Anne Cushman is a leading national pioneer in the integration of mindfulness, embodied meditation, and creative expression. A member of the Teachers’ Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, she founded the first multi-year Buddhist meditation training for yoga teachers. Her books include the memoir The Mama Sutra, the novel Enlightenment for Idiots, the mindful yoga book Moving Into Meditation, and the India pilgrimage guide From Here to Nirvana; and her essays on spiritual practice in daily life have appeared in the New York Times, Yoga Journal, O: The Oprah Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, and many other publications. She directs the mentoring component of the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, which enrolls over 1500 students from 47 countries. She leads regular meditation retreats with a focus on creativity, embodiment, and daily life practice.

Learn more about Anne Cushman: https://www.annecushman.com/
Follow Anne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annecushmanauthor/

00:00:29 – What to have with you for this workshop
00:03:12 – Sara-Mai introduces Anne Cushman
00:04:59 – Introduction from Anne Cushman
00:08:13 – Guided meditation led by Anne
00:19:56 – Opening up space and honoring the inherent creativity of life
00:21:38 – Anne’s dream – reconciling the wild creative self and the spiritual self
00:28:18 – Anne’s journey of reclamation
00:32:04 – The intersecting paths of mindfulness and creativity
00:35:32 – How mindfulness can support the creative process
00:37:53 – Principle #1: Be present in your body
00:43:18 – Guided practice (exploring through the senses)
00:49:01 – Principle #2: Be present to your emotions
00:54:00 – Guided meditation (what’s here right now?)
00:57:31 – Principle #3: Carving out sacred time
01:03:53 – Principle #4: Listen to the inner impulse
01:07:01 – Guided practice (tuning into your own aliveness)
01:12:52 – Principles #5: Let go of doing it right
01:16:11 – Pause for reflection
01:17:32 – Principle #6: Go into the places we find a little scary
01:22:27 – Pause for reflection
01:23:49 – Visual art exploration
01:35:13 – Participant reflections
01:46:57 – Freewriting practice based on a prompt
01:56:31 – Reflections after freewriting
02:00:33 – Closing thoughts/ways to connect with Anne Cushman