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Five tools for transforming our relationship to pain—physical, emotional, and everything between.
What is spiritual practice for in times like these? On parenting, grief, and learning to speak in service of life.
A poem for these strange, tender, difficult days—and an invitation to keep tending the heart.
When the ground shifts, where do we turn—and how do we respond without losing our humanity?
Join me in a steady practice community and a new series on living the Buddhist path in everyday life.
A year-end reflection and meditation on forgiveness to soften the heart, give grace, and begin again.
Video: Finding our Ground in a Divided World, Keynote Address at Washington University of St. Louis
How do we keep our hearts open and balanced when so much is out of our hands? A reflection on equanimity and the small acts that help us stay grounded and connected.
Joanna Macy leaves behind a profound legacy and a living invitation to each of us: to take our place in the healing and transformation of our world.
Joanna Macy on the power of meditation, the communal roots of the Buddha’s path, and the need for collective action in a time of global crisis.
What does it mean to be patient when the world is on fire? We need patience now more than ever—not to wait, but to endure and act wisely.
Reflection on the quiet power of care—how support, safety, and strength can take many forms, and how the capacity to protect and guide lives within us all.
What we say—and how we listen—matters more than ever. Even amidst conflict or collapse, the way we speak can be a refuge, a bridge, a seed of something new.
How do we stay grounded and engaged in a world unraveling? A powerful conversation with nonviolence trainer Kazu Haga on healing, activism, and the practice of Fierce Vulnerability.
The true depth of mindfulness is not mere stress relief, but a tool for liberation, wisdom, and engagement with the world.
In uncertain times, love becomes our greatest refuge and source of strength. Love is something we return to inwardly, again and again.
This reflection practice on beginning the new year offers a potent way to step back, nourish wisdom, and recommit to our values.
Today marks one year since the Hamas attacks in Israel, and nearly that long since Israel’s retaliation in Gaza and the West Bank began—a year of loss, unimaginable grief, spiraling violence, and a growing humanitarian crisis.
Orienting towards the good in life is a skill. Practicing it taps into a wellspring of healing, vitality, and strength.
How do we find steadiness and clarity in the midst of chaos and upheaval? The answer may be closer than you think.
Practical strategies for navigating holiday conversations with clarity, skill, and love.
Gratitude and grief may seem to be in tension with one another, but gratitude and loss are inseparable. Awareness of what is present calls forth what is absent. Grief embodies our humanity …
The attacks by Hamas on October 7th and the current war in the Middle East have stirred intense emotions: pain, fear, anger, grief, and despair. “Even the peace makers right now are in a state of shock and trauma.” How do we care for ourselves and one another in such times?
Today my heart is breaking, out of universal values for peace, dignity, and respect, my commitment to nonviolence, the particular pain of my people, and of all those affected by these recent events.
Our son is now two months old. As I reflect, the learnings seems to fall into three main areas: shifts in myself, in relation to my wife, and through my relationship to our son
Personal Reflections
Today marks one year since the Hamas attacks in Israel, and nearly that long since Israel’s retaliation in Gaza and the West Bank began—a year of loss, unimaginable grief, spiraling violence, and a growing humanitarian crisis.
Orienting towards the good in life is a skill. Practicing it taps into a wellspring of healing, vitality, and strength.
Our son is now two months old. As I reflect, the learnings seems to fall into three main areas: shifts in myself, in relation to my wife, and through my relationship to our son
Systemic racism and white supremacy are in you, in me, and in all of us. Here are some reflections on putting our meditation practice into action where it counts.
Reflections on the choice to give up training as a novice Buddhist renunciate and return to lay life.
A series of reflections on my time ordained as an Anagarika and the role of renunciation in Buddhist practice.
Archived Posts
A primary challenge today for those interested in mindfulness is finding the time to practice. This can be especially true for educators.
Difficult conversations are a part of life. Mindful communication gives us the tools, strength, and confidence to navigate tough situations when they arise.
These four principles build our primary relationship with students, strengthen healthy classroom culture, and support learning-readiness.
If you’ve ever had a daily meditation practice, and ever stopped, chance are one of these things may be at play…
Pain is a universal, human experience. This post shares a flexible set of tools to find inner balance and transform our relationship to pain.
A three-step process for gaining momentum in meditation to receive the benefits of a steady, daily practice.
Top tips on getting to sleep more easily, with some new meditations in the 10% Happier App.
Mindfulness practice is a radical investigation of being human. As mindfulness practitioners, we can seek to transform the internal systems that fuel suffering.
An exploration of the connection between gun violence, gender, and societal norms of masculinity.
There is a wholesome value at the core of Valentine’s Day. But it’s a value that needs to be reclaimed. The reduction of love to a romantic feeling compounds the sense of disempowerment and spiritual impoverishment that is endemic in modern society.
The start of the calendar year offers the opportunity to begin anew and reorient our lives in line with our deeper intentions. It’s also a good time to return to the basics of mindfulness practice and lay a solid foundation.
As the year draws to a close, it's a natural time to reflect back and look forward. Try this guided reflection to develop wisdom and start the year in the right direction.
One of the most pervasive challenges we face today as a species is overcoming the feeling of helplessness. It’s a learned sensation, which means it can be unlearned.
Gratitude reveals the treasure of an all too often forgotten word: enough. Gratitude practice runs counter to our culture of consumption, competition, and achievement.
For those working with youth, reflections and a guided meditation on using mindfulness to start the school year off with clarity, purpose, and care.
To do any kind of real work requires both external and internal resources. We need resilience to face pain, strength to persevere through challenge. There’s nothing quite like joy to bring resilience and strength to the heart.
As great forces of change, divergent views, and protests sweep across the country, I share reflections how mindfulness practice can help us to meet and respond to current events.
As we rise up to meet the challenges of our times, our ability to care for and nourish ourselves has never been more important. At its core, mindfulness can be understood as a practice of deep, whole-hearted listening.
Many across the nation and beyond have been deeply affected by our most recent election here in the U.S. What can mindfulness teach us about responding?
The path of practice is about much more than meditation. It’s about the possibility each of us has to bring forth goodness into the world with this human heart and mind; it is a cultivation of the heart.
Developing a natural ease in mindfulness practice helps us shift from viewing it as a special, separate activity to a foundation for the rest of our lives.
How can we protect mindfulness from becoming subsumed by the culture of doing, and use it to counter the effects of "high volume doing?"
Mourning the tragic loss of life in the killings of the last week in the U.S., how do we practice with painful emotions in relation these events?
In order for mindfulness to take root in our lives and to receive its full range of benefits, it needs to be infused with heartfulness
One key to strengthen mindfulness that's often overlooked is how to create a positive feedback loop in our practice
How do we truly make our life and our spiritual practice one? Reflections on cultivating inner freedom and meeting the world.
Presence is an integral foundation for our lives, our relationships and communication. Learn more about why...
How meditation teaches us to relate skillfully to the world and our lives by slowing down, stepping back, and learning to put things down.
Original Poetry
A poem for these strange, tender, difficult days—and an invitation to keep tending the heart.
Reflection on the quiet power of care—how support, safety, and strength can take many forms, and how the capacity to protect and guide lives within us all.
Join me in reflecting on the preciousness of human life, the delusion of separation, and our common humanity. Through meditation and contemplation we can access greater wisdom, love and compassion.
Water is a powerful metaphor for the mind and the practice of the Dharma. Taoists liken the water to the Way (Tao), because of its innate properties.
It can be easier to be kind to others than to yourself, isn't it? How can you develop more kindness and warmth to yourself? I wrote this poem during a difficult time in my life, when I realized how cruel I was to myself. Learning to love myself more just as I am has been tremendously freeing. I hope you find this poem helpful in your own life and meditation practice. Written at the Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA.
Trust, faith, aspiration and confidence are essential ingredients in the Dharma, the path to awakening taught by the Buddha. Written at the Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA.
Nature is an endless teacher of the Dharma, revealing the beauty of life and the essential truths of humanity. Written at the Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA.
True friendship is a key component of the spiritual path and essential support for resilience, wellbeing, and wisdom in life. The Buddha spoke of the importance of having wise companions on the path. This poem reflects on the value of friendship and trust in meditation, Dharma practice, and spiritual maturity. Written at the Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA.
Poetry reflections on backpacking in the Sierra, contemplation, reflection, and stilling the mind through meditation. Written in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, CA.
Join me and Roxy Manning for four days of practice in Nonviolent Communication, grounding, and community.