Events
July 7: Mindful Anger and Compassionate Presence
A talk on Mindful Anger, Compassionate Presence meditation practice, and sound bath, with David Richo, Radhule Weininger, and Anahita Holden
Monday, July 7, 7-8:15 p.m.
Yoga Soup, 28 Parker Way, Santa Barbara, or online via our daily meditations and weekly meetings Zoom link.
Registration with Yoga Soup is not required. There is no charge. We gratefully accept donations to help cover our room rental fee.
Special guest David Richo, noted author and teacher, will discuss mindful anger in the context of these times, when many of us feel unsettled, easily frustrated, and even outraged. He will discuss how to handle these types of feelings in a skillful, healthy, and constructive way. Radhule Weininger will lead a compassionate presence to feelings meditation, and Anahita Holden will offer a calming sound bath. This session is part of our weekly class series at Yoga Soup.
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July 10: Full Moon Meditation at East Beach
Full Moon Meditation and Sound Bath, with Peter Moreno
Thursday, July 10, 8-9 p.m.
East Beach, Santa Barbara
The full-moon meditation with a crystal bowl and bells sound bath will be held on East Beach near the volleyball courts, across the street from the condo complex on Cabrillo Boulevard. There is street parking. Look for three blinking red lights to find your way. Bring a beach chair and blanket. The suggested donation for this event is $10. It will not be available via Zoom. If you plan to attend, please notify Peter at 805-453-1813 by July 9.
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July 12: Full-day Retreat with Meditation Practice and Empathy Circles
Empathy From the Inside out: A Day of Mindfulness, Compassion, and Empathy Circles, with Radhule Weininger and Santa Barbara Empathy Circles trained facilitators
Saturday, July 12, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.
Santa Barbara Middle School, Lotus Theater, 1321 Alameda Padre Serra, Santa Barbara.
The morning session will be available online via our Special Events/Retreats Zoom link. The afternoon session will not be available via Zoom.
Mindful Heart Programs is partnering with Santa Barbara Empathy Circles to offer this full-day retreat. The first half of the day will be devoted to meditation. Non-dual mindfulness will allow us to reach into the deepest ground, where wisdom and compassion are always present. Sustainable compassion practice will be used as a guide to help us hold ourselves, others, and our world with utmost care. After lunch we will break into small circles and practice empathic listening. Each participant will have multiple opportunities to be seen and heard while speaking about whatever is on their mind. A listener will reflect the essence of what is spoken – without judgment, advice, pity, agreement or disagreement.
Schedule:
9:30 am.-Noon: Discussion and meditation practice led by Radhule. There will be a morning refreshment break.
Noon-1 p.m.: Bring your own lunch. A refrigerator and microwave are available.
1-2 p.m.: First circles (SBEC)
2-3 p.m.: Second circles (SBEC)
3-3:30 p.m.: Circle debrief (SBEC) following a short refreshment break
3:30-4 p.m.: Closing meditation (Radhule)
Directions: Follow signs to the lower parking lot at the Middle School and take the stairs to the upper floor. There are some handicapped-marked spaces that can be accessed at the meeting room level. Attendance is free. The suggested donation for this retreat is $60. Please be prepared to spend some time outdoors. Everyone is welcome. Questions? Please contact us at mindfulheartprograms@gmail.com.
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July 26: Half-Day Retreat on Mindful Relationships
Mindful Relationships, with Radhule Weininger and David Richo
Saturday, July 26, 2-5 p.m.
La Casa de Maria Retreat Center, 800 El Bosque Road, Montecito, or online via the Special Events/Retreats Zoom link on our website. Advance registration is required by our hosts at La Casa de Maria. Please use this link to register.
It can be challenging to stay clear-minded and open-hearted when the world is out of balance around us. Radhule and David will offer suggestions on ways to stay mindful and compassionate in our personal relationships as an alternative to judging others who don't fit our expectations. The day will include talks, discussion, and meditation practice.
Directions: Take East Valley Road to El Bosque to access the property. Follow signs to the main house. A coffee/tea break will be served. The retreat is free. A $30 donation to MHP is suggested.
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Update on the Sedgwick Reserve Fall Retreat
Mindful Heart Programs will host a three-day, two-night retreat at the Sedgwick Reserve in the Santa Ynez Valley from Friday afternoon, Oct. 10, to Sunday afternoon, Oct. 12. The retreat will expand on the theme of the one-day retreat that we held at the Reserve in May on Remembering Who We Really Are. There will be opportunities for indoor guided meditation, outdoor silent practice, journaling, break-out discussion groups, and nature connection activities. Fees, accommodation options, curriculum, CEUs, and other details will be available soon. There are a limited number of shared-room options; single occupancy will not be available. There is space for camping at no additional charge. The commute time from Santa Barbara is about one hour. If you want to be notified when we open registration, please send a note to mindfulheartprograms@gmail.com with your preferred email address.
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NEW: Introduction to Meditation Series
In the fall we will be starting a series of introductory classes for people who are new to meditation or who want to polish their practice. The series will focus on four areas in which Mindful Heart Programs offers a fresh, accessible approach: Mindfulness, including Field of Care and concentration practices; Awake-Awareness; Sustainable Compassion; and Nature Connection.
Newsletters
Heart Medicine in Difficult Times
In this online year-long drop-in series, Radhule will teach you psychological and spiritual skills that will guide you to address the root causes behind painful patterns and show how to address them with comprehensive practices. Working with painful patterns is especially necessary in these times, as many of our old painful patterns are getting triggered by current difficult circumstances in our world. Uncertainty and trauma bring up our own woundedness and fear. In order to be engaged in our world, we need to heal our painful patterns and connect to the wholeness that is already there.
Register with InsightLA
Awake Aware: Touching the Sky behind the clouds and bringing it back to Earth
New Series with Radhule Weininger, MD, PHD.
This Monday (over zoom), we will continue an exciting new series on awake awareness meditations and the pointing-out instructions. We are repeating this series on Monday nights at 7.15 pm (Yoga Soup, Studio 2, as well as zoom).
Location: Yoga Soup, 28 Parker Way, Santa Barbara
Heart Aware: Mindful Body Breath and Awake Awareness Meditation Group
Time: Thursdays at 6:30pm (beginning December 1st, 2022)
Location: Saint Michael’s University Church, 6586 Picasso Rd, Isla Vista, CA
We will meet in person to practice meditation and self-compassion. Join us to cultivate a regular mindfulness practice and experience a sense of community and belonging on a weekly basis.
Heart Medicine in Difficult Times
with Radhule Weininger, MD, PhD
Sunday, August 28, 12:30-2pm
Last Sunday every month in 2022
In this online year-long drop-in series, Radhule will teach you psychological and spiritual skills that will guide you to address the root causes behind painful patterns and show how to address them with comprehensive practices. Working with painful patterns is especially necessary in these times, as many of our old painful patterns are getting triggered by current difficult circumstances in our world. Uncertainty and trauma bring up our own woundedness and fear. In order to be engaged in our world, we need to heal our painful patterns and connect to the wholeness that is already there.
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC): 8 Week Course
With Hattie Bluestone, DPT and Anahita Navab Holden, PhD
Sundays: August 7th-October 2nd
(with the exception of Sunday 8/28)
10 AM-12 PM
La Mesa Park
Price: $400
For registration, please visit www.yogasoup.com
In difficult moments, what would it be like to offer yourself the same kindness, care, and support that you would naturally extend to a friend? Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an empirically supported, 8-week program that teaches core principles and practices to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. MSC was developed by Kristin Neff, PhD, and Christopher Germer, PhD, leader in the integration of mindfulness and psychotherapy. The program includes guided meditations, short talks, experiential exercises, group discussion, and take-home practices to integrate self-compassion into daily life. For more information please contact: info@anahitaholdenphd.com.
Deepening the Experience of the Sacred: Mindfully Embracing our World
During the morning of this day-long seminar, Radhule will teach you to deepen the practice of Ordinary and Non-dual Mindfulness, Introducing pointing out instructions, so you can learn to rest in awake awareness. Radhule will also introduce Self-compassion and Compassion-for-others (Tong Len) practices, which will include the care for ourselves and our world.
From 2 to 4 pm, Dave Richo will join us again, so we can together integrate our experience of the Sacred. We will also discuss how Kindness and Compassion can help us hold our personal suffering and how we can live with meaning and purpose in our troubled and breathtakingly beautiful world.
Maintaining our Balance in a Shaky World: Psychological and Spiritual Practices that Foster Inner Peace
In our present world of surprises, we may find it difficult to find a footing of safety and security in ourselves or in society. Violence and disease seem to be the new normal.
In an age of anxiety like this one it is perfectly understandable that we fear the future and perhaps lose trust in the political, psychological, and spiritual sources that were reliable before. Likewise, we may lose our trust in our own inner resources.
In this topsy-turvy world we still have one another. That is our source of hope. Our only challenge is to trust it when all the evidence has become shaky. We can learn to do that, always as beginners and always as enthusiasts.
In this workshop we will have time and space to explore what we fear or trust. We will experience practices of ordinary and non-dual mindfulness that take us to deep awareness.