Wisdom is often represented as a bird in mindfulness circles - where true seeing, or having access to clarity and perspective, comes from developing both the wings of awareness and love. While a lot of emphasis has been placed on developing attention, the emotional state from which awareness emerges is equally, if not more important. How we feel can generate wildly different realities.

In this series, we will use guided meditations, journaling, partnered activities and group discussions to investigate how our emotional state impacts our views, behaviors and the stories we live. We will explore ways to honor, validate and let go of old fears and reorient towards a more loving way of being with ourselves and others. We will also experiment with different heart practices to bring about a more balanced view of what is true and to strengthen the capacity for more equanimity, kindness, compassion and gratitude.

Registration fee is $250

Mindfulness retreats provide young people with the rare opportunity to experience uninterrupted and genuine insight into their own life experience while connecting with their peers and mindfulness teachers in a welcoming and safe community. Come for the fun & friends. Stay for the calm & community.

In this teen series, learn how to meditate, relax deeply, speak your truth, and develop your mind—all while hanging out with other great people your age. Through the practices of mindfulness and Insight Meditation, we take time to reconnect to ourselves in order to experience more peace, wisdom, and compassion. Classes will include movement, community-building games, meditation instruction, and council—a practice of witnessing the group’s collective wisdom.

What if navigating life were easier and simpler? What if instead of needing to spend so much time understanding and strategizing, we could just have access to clarity and insights? What if, like all other living creatures, we already have within us the inherent wisdom and capacity to thrive? 

This series is an opportunity to try on this view through group experimentation. The invitation will be to put down the “figuring out” mind and to instead, be in the felt sense to solve problems and to create effective change. 

We will use guided meditations, journaling, and partnered activities to get in touch with our “gut feelings” and to witness how this operating system can be more accurate in informing us about what is going on and more reliable in moving us towards skillful action. We will also use unstructured group discussions to step into the mystery of emergence to discover how co-created relational fields can support access to our own inner knowing.

A very important part of the spiritual path is being a part of a caring community that supports us on our individual journey. Having a safe space where we can be received and accompanied in our imperfect fullness reassures us that we are not alone in navigating this crazy human experience. Witnessing another's experience, normalizes are own and can serve as fertile learning grounds.

Decisions are at the root of everything that we do. From the mundane choices of what to wear or eat, to prioritizing and tackling the to-do list, to the big life questions such as whether to stay in a career or relationship… We are making decisions all the time! To add to this, the decisions that we make today drive actions that create our tomorrow! The pressure to “get it right” can be stressful and cause overwhelm. It's no surprise that we often get caught in analysis-paralysis. Ironically, while the pros and cons list might bring a temporary sense of relief, this overthinking is the very thing that gets in the way of finding clarity. It keeps us stuck in the theoretical versus the experiential realm, the place where reliable and accurate information is found.

This class will use mindfulness to investigate how our views about decisions, where we place our attention during the deciding process and the method that we apply, can actually interfere with making effective choices.

Come take a break from the crazy end of year planning-rushing-doing-trance to take a mindful break. This is a great opportunity to nourish yourself by self connecting and being in community. The evening will open with a circle where folks can check in and report anything that they want held by the group (optional), followed by a guided 30 minute meditation and Q and A time, closing with a talk on a theme that emerges from the shares.

The intention of this 6 week series is to serve as a lab space to test out what happens when we bring our full selves back online… when we honor, respect and cherish our unique way of being, and follow the yearnings of the heart. Seeing the stark contrast between what emerges and what we are currently experiencing nurtures the confidence to take risks to create change. And as these changes translate into a life that is more aligned with our values and wants, we get the evidence needed to trust our way as the most reliable way. We are able to move from the resignation of surviving to the joy of thriving.

This 4-week introductory course will focus on each pillar that makes up the foundation of Mindfulness: awareness of the body, emotions and mind. We will use guided meditations, dyad exercises, journaling and group discussions to explore the different facets that make up our awareness. No previous meditation experience is needed, all levels are welcome!

This class is offered on a sliding scale donation of $250 - $200 which makes continuing this work sustainable for me.

This 4 weeks in person Tuesday Series will use fun interactive exercises to apply the principals of both Mindfulness and Nonviolent Communication to increase understanding and connection in our day to day conversations.

This class is offered on a sliding scale donation of $250 - $200 which makes continuing this work sustainable for me.

Wise Use of Mind

While the mind can at times be unreliable or get in the way of us being present, it can also be incredibly useful. This workshop will explore using the mind to reframe how we experience difficult situations. We will also play with the imagination as a vehicle to rewrite past memories and to create future realities.

Offered on a sliding scale donation of $100 - $125.

Come take a break from the planning-rushing-doing-trance to reconnect with yourself and be in community! Together, let’s co-create a safe space where we can make full contact with our unedited self… and be amongst friends that support and encourage our authentic expression into the world.

We will use meditation as a lab, where the subject being studied is us and this bizarre human thing that we are all “doing”. What could be more interesting to discover, explore and understand? The evening will open with a circle where folks can share anything that they want held by the group (optional), followed by a guided 30 minute meditation and Q and A time, closing with a talk on some aspect of this wild journey that we are all on. Drop in any time, no previous meditation experience is necessary… just a curiosity about how your internal processes shape your life.

Registration

Our mind is an incredible feature and has allowed us to be one of the most successful species on this planet. Yet, evolution favors safety over accuracy… which creates an interesting dilemma for us: should the mind be the one calling the shots? What if we were asking it to do a job that is beyond its capacity? Have we placed too much emphasis on thinking and fallen out of balance with the other attributes that we have? If so, how can we restore our connection to true wisdom?

This 4 week series will use the meditation space to investigate the mind, observe how it works, learn about its tendencies and track the impact of thinking on our day to day lives. We will play with redirecting the attention to different aspects of our experience to see how this changes our sense of reality and how we view the world. We will also explore other forms of intelligence that are available to us, so that we can restore access to our full knowing.

Details of what will be covered each week can be found here. This course is offered on a suggested sliding scale donation of $200 - $250 to support the designing of future course offerings.

Registration

Whether it be for work or in our personal life, awareness is the key element in ensuring that our perception about what is happening is accurate so that our actions can be effective. We need awareness to notice our biases and how they influence our interpretations. We need awareness to track the impact of our choices so that we can self correct and adapt to changing circumstances. In this 3 part series, we will explore the state of full awareness or mindfulness, as a way to operate at our full capacity.

What does it mean to find your way?

What if you could give yourself full permission to discover and create the life you want?

What would it be like to design your own maps instead of following the ones prescribed by society?

What would it be like if you could access the safety needed to take risks and have a reliable compass to navigate the unknown?

In asking these questions, we approach finding your way as a nonlinear journey, where the destination emerges as we stay connected to the unfolding process. We will begin by going inside to connect with our deepest wants. Using memory and imagination, we can discover what it feels like to have our needs fulfilled. This felt sense can then serve as a reference point as we venture out to find experiences like these in the collective world.

We will use mindfulness as a way to reawaken our innate ability to know what is right for us. By cultivating the capacity for presence, we can take in fully what is actually happening and make informed decisions. We can feel the impact of those choices by tracking somatic and emotional feedback. This biofeedback can serve as a reliable compass to navigate the possibilities we encounter.