Royal Road of Breath Awareness
4-Week Course with Henry Shukman
(Course is Online Only)
“Breath awareness is the Royal Road to awakening… and healing. I find it a wonderful thought that our very breath in this moment, coming in, going out, is actually a path – a road that can lead us through life in the most wholesome way possible…
A road that can lead us to the basic love that underlies every moment and all existence.”
– Henry Shukman
Guest Teacher
Rick Hanson, Ph.D., joins us as a guest teacher for the third course session. He is a psychologist, Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and New York Times best-selling author. His seven books have been published in 31 languages and include Making Great Relationships, Neurodharma, Resilient, Hardwiring Happiness, Just One Thing, Buddha’s Brain, and Mother Nurture – with over a million copies in English alone. He’s the founder of the Global Compassion Coalition and the Wellspring Institute for Neuroscience and Contemplative Wisdom, as well as the co-host of the Being Well podcast. An expert on positive neuroplasticity, his work has been featured on CBS, NPR, the BBC, and other major media.
Royal Road of Breath Awareness
(Please note, this 4-week course is designed for all levels. We invite you to dive in, whether you’re new to meditation, or many decades down the path…)
Breath is a wonderful place to start our year of practice. For thousands of years, maybe tens of thousands, humans have learned to watch the miracle of the breath closely, as a path to self-discovery, and to greater ease and calm. It’s a prime lever, by which we can control our nervous systems, bringing them back into calm and stable states, when they’re over-activated.
One of the oldest and simplest instructions in Buddhism is: Stop and See. That’s exactly what breath awareness allows us to do.
To slow down our breath is to slow down our bodies, our minds and ourselves. To watch our breath is to see ourselves.
Developing a close and loving relationship with our breath just might be the best thing we can do for ourselves and our lives. By watching it, we develop a kind gaze, a loving awareness, so we can start to observe what’s happening in and around us in a kind, nurturing way. ,It allows us to nurture ourselves, our lives and the beings we interact with.
And it can also lead us down the “royal road to awakening”, as some early texts put it.
This course is designed to help all that happen. We will explore breath awareness from four different perspectives, and through four kinds of practice:
- breath as a basis for mindful awareness in daily life
- breath as a form of essential support given to us in every moment
- breath as a path to fulfilling states of ease and aliveness
- breath as a doorway to the boundlessness touched in awakening
It all starts with recognizing the gift of each breath as it arises, carries us, and departs.
We hope you’ll join us!
Questions about the course? Please feel free to email Jeremy, the Original Love Program Manager.
Guided Meditations
Henry will be recording 1 guided meditation per week, and each week, we’ll send out that meditation mid-week. These guided meditations can serve as touchstones in your week, helping you deepen your exploration of the Royal Road of Breath.
Course information
What’s included:
This 4-session course is designed to help you learn at your own pace. When you purchase the course you’ll receive access to video recordings of the 4 2-hr course sessions, as well as 4 guided audio meditations.
Cost:
4-Week Course: $175
Scholarships
We have a limited number of scholarships available. We don’t want anybody not to be able to take the program because of financial need. If you need financial assistance, please contact Jeremy.
If you have any questions, please contact Jeremy. We’re happy to answer any questions and look forward to having you join us!