Events
Deep Resilience – Second Offering Under Way
7-Step Deep Resilience Program, with Michael Kearney
This new series started Thursday, May 1 and is continuing on May 8, 15, 20, 22, and June 6 and 7.
9 am Pacific time, online only
Each session will be 55 minutes long
Michael is offering this second section of his popular Deep Resilience Program on request at a time that is convenient for “morning people” in the U.S. and our friends in other countries. Please use the Zoom link for Daily Meditations/Weekly Meetings on our website to join. To learn more about this course, visit the Deep Resilience landing page on the MHP website. The program includes lectures, sit-spot check-ins, and guided meditation practices to help enhance deep connections with nature and support self-care 2.0. The first cohort is continuing to meet online at 7 pm on Wednesdays.
There is no charge for the program. Donations are gratefully accepted.
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Join Us on June 14 at La Casa de Maria
Deep Resilience: When Self-Care is Not Enough
Half-day retreat, with Radhule Weininger and Michael Kearney
Saturday, June 14, 2-5 p.m. – Note new time to accommodate those who plan to attend a national day of action rally in the morning.
La Casa de Maria Retreat Center, 800 El Bosque Road, Montecito, or online via the Special Events/Retreats Zoom link on our website.
This half-day meditation retreat will feature highlights from the Mindful Heart 7-Step Deep Resilience Program, including guidance on how to grow deep roots in what is not afraid and what does not die. Deep resilience means realizing that we are an indispensable part of the web of life, which brings us a sense of depth and meaning and fosters sustainable, compassionate action.
Directions: Take East Valley Road to El Bosque to access the property. Follow signs to the main house. A coffee/tea break will be served. The retreat is free. The suggested donation is $30.
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Sustainable Compassion Practice on June 28 at Middle School
Sustainable Compassion Half-Day Retreat, with Radhule Weininger
Saturday, June 28, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Santa Barbara Middle School, Lotus Theater, 1321 Alameda Padre Serra, Santa Barbara, or online via our Special Events/Retreats Zoom link.
Compassion can be sustainable when we open our hearts to ourselves, others, and our beautiful and troubled world. During this half-day retreat, Radhule will lead meditations and discussions to help you prevent and manage compassion failure.
Directions: Follow signs to the lower parking lot at the Middle School and take the stairs to the upper floor. There are some handicapped-marked spaces that can be accessed at the meeting room level. Coffee/tea and pastries will be served. Attendance is free. The suggested donation for this retreat is $30. Everyone is welcome. This is a great opportunity to learn about heart-opening practices.
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David Richo Special Guest at Yoga Soup on June 9
David Richo, Ph.D., M.F.T., will be a special guest at Yoga Soup on Monday, June 9. David is a psychotherapist, teacher, workshop leader, and prolific author. He will talk about ways we can sustain balance and achieve deep inner security in these uncertain times.
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Tuesday Evening Relational Mindfulness in I.V.
Relational Mindfulness Guided Meditation and Exercises, with Alejandra (Alex) Tashma and Shannon Jaffe
Every Tuesday, 7-8 p.m.
St. Michael’s University Church, 6586 Picasso Rd, Isla Vista, near the UCSB campus
In person only. There is off-street parking in two adjacent lots.
Relational mindfulness brings the precepts of mindful meditation – compassion, attention, joy for others, non-judgment, and loving kindness – to the context of relationships. Relational mindfulness is a secular practice that draws on the emphasis Thich Nhat Hanh placed on interconnectedness of all beings. Each session includes a brief talk, meditation, and relational mindfulness exercises. This event is free. Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted.
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Full Moon Meditation and Sound Bath, with Peter Moreno
Thursday, June 12, 7-8 p.m.
The full-moon meditation with a crystal bowl and bells sound bath will be held at East Beach in Santa Barbara near the volleyball courts, across the street from the condo complex on Cabrillo Boulevard. There is street parking. Look for three blinking red lights to find your way. Bring a beach chair and blanket. This is a special treat. We hope to see many of you there now that it’s summer and the evenings are warmer.
The suggested donation for this event is $10. It will not be available via Zoom.
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Remembering Who We Really Are at the Sedgwick Reserve
Our May 24 retreat at the Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley was sold out. The program included lectures, meditation, breakout groups, outdoor exploration with a sit-spot practice, and a “fishbowl” role-playing exercise. This was our first event at the reserve; we are thrilled with the results. We are especially grateful for the support we received from Miranda Field, Nikki Evans and others on the Sedgwick Reserve staff, and Rudy Ruderman with the Center for Psychotherapy & Integrative Health.
We’re looking forward to holding a multiple-day retreat there from Friday afternoon, Oct. 10, to Sunday afternoon, Oct. 12. We are working on the curriculum now and will be providing details about registration fees, continuing education units, and overnight accommodation options as soon as they are available. Please send an email message to mindfulheartprograms@gmail.com if you want to be notified when we open registration. We expect this to be another sold-out event.
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Coming in the Fall
NEW: Introduction to Meditation Series
We will be starting a series of introductory classes for people who are new to meditation or who want to polish their practice in the fall. The series will focus on four areas in which Mindful Heart Programs offers a fresh, accessible approach: Mindfulness, including Field of Care and concentration practices; Awake-Awareness, Sustainable Compassion, and Nature Connection. The series was originally scheduled to start in August, but we decided to wait until summer is over to accommodate school and vacation schedules.
NEW: Monthly Deep Resilience Check In
Mark your calendar. Michael Kearney plans to hold a monthly check-in session for those who are engaged in deep resilience practices on the first Wednesday of each month, starting in October. Watch the newsletter for more information later this summer.
Newsletters
Heart Medicine in Difficult Times
In this online year-long drop-in series, Radhule will teach you psychological and spiritual skills that will guide you to address the root causes behind painful patterns and show how to address them with comprehensive practices. Working with painful patterns is especially necessary in these times, as many of our old painful patterns are getting triggered by current difficult circumstances in our world. Uncertainty and trauma bring up our own woundedness and fear. In order to be engaged in our world, we need to heal our painful patterns and connect to the wholeness that is already there.
Register with InsightLA
Awake Aware: Touching the Sky behind the clouds and bringing it back to Earth
New Series with Radhule Weininger, MD, PHD.
This Monday (over zoom), we will continue an exciting new series on awake awareness meditations and the pointing-out instructions. We are repeating this series on Monday nights at 7.15 pm (Yoga Soup, Studio 2, as well as zoom).
Location: Yoga Soup, 28 Parker Way, Santa Barbara
Heart Aware: Mindful Body Breath and Awake Awareness Meditation Group
Time: Thursdays at 6:30pm (beginning December 1st, 2022)
Location: Saint Michael’s University Church, 6586 Picasso Rd, Isla Vista, CA
We will meet in person to practice meditation and self-compassion. Join us to cultivate a regular mindfulness practice and experience a sense of community and belonging on a weekly basis.
Heart Medicine in Difficult Times
with Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD
Sunday, August 28, 12:30-2pm
Last Sunday every month in 2022
In this online year-long drop-in series, Radhule will teach you psychological and spiritual skills that will guide you to address the root causes behind painful patterns and show how to address them with comprehensive practices. Working with painful patterns is especially necessary in these times, as many of our old painful patterns are getting triggered by current difficult circumstances in our world. Uncertainty and trauma bring up our own woundedness and fear. In order to be engaged in our world, we need to heal our painful patterns and connect to the wholeness that is already there.
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC): 8 Week Course
With Hattie Bluestone, DPT and Anahita Navab Holden, PhD
Sundays: August 7th-October 2nd
(with the exception of Sunday 8/28)
10 AM-12 PM
La Mesa Park
Price: $400
For registration, please visit www.yogasoup.com
In difficult moments, what would it be like to offer yourself the same kindness, care, and support that you would naturally extend to a friend? Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an empirically supported, 8-week program that teaches core principles and practices to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. MSC was developed by Kristin Neff, PhD, and Christopher Germer, PhD, leader in the integration of mindfulness and psychotherapy. The program includes guided meditations, short talks, experiential exercises, group discussion, and take-home practices to integrate self-compassion into daily life. For more information please contact: info@anahitaholdenphd.com.
Deepening the Experience of the Sacred: Mindfully Embracing our World
During the morning of this day-long seminar, Radhule will teach you to deepen the practice of Ordinary and Non-dual Mindfulness, Introducing pointing out instructions, so you can learn to rest in awake awareness. Radhule will also introduce Self-compassion and Compassion-for-others (Tong Len) practices, which will include the care for ourselves and our world.
From 2 to 4 pm, Dave Richo will join us again, so we can together integrate our experience of the Sacred. We will also discuss how Kindness and Compassion can help us hold our personal suffering and how we can live with meaning and purpose in our troubled and breathtakingly beautiful world.
Maintaining our Balance in a Shaky World: Psychological and Spiritual Practices that Foster Inner Peace
In our present world of surprises, we may find it difficult to find a footing of safety and security in ourselves or in society. Violence and disease seem to be the new normal.
In an age of anxiety like this one it is perfectly understandable that we fear the future and perhaps lose trust in the political, psychological, and spiritual sources that were reliable before. Likewise, we may lose our trust in our own inner resources.
In this topsy-turvy world we still have one another. That is our source of hope. Our only challenge is to trust it when all the evidence has become shaky. We can learn to do that, always as beginners and always as enthusiasts.
In this workshop we will have time and space to explore what we fear or trust. We will experience practices of ordinary and non-dual mindfulness that take us to deep awareness.