This new talk is based on the phrase, “This Is A Moment,” which through practice can help us to detach from our busy, discursive, and negative thoughts, and bring us back home to the more open, calm, awake space of the present moment - just as it is - with great kindness, compassion, and care. It includes a 10-minute meditation at the end.

So often, we tend to believe that whenever we’re experiencing sadness, there must be something “wrong,” or that it “shouldn’t” be happening. But when we can use our practice to courageously and compassionately allow ourselves to not only feel our sadness, but listen to what it has to say, we can uncover a profound sense of peace, connection, and freedom. In this new talk, Shell explores how we can open up to the whole flow of our emotions, without making any of it – including ourselves – wrong.

Especially in times of difficulty, the practice of gratitude (or katavedita, in Pali) is one of the most profound skills we can use to help us discover some sort of balance in our lives, some ground beneath our feet, a sense of safety when everything else around us seems to be coming undone. In this new talk, Shell explores this essential element of our practice, and how we can use it to not only make a deep shift in our consciousness, but open our awareness to the preciousness of each moment of our lives. (It includes a 10-minute gratitude practice to end.)

As the teachings show us, in order for us to respond to suffering – our own, and that of others – it is essential that we very consciously give ourselves permission to pause, to temporarily take some sacred time to shore up our own capacity for wisdom and compassion, so that we don’t allow what’s happening to harden our hearts. This pause is often called “sacred,” because when we allow ourselves to enter it, we become better able to not only see what is true, but what is needed.

Often, during difficult times, what’s most needed to help soothe, quiet, and ease our troubled minds – the quality of patience - is also the most difficult to access. In this new talk, Shell taps into the Buddhist teachings to explore how we can develop more calm, compassion, and patience not only for the situation we find ourselves in, but also for others, and ourselves.

In this talk, recorded live on Mar. 10, Shell explores how we can use the practice of equanimity (or balanced awareness) to work with our fear, panic, and uncertainty, and discover more kindness, compassion, connection, and ease during these difficult times. (This talk is the 7th in a series of talks on the 7 Factors of Enlightenment).

In mystical and spiritual literature throughout the ages, deep states of consciousness have been described as having been achieved through the art of concentration – which is exactly what we’re trying to cultivate in our meditation practice. As we learn to develop a more refined and skilled awareness, this in turn offers us access to even deeper levels of understanding and insight. In this talk, Shell explores how we can use our practice to train our minds to become more focused, steady, and clear.

As we deepen our meditation practice, it is crucial for us to learn how to develop the powerful quality of Passaddhi, also translated as “calm,” “tranquility,” “serenity,” or “composure.” This soothing, cooling quality of mind and heart can help to keep us peaceful and at ease, especially during times of difficulty. In this talk, Shell  explores this essential step along our path, and how we can better develop it.

In this 25-minute guided meditation, we're invited to look beneath our more shallow intentions to discover our deepest intention, so that we can learn to cultivate, nurture, and embody it, and carry its light out into our lives and our world.

The good news of our practice is that, as it deepens, we are bound to experience what in the Pali language is called piti - otherwise known as joy, happiness, delight, and even rapture. It’s an important aspect of our journey, and we absolutely want to cultivate and nurture this sense of pleasure, and joy.

Yet, it is also vital that we learn how to skillfully work with it as it arises, so as to not become attached to it - which can take us in the wrong direction. In this talk, Shell explores this 4th Factor of Awakening, and how we can both access it, and know when to wisely let it go.