My work since 2006 through UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center (uclahealth.org/marc) emphasizes making mindfulness teachings accessible to all, regardless of background, yet without losing depth practice. In recent years I have been teaching on Natural Awareness— the effortless, objectless, and spacious side of awareness practices. Socially engaged Buddhism is a thread woven through many of my talks-- how can we end suffering both internally and externally? Having worked with teens and young adults for many years, some of the talks are geared to young people. Finally as a mom of a tween, I'm deeply inspired by the transformative power of daily life and family practice.
In this talk, Diana weaves together stories from her own spiritual journey with what she sees as universal aspects of the spiritual path. She talks about obstacles that arise on the path, what insight is, learning to love ourselves more deeply, and the journey to resting in Natural Awareness. She also covers how the spiritual life manifests off the cushion throughout a lifetime, including in the face of a turbulent world.
This guided session teaches the basics of self-compassion: mindfulness for judgmental thoughts, kindness towards self, and recognition of shared humanity. The guided meditation focuses on sending kindness to self.
This short talk and longer guided meditation offers a clear introduction to how to practice mindfulness with an emphasis on finding and anchor and gathering your wild mind.
This talk from the Spirit Rock Family Retreat explores what joy is, what gets in the way of joy, and how to cultivate it: intend, savor, and recall. We also focus on how mudita or appreciative joy shows up and can be called upon to help us with tricky family situations such as comparison or disappointment. Joy is accessible to us all!
This talk explores the core teaching of letting go and how it relates to profound states of well-being. We learn about Natural Awareness-- the luminous quality of the mind-- and try a few "Glimpse practices" to access it. Diana then shows us how Natural Awareness practice can help us navigate the complex, challenging, and heart-breaking times in the world today.
We explore how to be aware of body sensations from a "Somatic Mindfulness" or body-based perspective, as well as get guidance on how to mindfully work with physical pain
This foundational talk on mindfulness offers insight into why and how to practice mindfulness, the science behind it, what makes meditation difficult, the qualities of a mindful mind, and the fruits of the practice.
Diana and Donald each speak for about 20 minutes. Diana focuses especially on relational metta practice in daily life, including with parenting. Donald speaks of the aspiration, as the great Tibetan teacher Shabkar, emphasizes, on having one’s life and practice be one. He then focuses on the different dimensions of individual metta practice in daily life. The two talks are followed by a period of discussion.
