Good Life Project – “Turning Down Tinnitus”

Host: Jonathan Fields
Date: December 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this deeply personal solo episode, Jonathan Fields shares his intimate journey through the onset of tinnitus—a relentless, mysterious ringing in the ears—and the profound psychological crisis it triggered. As he navigates the uncertainty and emotional turmoil that follow, Jonathan explores how mindfulness meditation became not only a tool for coping, but a transformative practice that redefined his approach to suffering and well-being. The episode concludes with a gentle, heartfelt guided loving-kindness meditation, inviting listeners to shift their relationship with life’s inevitable sounds—literal and metaphorical—toward peace, compassion, and agency.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Onset and Crisis of Tinnitus (03:09–18:19)

• Jonathan’s experience begins: While traveling in March 2010, Jonathan notices a strange fluttering in his left ear—soon evolving into persistent clicking, then pulsing, and eventually, searing high-pitched ringing.
  • “The noise in my head follows everywhere I go... Nightfall becomes my enemy as the din of the city fades, leaving me to battle the sound in darkness.” (09:38)
• Despair and isolation: The relentless noise brings insomnia, headaches, and mounting anxiety as he tries to hide his suffering from friends, colleagues, and his family.
• Diagnosis: After weeks of searching and medical tests, he receives a diagnosis—tinnitus, or "your brain is making you hear stuff nobody else hears," with no clear cause or guaranteed cure.
• Hopelessness and existential worry: The condition threatens his creative life, livelihood, and relationships, precipitating a crisis that shatters his sense of self and agency.
  • “If the smartest doctors in the world can’t make the sound go away... is there some way to turn my tormentor into my teacher?” (13:46)

2. Seeking Solutions and a Shift in Perspective (13:46–18:19)

• From resistance to acceptance: Faced with the possibility of a lifelong condition, Jonathan turns to the Buddhist slogan “abandon hope,” reframing it from despair to an invitation: stop fighting the unchangeable, and change your relationship with it instead.
• Mindfulness as salvation: While researching for a book on peak performance and uncertainty, Jonathan discovers scientific literature and personal stories on mindfulness meditation, which trains practitioners to separate circumstance from the story the mind creates.
• Connecting circumstance and attention: He realizes the suffering is less about the sound and more about his mind’s response to it.
  • “It’s not the sound that’s causing me so much pain, but rather my brain’s inability to hear it as anything but pain.” (16:06)

3. Enter Bruce: Mindfulness in Action (18:19–22:06)

• Meeting a mentor: Jonathan consults Bruce, a mindfulness-based cognitive therapist and fellow tinnitus sufferer. Bruce's guidance:
  • “Focus on your breath, and if you get distracted by the same thing, focus on what distracts you. For now... you must make that your focus.” (18:59)
• Practice and resistance: Jonathan struggles at first, finding the sound overwhelming when he turns his attention toward it. He perseveres, repeatedly practicing breath work and guided attention.

4. Building the Daily Practice and Its Impact (22:06–31:45)

• Micro-progress and breakthrough: Over days and weeks, Jonathan notices moments where his mind drifts from the sound back to his breath, gradually reclaiming peace and agency.

  • "As I sit consumed by sound, my mind drifts away from it and returns to my breath. The cycle begins to break itself." (22:56)

• Evolving the practice: Jonathan integrates breathing exercises (slowing breathing to 2–3 breaths/minute), mindfulness of sensations, and loving-kindness (“metta”) meditation.

  • “[The practice] is designed to rapidly bring me into a deeply grounded state.” (24:39)

• Attention as reality: The lasting insight is that his attention, not his circumstances, shapes his reality: with practice, the tinnitus fades into the background unless he chooses to notice it.

  • “For all intents and purposes, when I don’t look for [the sound], it doesn’t exist.” (27:37)

• Broader transformation: What began as a tool for desperate relief has blossomed into a life-affirming practice, fueling creativity, resilience, and presence in all aspects of life.

  • “The thing I came to as a last resort, therapy to take me from minus 100 back to zero, has now taken me from zero to plus 100.” (29:44)

5. The Universal Invitation (29:44–31:45)

• Everyone’s abyss: Jonathan universalizes his story—everyone has “their own sound in their head,” their own source of recurring stress or pain.
• Why try meditation?: Whatever the form—mindfulness, mantra, prayer, or others—a practice that cultivates agency over attention can fundamentally change one’s experience of life.
  • “A practice that truly can become the foundation of your ability to live the life you want to live, no matter what the world puts in your path.” (31:13)
• Practical advice: He mentions Tara Brach’s podcast as an easy introduction to guided meditation, along with apps and online resources.

Memorable Quotes

• “So what if you had the ability to feel peaceful, at ease, grounded, focused and calm, no matter what was happening around you... It would give you this proverbial off switch and guide you back to peace and ease.” (00:02 – Jonathan Fields)
• “My perceiving brain only experiences the sound, or the sensation of sound, when my attention is focused on it... For all intents and purposes, when I don’t look for it, it doesn’t exist.” (27:30 – Jonathan Fields)
• “Every one of us has our own sound in our heads, our own source of fear, our own place of deep uncertainty, distraction, pain, paralysis or suffering. Our own abyss waiting to deliver us into our treasure.” (29:44 – Jonathan Fields)
• Joseph Campbell quote (shared by Jonathan): “It’s by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of our life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” (27:02 – quoting Joseph Campbell as it relates to his own journey)

Notable Moments and Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | Key Points/Details | |-----------|----------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:02 | Episode theme introduction | “What if you had the ability to feel peaceful, at ease, grounded, focused and calm...” | | 03:09 | Tinnitus story begins | Jonathan notices strange ear sounds after a flight, beginning his struggle. | | 09:38 | The crisis deepens | Anxiety, insomnia, and fear grow; Jonathan tries to hide his suffering. | | 13:46 | Perspective shift | Moves from desperate search for relief to seeking acceptance and new ways to cope. | | 16:06 | Key realization | Suffering comes not from sound itself but from how the mind frames it. | | 18:19 | Meeting Bruce, therapist and mentor | Introduction to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for tinnitus. | | 22:56 | Practice breakthrough | Mind begins, with effort, to shift attention away from sound and reclaim peace. | | 24:39 | Breathwork detail | Jonathan describes specific breath exercises that ground him. | | 27:02 | Joseph Campbell quote | Connects personal struggle to universal growth through adversity. | | 29:44 | Practice as life transformation | Meditation practice evolves into a foundational element of wellbeing and creativity. | | 31:13 | Universal invitation | Encourages listeners to explore a daily practice for agency over attention. |

Guided Loving Kindness Meditation (31:45–47:23)

Introduction and Preparation (31:45–33:08)

• Find a comfortable, upright seat; gently scan your body and settle in.
• Practice aware breathing, placing hands on heart and stomach to connect with sensation and warmth.

Visualization and Blessings

• To Yourself:
  • Visualize yourself with ease and comfort, silently repeat:
    “May I be free. May I be happy. May I be healthy. May I be loved. May I live with ease.” (37:45)
• To a Loved One:
  • Bring to mind someone dear, offer the same phrases:
    “May you be free. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you be loved. May you live with ease.” (39:46)
• To a Neutral Person:
  • Offer wishes to an acquaintance or stranger. (42:09)
• To Someone You Struggle With:
  • Offer loving-kindness to someone you find difficult, or to yourself if it’s too challenging. (44:10)
• To All Beings:
  • Expand the blessings to everyone:
    “May we be free. May we be happy. May we be healthy. May we be loved. May we live with ease.” (46:24)

Closing (47:23–48:40)

• Slowly let images fade, return hands to heart and stomach, and gently open your eyes, bringing compassion and ease forward into your day.

Overall Tone and Style

Jonathan’s narration is candid, gentle, and deeply compassionate. He speaks with humility and vulnerability, describing his suffering without dramatization, and his hard-won insights without pretension. The encouragement to explore meditation is delivered as an openhanded invitation, not a prescription.

Summary Takeaways

• Agency over Attention: Meditation, especially mindfulness, offers not just relief but can transform our relationship with persistent life challenges—whether they are sensory, emotional, or existential in nature.
• From Suffering to Meaning: By learning to shift attention and accept what cannot be changed, one can find unexpected treasure even in the heart of struggle.
• Accessible Tools: Breathwork, mindful awareness, and loving-kindness are practical, actionable gateways to this transformation, accessible to anyone willing to begin.

Resources Mentioned

• Tara Brach’s podcast (for those new to guided meditation)
• Meditation apps with various teachers and techniques for experimentation

For anyone facing recurring battles with anxiety, chronic health issues, or relentless mental noise, this episode offers moving testimony, practical insight, and a loving, guided entry into transformative mindfulness practice.