Online Retreat

The Wisdom of Storytelling: The Power of Story to Awaken Hearts

Alisa Dennis
Since the beginning of humanity, people have told and listened to stories to engage, heal, inspire, and co-create shared worlds. In telling and listening, we discover what it’s like to be alive—to love, grieve, overcome, and laugh—and we glean insight about our world and ourselves. While we’re encouraged in Buddhist traditions to let go of the stories we tell ourselves, Buddhism has used storytelling to impart the teachings of the Buddha for thousands of years. In this workshop, we’ll practice honoring our life experiences, bringing mindfulness to listening and speaking, and understanding one another more deeply. When storytelling is diverse, a richness, complexity and intelligence emerge as we build our capacity to embrace multi-storied experiences. Developing such a capacity broadens our heart’s capacity to hold all things. Participants will share stories in small groups. We will begin with brief warm-up practices in the morning and end the day sharing longer stories.

Teaching Team

Alisa Dennis, PhD

Alisa Dennis, PhD

Teacher

Alisa Dennis, Ph.D., discovered meditation through her study of ancient mystical traditions. She’s trained in Soto Zen and is most recently authorized to teach in the Theravada tradition.

She is a licensed psychologist and Somatic Experiencing practicer in Los Angeles, where she supports people as they move through life transitions.

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