Greetings from Jonathan Foust: When Things Don't Go Our Way, The Energy Intensive... Five Breaths and More

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Welcome!

  To be reminded of change all I have to do is wander around outside.

Larger flocks of geese just started moving through. It’s been hot and the water is quite warm now, supporting moss, mold, algae and everything that feeds on them.

Mornings are filled with clouds of bugs that ramp up their activity this time of year as if they know their time is limited. Spiders are weaving more and more webs.

A fisherman I often see at sunrise told me he hung out with some baby river otters last week.

I hope, in the midst of all that is changing around you, you are finding some peace and presence.    

Upcoming Events

September 14:

YLM8 Evening Session Learn More

September 26:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

September 29:

The Energy Intensive: Yoga, Meditation and Breathwork at Kripalu Center Learn More

October 3:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

October 8:

YLM8 Daylong Retreat Learn More    

When Things Don’t Go Our Way

  The damn hood on my Honda Element wouldn't close.

I had just inflated my Paddleboard with a 12-volt pump. I hook up the cables to the battery terminals for power.

I usually just drop the open hood and it clicks into place. But this time it was different.

I dropped it again. No familiar click.

I dropped it and pushed down. No luck.

Irritated now, I dropped it and put some weight behind it. No way.

Angry now, I tried again. I smashed the hood down. Nothing.

Hmm. Maybe something was in the way?

I found the culprit. My iPhone!

Dread turned to relief as the iPhone case saved it from being destroyed.

When things don’t go our way, we have some pretty predictable reactions. They usually fall into these categories:

* Aversion: Anger, judgement and blame * Craving: Planning, Fantasy and mental disassociation * Worry: Anxiety, Restlessness * Sloth and Torpor: Losing energy * Doubt: Self-Judgement and the ruthless critic

In this case, I defaulted to anger.

All of this could have been averted with a little more awareness.

When something challenging arises, the RAIN acronym comes in handy.

(R) Recognize what’s happening (A) Allow it if you can (I) Investigate and be intimate with what’s happening (N) Nourish what is there with awareness and compassion

This month I’ve given a bunch of talks on "Strategies." While the RAIN acronym lies at the heart of working with challenges, I’ve got other tips there as well.

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Physical Pain

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anger

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Addiction

I hope you find these helpful. Itunes podcast: Listen Here Youtube: Watch Here    

Fresh Photos

  Water. Heat. Bugs.   A gang of cormorants at morning meditation.   Swallows take a short break from feasting on clouds of bugs.   The Stockbridge Bowl, pre-morning swim.   A storm brewing on the Potomac.   Summer foliage on the river.   Geese on the move.   One of thousands of webs in the meadow.      

Video: Five Breaths: August on the River

  This short video invites you into slow, full deep breathing with images from the Potomac from this last month.        

The Energy Intensive: Meditation, Yoga and Breathwork at Kripalu Centers

September 29 - October 2

  If you’re looking for a three-day weekend intensive dedicated to slowing down, de-stressing and enlivening your practice, you might like to join me and my co-leader Shobhan Richard Faulds at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA.

This weekend is highly experiential, mostly in silence and designed to raise and stabilize energy and awareness.

The program culminates with a morning session of powerful breathwork using a technique that for many, provides deep release and insights.   For more information and to register.      

Latest from the Blog

Two-Minute Meditation: Move from Thought to Sensation

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anxiety

In All Directions

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anger

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Physical Pain

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Recent Dharma Talks, The Energy Intensive... Fresh Photos and More.

Two-Minute Meditation: Move from Thought to Sensation

  In a recent talk on Strategies for Changing Your Relationship with Anxiety, I shared a quick technique for moving from obsessing thinking to the here and now.

It only takes a few minutes and can be quite dramatic.

To listen, check this out: Itunes podcast: Listen Here Youtube: Watch here     The technique:

1. Take in a long slow deep breath and for a moment, hold the breath. Exhale slowly.

2. Again, take a long slow deep breath and for a moment, hold the breath and exhale slowly.

3. Let your eyes open and take in the three distinct separate images. Notice the color, shape, quality of light and texture.

4. Close your eyes.

5. Open your attention to sounds. Notice three distinct separate sources of sound.

6. Turn your attention to feeling. Notice three distinct separate sources of sensation.

7. Notice what may have shifted in this exercise.

I find this practice to be deceptively simple. Consciously shifting awareness away from thought to direct experience can sometimes dramatically help you move out of strong, pervasive and challenging mental states.      

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please signup here.

      iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Addiction

Special PODCAST: This talk explores how you can find freedom and peace in the midst of patterns of addictive actions and thoughts.   You’ll learn how transforming addiction is all about seeing clearly, recognizing pain, the 'unmet need' and learning how to open to compassion and kindness.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Two-Minute Meditation: Move from Thought to Sensation

Special PODCAST: This short meditation helps you shift from thinking to sensing, particularly images, sounds and sensation.   This can be a helpful tool when you find your mind caught in strong mental states.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anxiety

Special PODCAST: This talk explores how you can shift your relationship with anxiety, worry and restlessness.   You’ll learn how anxiety can be an ally, how to look for the cause of anxiety and some approaches as to how to be with it or let it go.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anger

Special PODCAST: This talk explores some fundamental ways you can work with anger when it arises.   You’ll learn how anger arises, how to identify the cause and strategies for releasing anger and opening to new possibilities.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Physical Pain

Special PODCAST: This talk explores how to bring non-judging awareness to the experience of physical pain.   You'll learn some essential teachings of Buddhist psychology as well as strategies that draw on the power of present-moment awareness including your capacity to 'zoom in' on sensation as well as how to 'zoom out' to a more expanded sense of the space that surrounds and infuses unpleasant sensations.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Recent Dharma Talks, The Energy Intensive... Fresh Photos and More.

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please signup here.

Welcome!

  Here in the mid-Atlantic it’s been hot.

Beyond hot.

With the heat index over 100 for much of this month, I get out on the river as early as I can and still come back soaked in sweat. It's a bit disconcerting to be paddling in water that feels not just tepid, but alarmingly hot.

Our ecosystems and environment feel so fragile right now. It seems more than ever, given the drama of heat, weather and the upheavals in our society, it's on us to pause, find our center and respond from presence.

Best wishes to you in your practice and in your life.    

Upcoming Events

August 1:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

August 7:

The Still, Small Voice Within: Meditation, Focusing and Intuition Training at Kripalu Center (5 days) Learn More

August 8:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Guest Teacher Learn More

August 15:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

August 17:

YLM8 Evening Session Learn More

August 20:

Daylong Retreat: A Meditative Journey Learn More

August 22:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

August 29:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More    

Some Recent Dharma Talks

  I sent out a survey awhile back asking for topics I might explore in an evening talk on Monday night in Arlington. If you're in the mood to listen to a talk, you might find one of these three recent ones of interest.   On Non-Attachment to Non-Attachment   Who doesn't want to feel free, spacious and at peace?   It’s a most worthy goal. We have all experienced moments when we are deeply at peace, aware of the vastness of it all and the mystery of this life.   Spiritual practice gets tricky, though, when you get attached to that state of freedom and bliss.   This talk explores the states that get in the way of presence and how to recognize them. You will also explore the importance of tracing back your desires to ensure they are in alignment with your deepest intentions.   How to Embrace Challenge as a Spiritual Practice   Recent studies indicate that stress is not necessarily what kills you. It’s your attitude toward the stress. If you think the stress is good for, it will be good for you.   This talk explores not just the power of clarifying what you really want, but looking closely at how you can change your attitude toward your challenges. You will also explore some strategies that can help you embrace the obstacles that make you more resilient.   How to Stay Focused on What is Most Important   Have you noticed how hard it is stay focused with so much information coming at you all the time?   This talk explores the transformative power of a concentrated mind. It also explores how and why you lose focus.   When you really want something and you are committed to it, you are setting yourself up for both challenges and breakthroughs. Having a map and a sense of ‘best practices’ can make the difference between staying stuck and opening to entirely new possibilities.   You can subscribe to my iTunes podcast here, check out talks on youtube here.   If you have suggestions for a talk, please do let me know. And if you have time or interest, please offer a review of the podcast on iTunes.   Thanks!    

Fresh Photos

  Cormorants and herons dominate the river this time of year. A few perspectives:   A cormorant heads up river at sunrise.   An annoyed heron leaves its perch.   Another annoyed heron. Something itches.   Me flying at 3,000 feet. Banking toward Provincetown just above the clouds.   A rock-solid vriksasanaa (tree pose).   Four cormorants decide it’s time to roll.   Stealth bomber cormorant.   Ta-daaaa!      

Video: My Paddleboard Set Up for Photography and Video

  Here’s a quick and dirty video as to what I use and carry on my paddleboard.   I love the paddleboard as it’s so light and quite stable with a tripod. I love the zazen position that affords good power but great posture for meditation.   I have a list of the items I use on my site.     Geek Alert: All video was shot with the iPhone 6s Plus with an 18mm Moment lens. (I gave up trying to edit the video on my iPad and put it together in Final Cut Pro.)      

The Energy Intensive: Meditation, Yoga and Breathwork at Kripalu Centers

September 29 - October 2

  For the past fifteen years or so Shobhan Richard Faulds and I offer up a highly experiential and frankly, a pretty intense retreat at Kripalu Center.

Some call it ‘classic Kripalu,’ in that much of what we do is highly experiential and draws on the core Kripalu teachings that explore how to develop greater awareness of the play of energy (prana) and awareness (chitta).

Though you don’t have to have extensive experience in yoga, the three-day retreat is intensive in nature and includes social silence. You’ll explore in-depth Kripalu Yoga with it’s roots in tantra and raja yoga.

You’ll learn how to open body, heart and mind through carefully sequenced guided experiences that take you deep inside as well as in relationship with fellow retreatants. Many participants take this retreat again and again and you’re welcome to join us.   To learn more and to register: Click Here    

Latest from the Blog

My Paddleboard Set Up for Photography and Video

How to Stay Focused on What is Most Important

Falling

How to Embrace Challenge as a Spiritual Practice

Humiliation

That Book You Gave Me?

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Intuition and Mindfulness, Conscious Relationships, The Still, Small Voice Within... Fresh Photos and More

Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program

  My wife, Tara Brach, and Jack Kornfield will be offering a Mindfulness Meditation Certification Training in 2017.   This program has been years in the making, and promises to be a gold standard in secular programs for teaching awareness and compassion-based practices.   The two year professional training will include three 5-day residential retreats, a monthly mentoring session, monthly live q/a phone sessions, and a teaching practicum.   One of the prerequisites for this program is their 7-week online Power of Awareness training, next offered starting November 7, 2016 (you can register now).   Enrollment for the Teacher Certification Program is opening now. More information is available at: www.MindfulnessMeditationCertification.com.   If meditation has transformed your life, you may feel drawn to deepening your own practice and bringing these practices and teachings into the world.      

To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.

      iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

How to Stay Focused on What is Most Important

Special PODCAST: The talk explores how to sustain attention on what’s most important in your life.   You’ll learn about the power of concentration, how and why you lose focus, how staying present to your goals sets you up for a transformational ride and some practical strategies for sustaining attention on the most important things in your life.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

How to Embrace Challenge as a Spiritual Practice

Special PODCAST: This talk explores how you can transform your life experience by embracing your deepest challenges.   You’ll learn the importance of remembering what is most important, the power of changing your attitude toward your challenges, the importance of testing yourself and how what you are seeking is truly already here.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4        

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

On Non-attachment to Non-attachment

Special PODCAST: This talk explores who you are in the absence of desire and how to cultivate wholesome non-attachment.   You’ll learn about three mental states that make it impossible to be present, how desire drives suffering, how you can let go of attachment and how to trace back your desires to ensure they are in alignment with your deepest intentions.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4      

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: The Key Elements to Practice, The Still, Small Voice Within... Fresh Photos and More

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please signup here.

Welcome!

  It's lush here in Northern Virginia. We had rain 20 out of the last 24 days. It's an interesting visual experience.   Given the incessant rainfall and cool weather, I've been exploring variations of grey, brown and green.   No matter what's out there, even if it looks a lot like the day before, I strive to stay alert to the details and to expect the unexpected. I've enjoyed some pleasant surprises.   Canada geese have for some reason this year decided to collectively raise their goslings, resulting in groups of twenty or so little puffballs.   Pulling up behind a rock with the river just at flood stage to catch my breath, I came within inches of the largest Copperhead I've ever seen.   The wood thrush are back and this morning about thirty cormorants flew upriver just a few feet above the surface - and me.   May you be surprised with unexpected pleasures.    

Upcoming Events

June 6:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

June 8:

YLM8 Evening Session Learn More

June 11:

YLM8 Half-Day Retreat Learn More

June 13:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

June 16:

Three-Day Meditation in the Netherlands Learn More

June 20:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

June 27:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More    

The Key Elements to Practice

  I was immersed in yoga way before it hit the mainstream.   I once told someone I was really into yoga and he responded, "Huh? You mean yogurt?"   These days if you tell someone you like yoga, many folks will ask you what kind. The range of styles is quite staggering.   This morning at the post office I was chatting with someone who told me they did meditation.   "What kind?" I asked.   He looked at me a bit befuddled and said, "You know, meditation!"   Zen teachers have been known to use phrases like "Meditate like your hair is on fire!" and "Die on the cushion!"   Some Tibetan and non-dual teachers have been known to say, "Happiness is only available through deep relaxation and letting go. It's your search that's screwing things up. Let go and relax! It's already here!"   How do we integrate these views?   As Ram Das said, "All traditions are fingers pointing at the moon." Though unique, they point to the same goal.   I find meditation practice summed up nicely in three elements: Focus, Flow and Let Go. There are schools and traditions that cultivate each of these disciplines, but they work together.   * Focus: A willful practice of arriving again and again in the here and now.   * Flow: The arising of the witness - your capacity to observe without judgment.   * Let Go: Your capacity to simply rest in awareness itself.   In our recent Spring Retreat I offered a talk called "The Key Elements of Practice". It explores these factors as well as your capacity to investigate what is present in a way that can open you to new possibilities.      

Fresh Photos

  This was month of heavy rain, clouds and a river in flood stage. This was also month of babies and new life.   Geese on the move before another front moves in.   A rare sunset with color.   Socialized childcare.   Molting Copperhead. I didn't see it until I almost touched it.   Everyone needs a little yoga.   Conn's Meadow with a rainbow.      

Happy for No Reason: A Dog and Her Fish

  An eight second meditation on tuning into to joy. Featuring K.D. (which stands for Kute Dog.)      

The Still, Small Voice Within: Meditation, Focusing and Intuition Training

  August 7-12 (Five nights) Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health   Kripalu Center is a spectacular environment for immersing in natural beauty and health and wellness as well as being surrounded by like-minded people. If you are drawn to five days in August in the Berkshire Mountains to explore the relationship between mindfulness and intuition, this is one of my favorite retreats to lead.   You'll return home not only enlivened, but with a set of skills that can dramatically help you in your journey.   Click the Pic to Learn More.      

Spacious Awareness and the Immeasurable Heart

You might enjoy this meditation I led at the IMCW Spring Retreat. This practice is intended to help you sense the infinite space of awareness as well as the immeasurable qualities of the heart.   You'll be guided through an 'open focus' meditation, sensing space inside and outside your body.   You'll then contemplate four qualities of the heart that are beyond measure: Your capacity for kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.   To listen: http://jonathanfoust.com/spacious-awareness-and-the-immeasurable-heart   Note: If you feel disoriented during this meditation, you might open your eyes or stop the meditation until you feel more grounded.    

Latest from the Blog

The Key Elements of Practice (Retreat Talk)

Mindfulness Strategies for When You are Really Really Busy

Embrace this Night

Forgive and Remember: Befriending an Enemy

Goslings

Copperhead

Transforming Through Your Transitions

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: 500,000 downloads, The Still, Small Voice Within... Fresh Photos and More

Insight Timer

Insight Timer is a great little app that can not only help you time your sits, but also provides guided experiences and helps you network with other people around the planet by joining special interest groups.   One cool feature allows you to look at a map and see how many people around the planet are signed in and meditating with you.   Insight Timer now offers guided meditations. I've just uploaded a few and will be adding more soon. insighttimer.com    

To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.

      iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Spacious Awareness and the Immeasurable Heart

Special PODCAST: You'll be guided through an 'open focus' meditation, sensing space inside and outside your body.   You'll then contemplate four qualities of the heart that are beyond measure: Your capacity for kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

The Key Elements of Practice (Retreat Talk)

Special PODCAST: This talk explores how you can naturally integrate the paradox of the 'doing' and 'surrender' practices in meditation.   You'll learn how concentration practice dramatically cultivates not only your capacity to observe all that changes without judgement, but also how you can intimately investigate challenges that arise and ultimately, how to surrender into effortless awareness.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Mindfulness Strategies for When You are Really Really Busy

Special PODCAST: This talk explores ways you can slow down in the middle of your fully engaged and wild life.   You’ll learn some tricks and tips for tuning into your body, how to use relationships as an opportunity to slow down, and suggested strategies on how to work with time and energy.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Forgive and Remember: Befriending an Enemy

Special PODCAST: This talk explores forgiveness as a spiritual practice.   You'll learn about the consequences of an unhealed heart, the 'science' of forgiveness and how you can cultivate the 'immeasurable' qualities of an awakened heart.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Transforming Through Your Transitions

Special PODCAST: This talk explores the art of navigating the changes in your life.   You’ll learn about how change happens no matter what your opinion of it may be, what can happen when you shift your attitude and what can happen when you actively embrace the transitions in your life.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: 500,000 downloads, The Still, Small Voice Within... Fresh Photos and More

To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.

Welcome!

  I am entertaining the illusion that I have a personal relationship with some Bald Eagles.   I visit with them most every morning I get out on the river, either a pair who hang together or a younger one who just this year graduated to the white plumage.   They humor me. I think.   After our pre-sunrise visit I work my way further upriver then cross over to the east so I can float by an island just as the sun is rising. This way I can drift by the shoreline saturated with morning light and recently, Canada Geese nests every 50 feet.   The river is churning with life right now: baby geese, baby mergansers, blue herons, egrets, river snakes, otters and the constant traffic of birds up and down the waterway.   Above this scene of constant movement the eagles sit and watch. As beautiful as this is, it's clear why they are there.   Breakfast! Lunch! Dinner! Snacks!   This is the flow of things... We eat and are being eaten.   I wish you well in the flow of your life.    

Upcoming Events

May 2:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

May 6:

IMCW Spring Retreat (7 days) Learn More

May 9:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Guest Teacher Learn More

May 16:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

May 18:

YLM8 Evening Session Learn More

May 21:

IMCW Meditation Mentor Training Learn More

May 23:

Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More

May 30:

NO CLASS / Memorial Day    

500,000 downloads

  My good friend Shobhan Richard Faulds once said that his personal mission was to "practice deeply and share freely." I immediately took those words to heart.   Monday night at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Arlington is the perfect expression of that phrase.   We offer the Monday night class and podcast freely so no one is ever denied access to the teachings.   We're just passing 500,000 downloads of my talks and meditations through iTunes. I'm gratified to know they have been helpful for some and I'm equally grateful for the donations and support that help me continue to offer them.   Thank you.   Some recent talks you might enjoy: I just completed a eight week series on "The Path." Here's the final installment:   The Path: Skillful Concentration
What happens when you develop your capacity to concentrate.   Last week's talk: "Beyond Sickness, Old Age and Death."
How embracing the Heavenly Messengers can dramatically transform your life. (And a few mildly offensive jokes.)    

Fresh Photos

  This was a cool month which refrigerated many of the early flowers and held back the usual Spring explosion here. Chlorophyll is starting to have it's way, finally.   The month began with early Blue Bells filling the flood plain.   Usually the Flox come in after the Bluebells depart, but with the cool weather they appeared simultaneously.   Geese begin to pair off.   Standing guard over the nest.   The long vigil.   A view upriver at first light.   Close your eyes and you'll be eaten.   Life! Pollen!      

Five Breaths: April on the River

  Here's a short video/slide show guiding you through five slow breaths and featuring some images from the river this month.      

The Still, Small Voice Within: Meditation, Focusing and Intuition Training

  August 7 -10 (Five nights) Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health   I am fascinated by the relationship between mindfulness and intuition and have offered a variation of this program for the last fifteen years or so.   Consider this retreat if you'd like to take a deep dive into developing both mindfulness and your capacity to "see clearly' as well as techniques that help you access what I consider to be the most reliable form of intuition: the 'felt sense' of your body.   Albert Einstein said, "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."   To climb out of any rut, resolve problems, or sense your path from a new perspective, you must shift your awareness. This retreat is designed to immerse you in practices that generate such a shift.   Vipassana (insight meditation) teaches you to pause and recognize what is present, allowing you to see with increasing clarity into the nature of things.   Focusing trains the mind to investigate what arises from the field of direct sensation, offering access to wisdom and compassion. Combined, these two techniques generate a unique in-depth experience of awakened heart and mind.   Through practice, talks, presentations, exercises, and discussion, you dive into self-inquiry and develop skills for the rest of your life.   Note: This retreat is intensive and may preclude other activities. Much of the retreat is held in social silence.   Click the Pic to Learn More.      

Latest from the Blog

Beyond Sickness, Old Age and Death

Just How Small is One Moment?

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And Sometimes You Leap

The Inquiry Intensive on April 30th

The Path: Skillfull Awareness

Waking

The Path: Skillful Effort

Greetings from Jonathan Foust: More on the Path, The Question That Can Change Your Life, Fresh Photos and More

Johns Hopkins study on Psilocybin and Long-Term Meditators

My good friends at Johns Hopkins are still accepting applications for this amazing study on the effect of psilocybin and long term meditators.   Please check out Roland Griffiths, the lead on this study, in this TedMed talk.   If you're interested and qualify, I highly recommend you explore this possibility. I continue to be touched and inspired by both the intellectual rigor as well as the deep compassion of this team.   To learn more and to apply for this study: Long-Term Meditator Study    

To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.

      iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

Beyond Sickness, Old Age and Death

Special PODCAST: This talk explores how accepting sickness, old age and death can dramatically transform your life.   You’ll learn about how cooperating with the Three Characteristics of Reality can allow you to embrace and live your life to the fullest. You'll also learn a few mildly offensive jokes.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

The Path: Skillful Concentration

Special PODCAST: This talk explores what can happen as you develop concentration.   You’ll learn how each element of the path is interconnected, about the balance of concentration and mindfulness, more on the states of absorption (the jhanas) and where the path actually leads.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.

The Path: Skillfull Awareness

Special PODCAST: This talk explores skillful means for being aware.   You’ll learn the core instructions that guide you how to be aware of four essential areas: the body, feeling tone, mind-states and in your moment-to-moment experience, what is true.   Subscribe to Jonathan's podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/jonathan-foust/id455422434?ign-mpt=uo%3D4  

iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.