Introduction to Cross-Cultural Mindfulness

Program Overview

"Nature governs Nature. Nature fosters interdependence. Interdependence actively fosters interdependence and connection. Nothing survives in nature if it is fiercely independent or excessively dependent." - Angeles Arrien

We are facing a time in humanity of great division and despair as we witness the unfolding of a dying ecosystem. We are experiencing the challenges of a world in crisis, pandemic, racial inequality, economic disparity, displacement, and climate devastation. We need a framework for building up ourselves and each other - together.

“Indigenous and Eastern cultures have long recognized that the only constant is change, and the principle of interdependence is essential for survival.”

This introduction to cross-cultural mindfulness is a framework that brings together universal principles that are common across many cultures to integrate us with our primordial selves.

"Primordial comes from the Latin words primus, meaning 'first' and ordiri, 'to begin.' So it is easy to see that this adjective means 'first of all, original.' When something is primordial, it has existed since the earliest time, like the primordial mud some scientists believe was the source of all life on Earth." 

This course centers on the foundations of mindfulness that are grounded on the breath, body, heart and mind.  We will cultivate stillness, deep listening, and the ability to pay attention to present moment experience with a quality of mind that is alert, open, aware, and fully alive. We will introduce you to a universal framework that cultures from all four corners of the world understand to be fundamentally necessary to connecting with our direct experience of the ever changing flow of life itself. We will share Earth-Based Practices to experience the truth that can be revealed through our being in relationship with Nature. We will practice ways of tracking what is present for us, the visible and invisible. We will learn how to witness the mirroring of our internal and external realities through integrating a self-assessment tool to explore how we are surviving and thriving.      

Every time we practice mindfulness meditation, we are actively engaging with life itself internally and externally. Our internal landscape is a full living ecosystem no different from Earth, deeply connected to one another with no separation of other living beings, seen and unseen. Hence, this is why we honor the form and the formless as we acknowledge those who have come before us and after us. Our ancestors are living through us and the acknowledgement of our cultural roots is vital for a deeper understanding of our freedom beyond this body, this culture, this identity and this world. We open ourselves to this precious life shared with so many and embody the knowing that we are not separate from any of it.