Episode 21: Cory Muscara, From Health-Coach to Monk to Community Pioneer, Self Exploration through Mindfulness and Meditation

In Episode 21 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, we get into the world of mindfulness, meditation and the capacity of these practices, to relieve suffering and promote flourishing with founder of the Long Island Center for Mindfulness, Cory Muscara.

To put it simply, Cory is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met. While we are all unique, yet paradoxically all of one collective whole, Cory’s background and experiences are quite astonishing.

Cory Muscara is the founder of the Long Island Center for Mindfulness, where he utilizes his extensive professional training in Mindfulness, Positive Psychology, and Integrative Health Coaching to facilitate a client’s creation of, and movement toward, their optimal vision of health and wellbeing.
 
Cory has undergone professional training to integrate mindfulness within healthcare, schools, and businesses, through teacher training programs in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at UMass Medical School with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindful Schools, Search Inside Yourself, and Breathworks Chronic Pain. He has completed his Integrative Health Coach training at Duke Integrative Medicine, is a 200-Hour Certified Yoga Instructor, and holds a Masters degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2012, Cory spent six months in silence practicing mindfulness meditation 14+ hours a day as a Buddhist Monk in Southeast Asia. The experience taught him how powerful mindfulness can be as a transformative practice for cultivating greater peace, clarity, wisdom, and wellbeing in one’s life, and became the inspiring force behind his mission to share this work with others.
Cory currently serves as faculty at Columbia Teachers College where he teaches mindfulness to school leaders and principals, and is an assistant instructor for the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at the University of Pennsylvania, where he completed his graduate work. Cory has presented mindfulness to organizations such as Johnson & Johnson, Travelers, Prudential Insurance; universities such as NYU, Wharton Business School, and Dartmouth; a number of hospitals and healthcare systems in the New York area; and he regularly appears on the Dr. Oz show as a guest expert in the topic of mindfulness meditation.
Cory’s teachings and work with students stem from a deep passion for helping others, and personal experience with the transformative power of mindfulness, coaching, and positive psychology. He looks forward to helping you realize the same benefits he and his students have come to experience through this work.

Formally speaking, Cory has undergone professional training to integrate mindfulness within healthcare, schools, and businesses, through teacher training programs in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at UMass Medical School with Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mindful Schools, Search Inside Yourself, and Breathworks Chronic Pain. He has completed his Integrative Health Coach training at Duke Integrative Medicine, is a 200-Hour Certified Yoga Instructor, and holds a Masters degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of Pennsylvania.


Positive Yoga Coaching anyone?


And just to make things interesting, in 2012, Cory spent six months in silence practicing mindfulness meditation 14+ hours a day as a Buddhist Monk in Southeast Asia. The experience taught him how powerful mindfulness can be as a transformative practice for cultivating greater peace, clarity, wisdom, and wellbeing in one’s life, and became the inspiring force behind his mission to share this work with others.

In our show, Cory and I have a curious discussion about mindfulness and meditation. What in the world do we mean when we say mindfulness anyway?


Cory reflects on his background and rather remarkable course to get to his current work with the Long Island Center for Mindfulness.


As part of the discussion, Cory lays out in exquisite detail, some of his approaches to cultivating a meditative practice with others, providing one of the most insightful practical examples I have ever heard when it comes to describing the meditative experience.


Digging deeper, I push Cory to explore the word spirituality and ask him to draw upon his unique experiences to share his views of the world “spirituality” and perhaps what we should adopt as a more unifying collective perspective.


Not wanting to forget the medical applications, Cory shares some of his knowledge having trained as a health coach incorporating principles of mindfulness and positive psychology into his work.
In the end, we conclude the discussion exploring Cory’s work expanding the practices of mindfulness and meditation with youth and the family environment.


Cory even closes the show with one of the best endings we have had to date, perhaps only second to the hauntingly beautiful story told by my mentor Dr. Greg Gelburd at the end of Episode 010.

I am so excited to share this conversation with you and incredibly grateful to have connected with Cory, thanks again to the thoughtfulness of another previous podcast guest, our resident positive Mapster Grace Cormier.

And don’t worry, Cory and Grace will certainly be back for more discussions and we further unpack the power of positive psychology coupled with a dedicated mindfulness practice.


If you enjoy the show, please don’t forget to share your thoughts as part of a review in I-Tunes. I struggle enough trying to figure out Facebook and the best ways to grow our community, so from all of us at A Medicinal Mind, we would be grateful for your kind words as part of a review in I-Tunes. And as always, we encourage you to share the show and all the offerings on our main page to others in your life that you believe would benefit, all in the effort furthering this joyful conversation.


Thank you as always and we hope you enjoy the show!

To learn more about Cory’s current work with the Long Island Center for Mindfulness click on the link below: http://www.mindfulnessmeditationnyc.com/mbsr-nyc-teachers/cory-muscara

To learn more about Cory’s exciting and powerful work use the link below to access his website: http://www.corymuscara.com

You are able to contact Cory at his Facebook and Instagram pages using the links below:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/corymuscara
Instagram: www.instagram.com/corymuscara