We need new tools
Equipping ourselves for the uncomfortable and the unknowable
The working parent struggling to keep it together…
The busy leader worried about keeping her team engaged…
The concerned citizen wondering how he can avoid being part of the problem…
Are any of these folks you? Because all of them are me.
The world is changing around us. I know you know this. You may also see that the shifts we are experiencing aren’t merely temporary, logistical or circumstantial. They are as deep as they are complex. They will be lasting. They are reorienting every aspect of personal and public life. And they are challenging us to show up in a new way.
That’s the invitation. Will we accept it?
The better question is: Can we even see it? The opportunity of this moment looks like a threat to most of us. This magnitude of change doesn’t fit our narrative, so we resist it and suffer mightily as a result.
We are exhausted, we are anxious, we are angry.
Our families are fragmented. Our relationships are reactive. Our brains are burnt.
We need new tools
And we need them now:
Strategies for surfing waves of disruption
A compass for navigating our most challenging emotions
Increased capacity to withstand ambiguity and discomfort
Neural processing that defaults to kindness and (self-)compassion
Space to choose skillful responses (vs. automatic reactions) to stressful situations
This is why I’ve created Breaking Open. In these six-week courses, we cultivate these new tools, all grounded in the power of your own personal mindfulness practice.
Here’s how it works: We meet weekly as a community for a 90-minute live session. In between our calls you’ll experiment with simple mindfulness meditation exercises. A workbook will be available for your reference, and you’ll have the option to set up an individual coaching session with me to dig deeper. Click here for more details or to register.
Here’s how it really works
Mindfulness (which is really just the opposite of mindlessness) has been proven to rewire the brain in as little as six weeks. Based on my years of teaching these practices in community and corporate settings, this is what you can expect week-by-week:
Week 1: We learn the basics of what mindfulness (really) is and how to do it. Starting a new routine always has its challenges, and you’ll be encouraged to find creative ways to make your practice your own.
Week 2: We learn to take refuge in our bodies as a “home base” alternative to the busyness of the mind. You’ll be introduced to several more new tools, and will start to have a sense of what will work for you—take those, leave the rest!
Week 3: We learn new ways of relating to our emotions, especially difficult ones, and we start to intentionally cultivate an attitude of kindness toward ourselves and others. This is always a challenging week: You may feel frustrated or bored with your practice, but on the other side of that wall is your first breakthrough.
Week 4: We learn that our thoughts are not necessarily to be trusted, and we develop our capacity to withstand discomfort, especially when it leads to growth and understanding. This is often when you’ll start to notice greater ease in your daily life, fewer reactive decisions and more space to choose how to respond.
Week 5: We explore the possibilities of mindfulness in our relationships, including how to listen actively and speak authentically, whether at work or at home. By week 5, people in your life may start to ask what’s changed because you just seem… different. In a good way! (They can never quite put their finger on it.)
Week 6: We conclude the first course with a reflection on everything we have learned so far, and commit to how we will show up differently going forward. You will finish Breaking Open’s first course (“The Space to Choose”) with a range of practical tools to apply in your life and work, and you will be eligible to register for the second course, “Becoming a Safe Person,” later this year.
Breaking Open is open to all, but it’s not for everyone.
Breaking Open will benefit you if:
you’re a mindfulness skeptic
you’ve tried meditation and it didn’t click
you have “one of those minds” that never shuts off
you’re too hard on yourself
you’re open to new things and trust your own experience
Breaking Open can’t help you if:
you already have all the answers
you want things to change without having to change anything
you prefer to learn intellectually by reading a book or watching a TED Talk vs. experientially with a hands-on practice (ok, you’ll probably still learn a lot from our weekly sessions, but the meditation practice itself is where the gold is)
If you belong to that first group, then you have everything you need to do this work, and I believe Breaking Open can offer you the new tools you are looking for. Not because I have all the answers (who does?!), but because I’m in it with you. And I believe that we will come through this stronger if we go through it together.
Got more questions?
What is the time commitment? Six weeks, with weekly sessions of 90 minutes (Saturdays, April 10-May 15, 4 p.m. ET). Beyond these sessions, you will be encouraged to spend 5-20 minutes daily in mindfulness practice, for which guidance will be provided.
What is the registration fee? I’m offering Breaking Open on a sliding scale, and no one will be turned away for lack of funds. I suggest US$200/person as the full price, with US$350 as a discounted price for two (bring a friend or family member!) and US$100 for students/seniors. There is a $0 option for those not currently receiving income, and they will not be asked to pay a fee. 100% of your registration fee will be divided evenly between The Loveland Foundation and the AAPI Community Fund.
Why are you charging for this course if you are giving 100% away? Several answers to this one:
I have a full-time job and am offering Breaking Open as a service, not an income stream.
Generosity, as we will see, is a key aspect of living with mindfulness. Donating most of the proceeds from Breaking Open is generosity practice for me, and choosing the appropriate registration level makes it a generosity practice for you.
I find people tend to stay invested when they have actually invested.
Have another question? Leave a comment below.
I look forward to Breaking Open with you.
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