Be Not Afraid: Embodying Equanimity

Learn the art of cultivating fearlessness with Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward

We live in unsettled times.

And with everything happening in the world around us, fear is a totally understandable response.

The good news is that human beings are naturally resilient. We can identify and utilize strengths to live fully in the present moment all the while living our daily life.

One very powerful example is Equanimity – one of the Four Brahmaviharas, which are considered the divine abodes of the mind.

Equanimity is neither a thought nor an emotion, but rather a conscious realization that everything changes. It’s also said to be the foundation for wisdom and freedom, and the protector of compassion and love.

And according to Drs. Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward – both ordained as Dharma teachers by Thich Nhat Hanh – cultivating equanimity can bring us into a calmer state of being.

When we learn to accept, embrace and even celebrate change, we can settle into uncertainty without throwing our nervous system into overdrive.

We can control our anxieties and fears, rather than allowing them to control us.

This will be our focus and practice in a *Live* Deep Dharma course guided by Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward, which will integrate teachings from Buddhist psychology, Thich Nhat Hanh, neuroscience and a trauma-informed model of resiliency.

Together we will learn simple, biologically-based tools to help us stabilize the nervous system, and explore many different skills to support wellness and wellbeing.

Module 1: Equanimity and the Nervous System

Equanimity can be developed through the practice of mindfulness or meditation.

In our first week together, we will explore being mindful of reactions to the eight worldly winds, which are four sets of contrasting conditions that all people experience, such as praise and blame, gain and loss, pleasure and pain, and fame and disrepute.

To cultivate equanimity, one needs to understand that these conditions are changing, often out of their control, and insubstantial.

Module 2: Trauma Resiliency and the Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system responds to the challenges of daily life by telling us not who or what we are, but how we are.

This week, we will explore how to make our nervous system our ally.

Self-regulation is our ability to bring a dysregulated nervous system back into balance and homeostasis. The first step is to track and name which we practiced in module one. In this module we will identify resources for wellbeing.

Module 3: Grounding and the Nervous System

The purpose of grounding is to help us connect with earth and the ground beneath is.

Grounding involves all five senses, and allows us to anchor in this body, here and now.

In our third module, we will share teachings from Thich Nhat Hanh and trauma resiliency on how to make this connection strong and safe.

Module 4: Nature and the Nervous System

Nature can help regulate the nervous system by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the “rest and digest” response. This response counteracts the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the “fight or flight” response.

When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, we experience anxiety or fear.

But when the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, the body and mind can feel calm.

In our final week together, we will explore teachings from the Buddha as well as from neuroscience on the mind-body connection.

Praise for Larry and Peggy's Teachings

“Knowledge is the greatest obstacle to going deeper. As Lotus Institute says, “Deep, deeper, deeper still”. This is the gift of practice that keeps me impassioned on this path”

“The loving kindness you both radiate to those gathered to hear the dharma is amazingly healing.Your teachings and presence for the sangha have helped me so much, in gratitude.”

“I have read America’s Racial Karma and given copies to others. I find it to be an important, compelling, thoughtful, caring, and honest book. I look forward to Larry Ward reviewing and expanding on this deep, deep level of reality that we all “Americans” share on some level.”

Live Online Course Details

Live Interactive Sessions

Larry and Peggy will lead our weekly Sunday sessions. Each session will include a short teaching followed by a guided practice experience, and an open forum for students to ask questions and receive support.

Daily Dharma Practices

Students will be invited to practice a new skill each week as experiential homework. Larry and Peggy will offer a meditation or mindfulness practice to bring awareness to the theme of the week, to be practiced daily (or as often as you can) during the month.

Community Connections

Your journey will be in community with other practitioners around the world via our interactive course platform. As you move through each module, course guides will facilitate discussions, answer questions, and provide resources and support. Every Sunday, you will come together with your coursemates in real time to practice together and share your experiences.

Lifetime Access

All teachings, meditations and Q&A's will be recorded, published and archived on our interactive course platform. Video recordings will be permanently available for you to come back to as many times as you like in the future.

Schedule

Dates & Times

Module 1: Sunday, Sept 15 @ 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST (90 mins)

Module 2: Sunday, Sept 22@ 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST (90 mins)

Module 3: Sunday, Sept 29@ 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST (90 mins)

Module 4: Sunday, Oct 6 @ 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5pm BST / 6pm CEST (90 mins)

Replays will be posted in the days afterwards for those who cannot attend live.

About Drs Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward

Dr. Larry Ward is the co-founder and Executive Director of The Lotus Institute and a senior teacher in Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village tradition. He has a PhD in Religious Studies with a Buddhism emphasis, and is the author of America’s Racial Karma. His teachings are focused on integrating Buddhist psychology and practices with neuroscience, trauma resiliency work, indigenous wisdom and social imagination. As a teacher, Dr. Ward interweaves insights with personal stories and resounding clarity that express his Dharma name, “True Great Sound.”

Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward is the co-founder and Director of Education at The Lotus Institute. Dr Rowe Ward offers a path of deep insight through methods such as movement, writing, art and ritual. She has her EdD in Adult Education and her M.A. in Counseling Psychology and co-author with her husband, Larry, of Love’s Garden: A Guide To Mindful Relationships. She has taught in graduate schools of social work, psychology and counseling psychology. Her Doctoral research is in dreamwork. She has had a private therapy practice for many years and now offers consultations with a spiritual direction focus.

Click here to learn more about Drs Larry Ward and Peggy Rowe Ward.

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