This talk explores how we can use our mindfulness and meditation practice to help loosen some of the armoring of self blame that we've created around our hearts, recognize the innate goodness, presence, and joy that lies underneath, and free ourselves from painful old judgements and labels of failure.

Life itself is about constant beginnings – renewing ourselves again and again and again. Life is actually a never-ending flow of new – each moment is new, each breath is new, each thought is new. In fact, we ourselves are constantly re-newing and changing. With this in mind, the truth, as Sharon Salzberg suggests, is that really, “nothing has been ruined, and there is no such thing as failing.”

During this talk Shell explores how we can let ourselves off the hook for all the ways we believe we’ve somehow failed, reminding ourselves that every single moment is an opportunity to start over, that nothing has been lost, that our lives can and do and are in fact always changing.

*Shell gave this talk as a guest teacher for Jonathan Foust's weekly Monday night class in Arlington, VA, regularly attended by about 150-200 people. 

Without a strong commitment to courageously face the truth within ourselves and our own hearts, our practice will ultimately not lead us to the freedom from suffering we desire. If we are serious about discovering for ourselves what leads to happiness and freedom from suffering … we need to strive to be impeccably honest with ourselves – which by the way is often incredibly difficult.

During this talk, Shell gently explores ways in which we can begin to take a more courageous look inside our own hearts through mindfulness meditation practice to discover what is true, and start loosening the grip of suffering that has been holding us hostage.