Events

Grateful, Mindful Dialogues

WHEN: In English, the second Wednesday of every other month in 2022 – May 11, July 13, September 14 & November 9
TIME: 7:30-8:30 p.m. CET /  1:30-2:30 p.m. EST / 10:30-11:30 a.m. PST
WHERE: Zoom, Meeting ID: 733 068 113, Password: grateful

This series was initiated by our friends at Dankbar Leben as physical distancing became commonplace around the world as a way to support gratefulness groups and individuals interested in this form of connection. The intention is to practice becoming still and practice listening as inspired by Br. David’s letter “The Gift of Silence” (April 2020).

Sample format: Welcome, inspirational theme with poem or quote and a short meditation; followed by dialogue guidelines and 30 minutes of mindful dialogue; ending with a body awareness practice, short sharing, and a practice invitation in the form of a ritual with a creative/artistic element.

The intention is to work in teams from different backgrounds and languages, drawing from experience from the global gratefulness network. More details about intention and format, as well as participant testimonials, can be found on the dialogue group page. This page is in German but can be translated using online translation tools.

If you would like to be added to a mailing list to learn about future dialogues, or to share thoughts and feedback, please contact: willkommen@dankbar-leben.org

Wake Up Grateful Book Launch

Kristi Nelson recording the audio version of Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted

Independent Bookstore Author Events (all events are virtual, so please tune in from wherever you are!)

Join author Kristi Nelson to hear her discuss her new book Wake Up Grateful: The Transformative Practice of Taking Nothing for Granted.

WHEN: December 1
WHERE: Magers & Quinn — Recording Now Available on YouTube 

WHEN: December 2
WHERE: Blue Willow Books — Recording Now Available on Facebook

Wake Up Grateful: Finding Abundance and Joy in the Great Fullness of Life

WHEN: *POSTPONED UNTIL 2022, STAY TUNED*
WHERE: Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Stockbridge, MA

Please join us for an extraordinary opportunity to learn about and deepen the practice of living gratefully – in person! We are delighted to announce our third weekend workshop/retreat at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in the beautiful Berkshire hills of Massachusetts with Kristi Nelson and others from A Network for Grateful Living. The workshop will help you embrace and treasure the existing “great fullness” of your life, and enhance your capacity to live with a greater sense of presence, perspective, and possibility.

Based on the teachings of Br. David Steindl-Rast, Kristi will lead a weekend filled with inspiring presentations, self-reflective exercises, meditation, experiential practices, and discussion. The program will offer gratefulness as a proactive approach to every moment – even in challenging circumstances – that allows us to access a more unconditional experience of trust, joy, and belonging. Working alone and in small groups we will explore how to bring a grateful orientation to the terrain of our bodies, habits of mind, relationships, and the ways we inhabit our lives and the larger world.

Br. David says that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. Please join us for this nourishing weekend of learning, connection, and self-care intended to leave you with a deeper reservoir of both.

For More Information

Learn more about this workshop’s focus in Ten True Things about Gratefulness: A Conversation with Kristi Nelson

Recommended reading: Everyday Gratitude: Inspiration for Living Life as a Gift

Past Events

Wake Up Grateful: Open Your Heart to Life — New Course!

Wake Up Grateful: Open Your Heart to Life is a joyful and profound six-week course exploring the five foundational principles of grateful living, as articulated by Kristi Nelson in her book Wake Up Grateful. This dynamic course is an invitation to deepen and expand your relationship with grateful living as a way of life, an orientation for day-to-day living in the best of times and in the most challenging circumstances. Together we will delve into generative questions such as: How does one greet each moment gratefully? What becomes possible when we open ourselves to wonder? How do we truly take nothing for granted? When we tend what we value, what changes?

The weekly live sessions will be vibrant and engaging, with a rich mix of Kristi’s teachings from the book, guided practices, and “in the moment” conversations with honored guests, Alexandra Elle, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Lynne Twist, and Nipun Mehta. The course also includes the special gift of a newly-recorded conversation between Br. David Steindl-Rast and Kristi. We will provide a weekly toolkit of resources that offers both guideposts and inspiration, and participants will be invited to share insights and reflections throughout the course in our new, online community platform.

Our six-week learning journey will open pathways to greater wellbeing, resilience, joy, and a wholehearted YES to life!

This course will be offered on-demand Summer, 2021. Stay tuned!

Spirituality and Social Change Symposium –
with Br. David Steindl-Rast and others

WHEN: Friday, September 27, 2019, 1 – 4:30pm
WHERE: Fine Arts Center at UMass Amherst, MA

The UMass Amherst Special Collections and A Network for Grateful Living will be co-hosting an event exploring the relationship between spirituality and social change. The highlight of the event will be a conversation with Brother David Steindl-Rast, whose papers are at the Special Collections. A 93 year-old Benedictine monk, Br. David is one of the most important figures in the modern interfaith dialogue movement and will be traveling from Austria to attend. The symposium will also include a panel of activists and spiritual leaders discussing the spiritual dimensions of activism and social change movements.

Please see here for more information.