Dana DePalma has practiced Insight Meditation since 1993 and is a member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council. Dana co-developed and leads innovative programs for the staff at Spirit Rock that combine practice, study and leadership training. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology, is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and enjoys sharing the Dharma as a spiritual mentor.
The paramis of patience and persistence play key roles in supporting our capacity to stay with the ups and downs of practice without succumbing to reactivity, judgement, or discouragement. This talk explores the active quality of persistence, the receptive quality of patience, and how they compliment each other in support of untangling the tangles of heart and mind in this gradual path.
A guided meditation emphasizing deepening, quieting, grounding, letting ourselves be held by nature, and shifting to a deeper and wiser perspective in support of equanimity, a balanced heart-mind. It includes a poem by Mary Oliver, "Swimming, One Day in August."
Dhammavicaya, often translated as "investigation of the dharma", is one of the 7 factors of awakening. This talks explores dhammavicaya as a naturally arising curiosity in relationship to what is true which does not necessarily have to be framed in words.
A Guided Metta Meditation emphasizing the integration of Metta and Insight Meditation, including utilizing Sylvia Boorstein's phrase, "May I meet this moment fully; May I meet it as a friend," and variations of the second phrase such as "May I meet it with _______ (kindness, compassion, gentleness, patience, curiosity, receptivity, etc.). Includes a poem by Matty Weingast from "The First Free Women."
First full day of retreat talk: including mindfulness, the 4 reflections, working with feeling tone, emotions and Rain; and the transformation that takes place in practice.
