Subject: Join our partners for Attuning to Aliveness this weekend!

In Person Monthly Gathering

Attuning To Aliveness

In Person the Last Sunday of Every Month

1:30 to 5:00pm on September 27, 2026

Lucy, Maja, and Carol are co-stewarding a monthly gathering series called Attuning To Aliveness. Their main intention is to explore more deeply into what feels alive as individuals and collectives. There are many ways of knowing and connecting to our life forces, through relational practice, movement, sound, imagery, texture, taste and beyond. They want to cultivate a spacious environment for all of us to explore different ways of knowing, connect more deeply with our aliveness, and form authentic relationships with each other. Over time, a true community of self-authorship and mutual support can emerge. For more details and the basic flow of the gathering, please click on this link.

Time: Last Sun of every month. This coming gathering is from 1:30 to 5:00pm on September 27

Address: Center for Creative Inquiry at 2210 Harold Way, Berkeley, CA 94704. Street parking is free on Sundays.

What to bring: If you would like to come up with your own practices/activities during individual practice time, feel free to bring whatever you need (e.g., meditation cushion/blanket, paint, art supplies, music instruments, etc). If you'd like to have tea, please bring a cup.

Contact info: If you have any questions or want to receive a calendar invite, please email jxcarol2001@gmail.com.

Learn More

A Meditative Reflection

Breathe Through Your Pores

With Sal Tufano

When beginners are taught to meditate, the first instruction is usually to sit and relax the mind.

For Buddhists, shamatha instruction is typically first and shamatha, often translated as “calm abiding,” is simple to explain. You simply sit and try to settle the mind without becoming distracted by thoughts or anything else, like ambient sounds in the room for example. A focal object is often introduced to help gather the mind toward an object, in a “light touch” kind of way. This gives the beginner practice in applying attention to something and also keeping it there. It’s training in non-distraction. If the object to focus on is a small rock, keeping attention on the rock with a soft gaze is the practice of shamatha. Returning attention to the rock once it is distracted is also the practice of shamatha. Continuing to apply attention to the rock is also the practice of shamatha.

Full Presence Mindfulness

The FPM Pocket Guide Is Back

The Full Presence Mindfulness pocket guide has been reprinted and is now available in our shop. The guide is an introduction to Full Presence Mindfulness, a different approach to mindfulness where you tune in not only to the senses, but also to the stories, judgments, and preconceptions that shape how you see things.Inside, you'll find powerful practices that open up a new way of seeing meditation and life.

Small enough to carry anywhere, the pocket guide can help you practice in any setting. Its simple language leaves room for you to fill in the gaps with your own experience, while its poetic illustrations evoke the felt sense of the practice rather than just decorating it.

Purchase Here

Give the gift of creative inquiry

Looking for the perfect gift to inspire your children, cousins or grandkids? Our NowHere guidebook brings together contemplative practice, emotional awareness, connection with nature, and relational presence to support the development of the qualities we most need in ourselves—and in the next generation.

In Visible Mind is a guided reading meditation designed to help you discover your present moment without expectation, with practices based on Full Presence Mindfulness and the Time, Space, Knowledge Vision.

Visit the Creative Inquiry Shop

The Center for Creative Inquiry (CCI) explores alternate forms of knowledge and inquiry and their potential to bring about fundamental change at the individual, cultural, and social level.

CCI headquarters is located in downtown Berkeley, California, USA.

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