Heather Sundberg has taught insight meditation since 1999 and completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training. Beginning her own meditation practice in her late teens, for the last 25 years, Heather has studied with senior teachers in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and Tibetan (Vajrayana) traditions and has sat 1-3 months of retreat a year for almost 20 years. She was the Spirit Rock Family & Teen Program Teacher & Manager for a decade. Between 2010- 2015 she spent a cumulative one-year in study, practice, and pilgrimage in Asia. Since 2011, she has been a Teacher at Mountain Stream Meditation Center and sister communities in the Sierra Foothills, and also teaches nationally, especially at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Her teaching emphasizes embodiment, compassion and practical wisdom.
The Talk explores the traditional teachings of First Foundation of Mindfulness through personal stories & modern perspectives - emphasizing the elements of Calming the Bodily Formation & nervous system practices, the 4 Postures of Awakening, and the aspects of impermanence & not self in the Wisdom Refrain of the Sutta.
An introduction to a wisdom-awareness map from the Thai Forest tradition: Mindfulness - Great Mindfulness - Mindfulness-Wisdom - Wisdom which leads to Release. Includes metaphors & descriptions of maturing awareness which is able to release reactivity & access the 3 Lenses of Wisdom (impermanence, unsatisfactoriness, not self). Concludes with a fun somatic exercise on holding on & letting go, based on a teaching from Ajahn Chah. For more information about these teachings, visit Heather's website & look up Talks & Retreat Schedule.
The Talk explores three ways that we can transform Fear into Love: Naming & Welcoming, Releasing Reactivity through the Nervous System, and Lovingkindness.
The Talk ends with a moving true story of one woman's journey from fear into love & the service she offers to the world out of her understanding.
An introduction to A Map of Awareness from the Thai Forest Tradition:
Sati-Mindfulness-Mahi Sati (Great Mindfulness), Sati Panna (Mindfulness Wisdom), Panna-Vimutti (Wisdom which leads to release).
Includes teachings on how to approach teachings and practices of awareness, how to use the Three Characteristics, (impermanence, unsatisfactotoriness, not self) to decrease and release activity of the Defilements (greed, hatred and delusion) and a fun experiential exercise based on a teaching from Ajahn Chah about letting go.
For more information about these teachings, visit Heather's website and look up Talks, Retreat Schedule and ongoing trainings on MahaSati.
Beginning with a story of about Heather's close encounter with a monkey in India, the talk offers theory and practice on the First Foundation of Mindfulness on 'calming the bodily formation' as well as 'settling the nervous system' which are important 'dharmas of modern times'. Practices support us to work with anxiety, fear shame, judgment and other difficult emotions and reactive patterns of body and mind.
This Talk examines the roots of the journey transformation from struggle & separation to connection & love. Mindfulness of the nervous system, wisdom perspectives, forgiveness, compassion & patience.
