Category Archives: Dharma Talks

BREATHE: Right Now, It’s Like This

“In times of great struggle, when there is nothing else to rely on and nowhere else to go, it is the return to the moment that is the act of faith … From that point, openness to possibility, strength, patience, and courage can arise. Moment by moment we can find our way through.” ~ Sharon Salzberg

I’ve been thinking about this favorite quote of mine from one of my favorite teachers for a few weeks now, since it really encapsulates how we want to practice – especially when life starts to feel not only difficult but also maybe overwhelming.

Instead of rushing too far ahead into the future, or trying to retreat into the past, the teachings urge us instead to make a strong effort to come back home to this moment – just as it is, right now.

The reason for this – as Sharon so wisely noted – is that it is precisely in the present where we can regain our footing, and become more grounded, instead of feeling like we’re just sort of falling through space with nothing solid to hold onto.

And the good news is: if we can allow ourselves to actually rest in these moments of awareness, we’ll be better able to shore up our ability to respond to whatever’s happening with more calm, compassion, and wisdom, rather than reacting from a place of fear, anger, or hatred.

All of that being said, the thing we tend to forget the most when it feels like life has just pulled the rug out from under us – is the present moment itself!

So, sometimes we can all use a little help to remind us of our practice, so that we can more easily remember to return home to it, and begin again.

This month’s new talk: BREATHE: Right Now, It’s Like This offers us a variety of different ways that we can do this.

It includes a meditation at the end. As always, I hope that it will serve.

Just a few heads up!

1) In-person registration for the daylong retreat, “The Heart of Self-Compassion” to be held on Mar. 8 in Berryville, VA, is now FULL, but you can still join the waiting list! Spots often become available. Online streaming is still available.

3) There are only 8 spots left! for the 5-day meditation retreat April 24-28, LOVING YOURSELF: Nurturing the Heart Practices at Peterkin in Romney, WV.

4) The weeklong retreat Sept. 18 – 24, 2025 “THIS IS IT: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness” in Romney, WV has been starting to fill!

We hope that you can join us.

With care and much metta (loving-kindness),

~ Shell 🙏🏽💕

How To Work With Fear & Grief: Pause

🙏🏽 We might wonder sometimes why the Buddhist teachings are continually calling our attention to the truth of what is called annica, or impermanence, since this seems like such an obvious truth – that everything in this world, including ourselves, is in a constant flow of change.

The problem is: impermanence is actually exactly what we tend to struggle with, in the form of both the fear of uncertainty, and the grief that comes with change. 

And because these two feelings – fear & grief – are so uncomfortable for us, our natural tendency is to want to somehow avoid them, or push them away – at all costs – which usually involves a sense of speeding up.

What the teachings are asking us to do instead is to learn how to momentarily rest, or pause, and courageously allow ourselves to BE with these feelings, so that ultimately, we can transform them, and discover more peace and ease in our lives. 

This month’s talk, “How To Work With Fear & Grief: Pause,” explores how we can use our meditation practice to train ourselves in the sacred, healing art of the pause. 

It includes a meditation at the end. 

As always, I hope it might serve.

Also, just few heads up! 

1) The next daylong retreat in The Plains, VA on Sat., Mar. 9, “Planting the Seeds of Joy,” has been filling quickly since it opened, and is now more than half-full. 

2) In just 3 months, I’ll be offering a new 5-day retreat “Keep Calmly Knowing Change,” at the beautiful, peaceful Peterkin Conference Center in Romney, WV, our newest retreat venue – which was very well-received in October! The center is excited to have us back, and is planning on many expansions and changes to make it even better, which is wonderful news! 🙂 

With joy and kind wishes, and my hopes to see you soon! 

~ Shell 🙏🏽💕😊

What Am I ‘Really’ Offering Myself and Others? An Exploration of Dana

☀️ A few weeks ago at a party, I found myself very mindlessly opening my mouth and interrupting someone who was right in the middle of speaking. 

Thankfully, I was able to apologize, but my behavior felt so surprisingly unkind, ungenerous, and painful that it inspired me to dive even deeper into the profoundly important practice of dana, or generosity – which along with metta (or loving-kindness) is considered the very foundation of our practice.

The reason for this is that: our whole practice of dana essentially comes down to our practice of letting go, or non-clinging.  

And, our deepening wisdom of this non-clinging eventually brings us around full circle to our letting go of a sense of a solid, unchangeable, separate self, which as the teachings show us is the main cause or root of almost all of our suffering – when we are clinging so tightly to this sense of me, or mine, and believing that we are somehow separate. 

This month’s new talk, What Am I Really Offering Myself and Others? explores how we can use our mindfulness practice to become more kind and generous not only to others, but also to ourselves, by honestly revealing and investigating all the ways in which we might not be being as kind, or as generous as we may think. 

It includes a 10-minute meditation at the end. 

As always, I hope that it will serve. 

Also, just few quick important notes: 

1) I won’t be offering the intensive Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) workshop again until 2025, and there are still just a few spots open in the upcoming series, offered Sept. 10 – Nov. 12 on Sunday afternoons in Winchester, VA. 

2) The new 5-day retreat on Oct. 5-9,“LOVING YOURSELF: Nurturing the Heart Practices“ is now almost full! … I’m really excited about our new beautiful, secluded retreat center (Peterkin) in Romney, WV, and hope that you might join us for this.

3) I have a new weekly blog! I’ve been encouraged to start one of these (long overdue), and so have made a commitment to do so as a practice. Along with copies of the newsletter, it will include weekly dharma insights and meditation tips. I hope that it will serve! 

In the meantime, I hope you might join me soon!

With joy and kind wishes, ~ Shell