A Lesson On Financial Integrity From A Costa Rican Cabbie
Money is at the core of so many of our choices, fears, and…breaches in integrity.
After learning some of Pascual's joys and sorrows, I felt a growing connection. I decided to broach the income topic — I asked if he'd ever found himself in a situation where he could earn money by doing something that left him feeling uneasy. A modest smile appeared on his face…
Surrender
I'm increasingly realizing that it only takes complete willingness to step into, and stay, in the void. And then just like that, once I've fully surrendered and let go of what happens next, I'm only there for a heartbeat, before I'm reborn into something, somewhere even more beautiful and magical than I could have dreamt.
Don’t Go Back To Sleep
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase each other
doesn’t make any sense.
Practical Mindfulness 🙃
An everyday tip
How To Choose A Meditation Teacher
Priorizing wellness in 2024? Here are a couple tips that may help 🙏🏻.…
Waking Up Is Scary
Waking up is scary. The ego likes being in charge. As I awaken, I increasingly realize it's not. And that's hard. So, I don't force it. I practice being with the fear, as I gaze across the abyss, into the sublime. And I thank this precious armor for keeping me safe, for protecting me from what's still too magnificent for me to fully behold.
It’s Okay If The Holidays Are Tough
It’s okay if the holidays are tough. Here's a practice I did today that may help 💙
A Quick, Simple Tip For The Holidays
Here's a quick, simple tip I've been offering to clients for navigating difficult situations over the holidays. It's one of the most valuable things I've learned over the years...if you're dreading time with a difficult family member, reframe: so many amazing opportunities to practice 🙃 anywho, hope this can be helpful for you, too!
Thanissara On Going Beyond The Walls Of Mind
In our third event, we explore the Heart Sutra, and specifically investigate dissolving the seeds of violence that arise from the creation of the “other” via separative consciousness. When we let go of this over reliance on the cognitive frame, we can find deep peace. We believe this shift allows the systemic change we so desperately need in the world, today.
Newer Client Testimonial
"I've been working with Andy for about four months and would highly recommend him to other startup founders and leaders. What I've personally appreciated most is how Andy's helped me recognize the impact of my emotional state and my feelings on the work I'm trying to do and the contributions that I'm trying to make.”
Thoughts And Feelings Are Not The Enemy
Thoughts and feelings are not the enemy. Eyes see, ears hear, skin feels, noses smell, tongues taste, and minds think. Our practice as meditators is to see and know we're seeing, to hear and know we're hearing, to feel and know we're feeling, to smell and know we're smelling, to taste and know we're tasting, and to think and know we're thinking. And to allow it all.
I Choose Love. I Choose Living.
Lost in the depths of hell amidst a recent Ayahuasca journey, I began to discover another way. I'd often heard about this so-called "choice" before, yet it never previously felt like a choice…at least that I had the tools to make.
The path I'd been traveling was dark and ominous. Beginning to feel overwhelmed, my Buddhist meditation practice kicked in — awareness shifted to the breath, and I started allowing the nightmare to play out.
Almost as soon as I made the adjustment, in the distance appeared a pinprick of light. Like a moth to a lantern, to call it a choice to pursue at that point doesn't do justice to the automatic, instinctual attraction I felt. I wasn't sure where it was leading. And I knew I wanted to, had to, move towards it.
As I navigated towards the brightness, this new path gradually began to appear. It slowly became wider and more clear, almost cutting through the increasingly narrow, slippery, dark trails that led back down into the depths of the cold, damp cave from which I was emerging. I saw those descending paths transition real-time from being the primary way to the detours.
The ego slowly came back online, and with each step forward, my trust grew in this new moment-by-moment choice I was now consciously making to follow the light.
Somewhere along the way, the curandero verbally asked me how I was doing. The only words I could muster: "I choose love. I choose living."
Courage
There's a fine curvy line for me between courage and recklessness. What’s the difference? There’s fear with both. For me, it’s in the intent. With courage, the intent feels wholesome. There’s a trust, faith…in nature, science, someone I respect, myself, silence. There’s curiosity, openess, a desire to learn. That’s the source of its power, for sure. With recklesness, the ego is in the driver’s seat. And it almost always (eventually) drops me into an abyss, often flat on my face!
Tired Of A Busy Mind?
Trying really hard to change, like to become happy or peaceful, attaches the mind to a state, like unhappiness or chaos, and ensures the latter. All you need to do is practice noticing and allowing what feels pleasant and unpleasant. Over time, the body-heart-mind will automatically release the hot handles of the frying pans...
Thanissara On Healing Ourselves And Our World
Our second event focuses on personal and collective healing to let go of internal narratives and patterns that no longer serve so we can be clearer conduits for the intelligence of nature. Empowered to respond from a place of greater freedom, unhindered by internalized conditioning that undermines the fullness of our energy, we can more fully embody our authentic energy to meet these times.
Thanissara On Building Resilience And Making A Difference
This event is offered to company leaders to strengthen resilience and orient towards making a difference by drawing from a unique synthesis of the primary branches of Buddhism and informed by Western therapeutic processes. This approach, cultivated by Thanissara and Kittisaro, provides a context for the practice of meditation and contemplative inquiry enabling a heart-centered life of service.
Your Power To Change The World
“You may think it's not your responsibility to drive (climate) change. You may not think that you have the power to make this happen. Both of those statements are wrong.” — Simon Stiell, Head of UN Climate Change
Seven Years Of Practice
Today marks 7 years of formal daily meditation practice for me. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined myself where I am today. I'm beyond grateful for each and every moment 🙏🏻.
Along the way, there have been over 100 days of retreat, a 2-year meditation teacher training, a yearlong somatic coaching training, a yoga teacher training, countless journeys 🌿, finding Ikigai thru mindful leadership coaching, living in the woods for 2 years, letting go of alcohol and caffeine, transitioning to a whole food plant based diet, sleeping more, and 4 hours every morning dedicated to peace...I estimate some 2,000 hours of practice since 2016 that have revived in me what my grandfather helped me begin cultivating at an early age, thru gazing at the water.
My practice is now, in addition to plenty of things on the inside, bringing this constantly changing new me and what I have learned into community and the world.
Deep gratitude to all of the practitioners who have kept Buddhist meditation alive and shared it for millinea 🙇🏼. And to all of you who have supported me along the way 💙.
"Peace in myself, peace in the world." — Thay
Acceptance
“I cannot thank Andy enough for his impact on my company. About two years ago, Andy introduced the concept of Acceptance. Not only did Acceptance become one of our core values, it has changed how we communicate and treat each other on a daily basis.”
— Seth G., Software Company CEO
Listen To Your Partner
One of my clients just sent me this text exchange he was having with his wife after our meeting today 🤣
Can you relate!?