Practical Ways for Handling Difficult Emotion
A six-week course led by Buddhist teacher Yashobodhi Lucia van der Drift
I may be running this course again in May 2021, so please check my website closer to the time or subscribe to my mailing list via the form below.
Course description
Handling difficult emotion is a skill that can be learnt if you put time and effort into it. This course is an invitation to do exactly that.
The teachings of the Buddha are incredibly pragmatic and helpful, particularly in these challenging times. This course takes us on a journey through Buddhist practices that support us dealing with difficult emotions: those emotions that cause us to suffer and act destructively towards ourselves and others. We start with framing difficult emotion in a Buddhist context, then define them and explore ways of becoming more curious about them, more aware of our existing positive emotions and learn how to encourage and develop them. We also look at ways of containing emotions, turn towards them and look at ways to prevent them arising. When there is enough calm and stability in the mind, we can directly notice and possibly realise the nature of emotions. At the end of the course we will have an array of tools to work with for strengthening our resilience.
We try out the methods introduced in the course in the home practice set for each week. The weekly zoom meetings offer an opportunity to discuss what we discovered and learnt in the past week. These two-hour meetings are a combination of interaction, discussion of the home practice, led meditation and presentation.
Participants need to be willing to work with their own experience during this course and have the space to do so.
A participant about an earlier course:
“It enabled me to view my usual approach to difficult emotions and gave me an alternative perspective that felt quite profound but at the same time, so simple. I often make things in my life very complicated and the course helped me see that I have a choice, in how I approach things, even if I often feel I don’t.”
Another participant:
” My inner world is a much more fun and kinder place to be since the last course. Thank you for making my life better. I will be forever grateful.”
Elements of this 6-week course
- weekly zoom meetings
- presentation videos
- guided audio meditations
- references to relevant books and articles
- home practice to explore and train with the methods offered on this course
Dates tbc
Requirements for participation:
- experience with meditation and self-development
- able to work with your own experience
- no serious mental health issues that might make participation inappropriate at this time. Please get in touch if you are in any doubt and we can discuss.
On booking you’ll be asked to confirm these requirements.
About Yashobodhi Lucia van der Drift
Yashobodhi went on her first Buddhist retreat in the mid nineties and has been teaching Buddhism, meditation and mindfulness in different settings for over 15 years. She regularly leads retreats in the UK as well as internationally. She has done numerous long meditation retreats, including a three-month silent retreat in 2019. She is originally from the Netherlands, but has lived and worked in England since 2010. She initially mainly worked at the West London Buddhist Centre. She founded Goldmind Training at the end of 2018. She still teaches a weekly class for the WLBC, now on zoom.
Cost
This course is offered on basis of donation.
Suggested donation £50-150 to be paid before, during or after the course.
Feel free to register if you cannot afford to pay anything, but if you can, please support me running courses like this by transferring to PayPal or bank. Details provided after registration.