Spiritual Guidance
Practice discussion is a one-on-one meeting in which we discuss whatever is on your mind, in your heart, up in your life, from the Buddhist perspective of ending suffering – yours and others, compassion, the truth that all things change, and awareness of your point of view. Practice discussion also involves any aspect of Buddhism and practice that you would like to explore in a more personal way, as well as formal one-on-one study.
Workshops and Classes
Following is a partial list of workshops and classes Lisa can present to your group or workplace, along with creating a workshop or class to meet your group’s individual needs:
Compassionate Communication: at home and at the office, the moments when skillful and kind communication are most needed are often when they are most elusive. Learn and apply the Buddhas teachings of compassion and wisdom, and practices of skillful perspective, speech and action to how you communicate, especially in angry and awkward situations.
Help! Information Overload: e-mails, phone calls, text, PDAs, Facebook, Twitter, the World Wide Web, and there are always those old-fashioned things called magazines and books… it’s easy to feel under siege with all of the information coming at us 24/7. Explore how to apply mindfulness in using your values and priorities to stay grounded and make choices amidst the onslaught.
Transforming Anger: whether it is internal or coming at you from another person, anger is a challenging emotion to deal with in a satisfying way. Develop the ability to take care of anger when it arises within or is directed toward you, and approach it with respect and skill that honors all involved while addressing the provoking issues or situations.
Mindfulness in the Workplace: this gentle and practical workshop will show you how to cultivate mindfulness in your daily life, especially around work and work relationships. Our goal is ease, greater fulfillment and increased energy. You’ll learn specific mindfulness tools that are interesting, enjoyable, and easy to integrate throughout your life.
Nirvana is Now: the image of Nirvana is often a vision of a practitioner removed from the world, sitting peacefully on a mountaintop or reaching some other special realm. Experience Nirvana in a completely different way, a way that is about your life right here, right now, with everything that is “right” and everything that is difficult.
Practicing with Procrastination: Why Start Now? there are many reasons why we procrastinate in many techniques for addressing this habit. Learn how to deal with procrastination by developing a relationship with your procrastination, its consequences, and the things you are procrastinating about through mindfulness and related skills and tools.
Groups
Mindfulness in the Workplace are workshops, classes and retreats offered several times throughout the year, exploring meditation, mindfulness and how to integrate the Buddha’s teachings of compassion and wisdom into 21st-century living in practical and heartfelt ways. How do we deal with a difficult coworker? A controlling board member? How do we cultivate our strengths and relate to our foibles with kindness, clarity and humor? Locations vary between San Francisco, the East Bay and Marin County.
San Francisco LGBT Sangha meets every Monday night, 5:30 PM-6:30 PM at the San Francisco LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street, to meditate, hear a Dharma talk and connect. Lisa, along with Dr. Stephen Tierney, are the group’s guiding teachers. Lisa leads the group on the fourth Monday of each month.
Women’s Heart Sangha is n close-knit, supportive community of mature women committed to themselves and each other in exploring relationship with body, self image, food, emotions and cultivating mindfulness to open choices and freedom. Women’s Heart meets one Sunday a month from 10 AM to 1 PM and is limited to 10 women who make six-month commitments to attend each monthly group unless there are extraordinary circumstances. The group opens to potential new members each January and June when there are spaces.
