical concerns
• education future
• meditation apps

Mentioned in this episode

Products: MetaZen

Books & works: MetaMeditation

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