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Finding Wholeness & Healing Within Heartbreak
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.
Cultivating Courageous Wholeness
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.
Apprenticing to the Wild
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.
Inner Work Drives Outer Transformation
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.
The Myth of “I Can’t Meditate”
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.
A Conversation with Author Ethan Nichtern
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.
Joanna Macy (1929–2025): A Life of Sacred Activism, Deep Belonging, and Wild Love for the World
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.
The Gift of Centering Prayer
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.
This is What Liberation Feels Like
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.
WE MUST HAVE COURAGE
How do we connect to our inner – and collective – strength during these challenging times?
Deep Connection and Collective Renewal with Restore NYC
In May, I co-led a retreat that was part of a larger initiative through the Garrison Institute’s Contemplative-Based Resilience (CBR) program to support the staff of Restore NYC. This extraordinary organization stewards powerful, trauma-informed work serving survivors of trafficking and exploitation. I am still deeply moved by my time with the Restore team – filled with lasting inspiration, profound gratitude for their vital work. . .
Crossing the Commons: From Inner Change to Systemic Change
By David Bollier “Be the change you want to...