Courses

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"You are the sky. Everything else - it's just the weather." - Pema Chödrön 

“You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”- Jon Kabat-Zinn

“The root of suffering is resisting the certainty that no matter what the circumstances, uncertainty is all we truly have.” - Pema Chödron 

Why Mindfulness in Uncertain Times? 

• How can we navigate the challenges, uncertainty, and disruption of this time?

• How can we cultivate a clear mind, open heart, and relaxed body?

• How do we respond wisely instead of reacting?

• How can we cultivate or deepen a personal practice that works for us and our life?

It’s a lot to be with the multiple collective crises that are unfolding: the pandemic; our ongoing climate crisis; systemic racism and police brutality; an intense and divisive US election. You might be feeling their effects in a myriad of ways in your being and your world.

Mindfulness and compassion practices can be incredibly supportive as we continue to navigate collective uncertainty and difficulty. Mindfulness refers to paying attention to the present moment with curiosity and openness, so that we can access the ability to replace autopilot reactions with intentional responses. It can help us stay resilient, calm, and creative no matter what life presents to us. It allows us to choose love over fear, which can easily take over our lives. We can learn to stay and be with more and more of life’s experiences.

With a clear mind, open heart, a relaxed body and a community of support, we can weather these uncertain and challenging times and look to the future we seek to create. We can consciously choose who and how we want to be for ourselves and others.

The Course Experience

This course offers a strong foundation in the domains and core practices of mindfulness to help you cultivate or deepen a regular mindfulness practice and tools that work for you and your life. Through weekly sessions, you will

• Learn to improve your presence and focus; 

• Increase self-compassion and compassion for others; 

• Learn to work with difficult emotions and limiting beliefs;

• Cultivate enhanced creativity and critical thinking skills; 

• Have better relationships and more skillful interactions with others; and 

• Increase your resilience and wellbeing, and reduce stress. 

Now's the time to commit to supportive personal and interpersonal practices and let them anchor us as we choose how to respond and show up for others and ourselves in these turbulent times. This course is an opportunity to connect and support each other virtually in the weeks ahead. 

Course Dates & Delivery

The course consists of five weekly 90-min virtual sessions via Zoom. Each session is from 4:30 - 6:00 pm PT / 6:30 - 8:00 pm CT / 7:30 - 9:00 pm ET on the following dates: 

1. Wednesday, October 21st

2. Wednesday, October 28th

3. Wednesday, November 4th

4. Wednesday, November 11th

5. Wednesday, November 18th

Session recordings will be available after each session. You’ll receive a practice email with tips, additional resources, inspiration, and home practice instructions after each live session.

Living through all this uncertainty and change is hard. You don't have to do it alone. Join us!

Investment

The tuition for this 5-week live course is $275.

If you require more flexibility due to financial hardship to be able to participate, please get in touch.

Teacher 

Sarah-Marie Hopf, Founder, Thriving in a Noisy World

“Sarah-Marie's wise and loving presence is the perfect vessel for the transmission of time-honored concepts and practices to bring meaning, richness and peace to daily life.” - Joyce, market research professional, Berkeley, CA

I envision a world in which everyone feels a deep sense of belonging, wellbeing, and meaningful contribution. As a driven changemaker, I’ve personally experienced the many benefits of mindfulness and inner work for doing well and being well.

I’m a long-time mindfulness meditation practitioner and have been integrating mindfulness into my programs through Thriving in a Noisy World. I’m a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher through the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (certified by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley and the Awareness Training Institute) with world-renowned mindfulness teachers Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. I’m also a Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Professional Level (CMT-P) through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. I’m very grateful for the mentorship and guidance of James Baraz, Co-Founder of Spirit Rock.

To my work, I bring experience at the intersections of leadership development and coaching, institutional change, human-centered design, systems change, and social impact. I've been fortunate to work with individuals and organizations globally, including mission-driven startups, top universities, high impact nonprofits, and Fortune 500 companies. I also draw on my learnings from my own ongoing inner work and development journey and am grateful for many meditation retreats, programs, books, and teachers along the way.

I'm a Certified Integral Coach through New Ventures West, an Associate Certified Coach (ACC), and member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF). A graduate of Dartmouth College, I'm an RSA Fellow, StartingBloc Fellow, and member of Sandbox. A proud introvert, I’m committed to creating space for authentic human connection and living the questions.

Testimonials

Cancellations and Refunds

If You Need to Cancel

• If you would like to cancel and receive a credit in the amount of tuition paid towards a future Thriving in a Noisy World offering, you must cancel at least 2 business days before the first course session (by Sunday, October 18 at 11:59 pm PT).

• If you cancel after this deadline, do not show up, or leave the course early, you will not receive a credit.

If We Need to Cancel

• In the event that we may need to cancel the course due to unforeseen circumstances, we will offer a full refund and reschedule the course.