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This simple gathering was more than coincidence; it was a rare serendipity and a living expression of what we had been co-creating: a community of practice that bridges continents, traditions, and changemakers in service of inner and outer transformation.
Heartbreak finds us all, there is no escaping it. No matter how righteously we try to live, wounding can show up in forms we recognize and forms we don't. We inherit the pain of human relationships and other unintegrated trauma channeled through the violence of world systems, generational trauma, family breakups, fractured friendships, and the tender emotional imprints left in us from intimate partnerships.
What does it mean to lead with wholeness in a time of deep division? This conversation moved from personal practice to organizational culture and to the wider civic sphere, making a simple but timely case: inner work is public work.
Kurt Hoelting and Stephen Posner explored what it means to apprentice to the wild—a lifelong practice of cultivating presence, resilience, and belonging in relation to both inner and outer wildness.
The Garrison Institute’s Spirituality & Social Change Program seeks to make visible, learn from, and catalyze a generative field at the intersection of contemplative practice, spirituality, and social change.
If there’s a tug of curiosity or the sense of spiritual longing, the assumption that “I can’t do” something is an obstacle of our own making that is worth investigating.
On July 9, we had the pleasure of hosting a Garrison Institute webinar with author and teacher Ethan Nichtern. If you’re familiar with Ethan’s teaching from The Road Home podcast or perhaps his essays on Substack, you can appreciate him for his clear, contemporary voice on spirituality.
With deep gratitude and sorrow, we honor the life and legacy of Joanna Macy, PhD—environmental activist, scholar, teacher, and beloved friend—who passed away peacefully on July 19, 2025.
Feeling the weight of global and personal unrest, writer Mary DeTurris Poust came to the Garrison Institute for our 2025 retreat honoring the work of Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk, leader of contemplative inter-spiritual dialogue, and founder of the Centering Prayer movement.
I sat in the meditation hall, bringing awareness to my in and out breath as the sunlight streamed in from the stained glass windows.
As the bell sounded and we began to walk around the meditation hall together in silence, I looked at the beautiful sangha that surrounded me and was overwhelmed by the amount of warmth, support — and most importantly, safety.
How do we connect to our inner – and collective – strength during these challenging times?
As we honor this year’s Earth Day celebration, we find ourselves reflecting on human relationships with nature and the complex ecologies that have supported life on Earth for millions of years. As a species, it’s clear we face a quandary rooted in mindsets that separate people and nature. However, cultivating gratitude, community resilience, and deep relationship with the land offers a hopeful path for a more harmonious future.