“The notion of loving oneself has gotten an undeservedly bad rap, which goes something like this: self-love is narcissistic, selfish, self-indulgent, the supreme delusion of a runaway ego looking out for “number one.” In fact, just the opposite is true.”

author and teacher of Buddhist meditation practice

Sharon Salzberg is an author and teacher of Buddhist meditation practice in the West. She co-founded the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, in 1974 with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Her work centers on vipassanā, or insight, and mettā, or loving-kindness, and she has led meditation retreats around the world for several decades. She is known for writing and teaching in that tradition, with an emphasis on practice and attention to the mind.