Conscious Prayer – Finding Refuge in Loving Awareness (retreat talk)

Conscious Prayer – Finding Refuge in Loving Awareness (retreat talk)

Prayer is a communing with our enlarged being. This talk examines less conscious forms of prayer, and how we can evolve the power of our prayers by opening into the depth of our longing, and reaching toward our true belonging (from the 2016 IMCW Spring Retreat). How I...
The Wings of Awakening – Self-Honesty & Love (retreat talk)

The Wings of Awakening – Self-Honesty & Love (retreat talk)

We evolve our consciousness by bringing a clear and kind attention to the tangles of suffering. This talk explores how the “second arrow” of self-judgment imprisons us in emotional reactivity, and the pathways of awakening awareness that reconnect us with...
Fear and Love

Fear and Love

Only when we face our fears can we discover the freedom to love without holding back. This talk looks at how unprocessed fear contracts our body, heart and mind, and on a societal level is the cause of othering and violence. We then explore how arousing mindfulness,...
Repairing our Hearts – Healing with the RAIN of Compassion

Repairing our Hearts – Healing with the RAIN of Compassion

Living in a fear-based society fuels the trance of separation and unworthiness. This talk explores how we can bring an engaged compassionate presence to the suffering of this trance—in our inner work, and more broadly, in healing our culture (from the 2020 IMCW 7-day...
Change, Loss and Timeless Love – Part 2 (Retreat Talk)

Change, Loss and Timeless Love – Part 2 (Retreat Talk)

Our capacity to live and love fully is entirely intertwined with how we relate to change and loss. These two talks are an invitation to look honestly, and without judgment, at the ways, we resist facing our fears and grieving our losses. We then explore how to bring...
The Power of Awake Awareness (retreat talk)

The Power of Awake Awareness (retreat talk)

We all encounter “demons” of fear, anger, hurt, craving and shame. This talk explores our key ways of resisting difficult emotions, and how “when the resistance is gone, the demons are gone.” We look at the power of mindfulness and compassion to undo resistance, and...
Judgment, Acceptance and Freedom (Retreat Talk)

Judgment, Acceptance and Freedom (Retreat Talk)

The boundary to what we accept is the boundary to our freedom. This talk explores the often unconscious ways we create separation by judging ourselves and others, and the key pathways of meditation practice that release the habit of blame and free our hearts. Really...
Conscious Prayer – Finding Refuge in Loving Awareness (retreat talk)

Conscious Prayer – Finding Refuge in Loving Awareness (retreat talk)

Prayer is a communing with our enlarged being. This talk examines less conscious forms of prayer, and how we can evolve the power of our prayers by opening into the depth of our longing, and reaching toward our true belonging (from the 2016 IMCW Spring Retreat). How I...
From Judgment to Self-Compassion (retreat talk)

From Judgment to Self-Compassion (retreat talk)

When we’ve turned on ourselves with blame and aversion, it’s very difficult to arouse self-compassion. This talk looks at the role of nurturing in freeing our hearts, and offers practice in three key steps that enable us to embrace ourselves with a healing presence....
Worrier Pose – Finding Freedom from the Body of Fear (retreat talk)

Worrier Pose – Finding Freedom from the Body of Fear (retreat talk)

While fear is a natural part of our make up, many of us suffering when the “on” button gets jammed. This talk looks at how our fears generate habitual patterns of physical tension, anxious thinking, emotions and behaviors; and how this constellation prevents us from...
Disarming Our Hearts: Letting Go of Blame (retreat talk)

Disarming Our Hearts: Letting Go of Blame (retreat talk)

Anger, judgment and blame create separation—from our inner life and our world. Only by releasing chronic blame can we free our hearts to truly give and receive love. This talk looks at the difference between healthy anger and the trance of blame, and through a set of...
After the RAIN (retreat talk)

After the RAIN (retreat talk)

This talk offers an in-depth exploration of RAIN, applying the wings of mindfulness and compassion to painful domains of trance. We bring special attention to the fruit of RAIN, the realization of who we are beyond any limiting identity. This talk was given at the...
Trusting Who We Are (retreat talk)

Trusting Who We Are (retreat talk)

The sign of spiritual freedom is a deep trust in our essential nature, and in the light of awareness that lives through all beings.  This talk explores the conditioning that entraps us in a trance of separation and believing in a limited self.  We then...