Awakening through Indigenous and Earth-Based Practices

We are living in unprecedented times of uncertainty due to the global pandemic. Many of us are being challenged by racial inequality, economic disparity, and climate crisis as we strive to thrive in an unbalanced world. Now more than ever, Indigenous peoples’ plea to dismantle the old system of oppression and devastation to Mother Earth can no longer go unheard or unseen. We are all impacted by the disregard and disrespect for this sentient living organism called Mother Earth.

Join Carol Cano, mindfulness practitioner and teacher in the Theravada tradition, as she weaves together Indigenous wisdom with Earth-based practices to cultivate an ethno-cultural-psycho-spiritual-humanistic path called braiding the way. Her late, beloved Basque/elder and teacher, Dr. Angeles Arrien, PhD, taught Carol the value and practice of trusting in the great mystery of life and to honor the sacred.

In this weekend workshop, Carol invites you to explore the obstacles standing in the way of coming into the full nature of who you are. She guides your investigation of those obstacles so that you might live out your own truth and authenticity, while also exploring the patterns and behaviors that no longer serve you by working to re-envision, redream, reclaim, and reflect on the possibilities of transforming these behaviors.

Learn how to cultivate practices of expanding awareness including self-compassion, reconciliation, and self-forgiveness to allow the element of space to open your heart and lean into the tenderness of your own being. A path to awakening starts with reclaiming all parts of ourselves, even the unattended wounds of our past or the parts of ourselves waiting to be claimed.

This workshop utilizes mindfulness meditation practices as they relate to the five elements: air, fire, water, earth, and space, as well as silence, and the practice of the fine art of active listening. These methods are taught through personal practice, collective engagement, small group interactivity, and dyad work.

This workshop is for all levels of practice and for those being called to their hearts longing.

Carol Cano, MA began her meditative practices over 30 years ago at Wat Kow Tahm in Thailand and has actively engaged in building communities and teaching Dharma internationally. She has completed a myriad of training programs at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and has currently completed their four-year Retreat Teachers’ Training. Carol is a core teacher and former board member of East Bay Meditation Center. Additionally, she co-founded Philippine Insight Meditation Community in the Philippines since 2011. Her unique teachings are deeply grounded in Basque, Native American, and Buddhist influences that braid the Dharma along Indigenous wisdom and Earth-based practices. More recently, Carol is the Founder and Executive Director of a nonprofit called Braided Wisdom, Inc., a cross-cultural mindfulness organization launching in January 2021. Carol reminds us to keep grounded in our hearts as we uphold spiritual ideals and encourages us to remain balanced within the demands of modern life. To find out more about Carol, please visit www.carolcano.com and www.braidedwisdom.org.

CIIS students, staff, and faculty receive discounts on all events. CIIS Public Programs Members receive a 20% discount on all events. Contact us for more information at publicprograms@ciis.edu.