The below is an edited excerpt from Brach’s Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha. A traditional folk tale tells the story of a man who becomes so frightened by his own shadow that he tries to run away from it. He believes that if only he could leave it behind, he would then be happy.…
We’re often told that mindfulness will benefit us by reducing stress and increasing focus and productivity, among other things. But what if our desire to obtain these benefits gets in the way of our discovering the deeper and more radical possibilities that the practice might reveal? In a new book, What’s Wrong With Mindfulness (And What Isn’t), Robert Rosenbaum and Barry…
What is the mind? Where is the mind? What is the connection between your mind and your body? What’s the relationship between my mind and your mind? Why don’t we have a shared definition of mind? In this talk, Dr. Dan Siegel explores these questions in light of his new book, Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human.…
In September, the cast and crew of Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch’s Accuser, a made-for-TV-and-online opera, shot two episodes at the Garrison Institute. The setting both inside and outside the Garrison Institute was perfect for these chapters of the Vireo story, which is about the nature and uses of female hysteria through time, as witch-hunters, early psychiatrists, and modern artists variously…
These are deeply upsetting times for everyone concerned about our planet, its climate, and the life on it. As the initial shock of the election passes, and a more sober reality emerges, it’s time to pause, breath, and find a still center from which to plan and act as we consider next steps. This is where spiritual practices can be…
As part of our “Garrison Talks at the JCC” event series, Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, Sensei Robert Chodo Campbell, Rabbi David Ingber, and Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie had an intimate conversation about their experiences giving end-of-life care and the many lessons it has taught them. The evening centered around the new book, Awake at the Bedside: Contemplative Teachings on Palliative and End-of-Life…
Hope Martin and David Rome are co-leading an upcoming retreat at the Garrison institute entitled “Embodied Listening: Uncovering Our Bodies’ Natural Wisdom,” on December 2 – 4. No matter how we feel about it, we’ve all gone through a lot this election and continue to as we watch the aftermath. It might be hard to know how to handle our feelings, or what…
Welcome to episode nine of the Climate, Mind and Behavior Podcast. Each episode, we’ll explore groundbreaking intersections between climate change, resilience, contemplative practice, and human behavior. Kristin Barker is the director and co-founder of One Earth Sangha. The group’s mission is to bring the essential wisdom and practices from the Buddhist tradition to collective engagement on critical ecological crises. A native…