Cintya-Bhavana

Join us for a Dharma Workshop to learn the timeless art of contemplation and reflection to develop our intuitive wisdom and expand our embodied conscious awareness.

The practice of text-based contemplation, known as cintya-bhavana in India and lectio divina in the West, stimulates experiential learning and intuitive realization. In medieval times, monks and nuns would read and reflect upon the impact of a sacred text on their minds, bodies, and spirits. Often, a felt response awakened a greater sense of meaning, awe and appreciation for life. In this way, contemplatives were able to access deeper layers of intuitive wisdom missed through reading analysis or left-brain cognition.

Our guest teacher, Elizabeth Rovere, will explain more about this process and guide us in this practice using contemporary poetry. We will listen to passages read aloud while in a meditative state. We’ll be cued to listen for words or phrases that stand out, and to relate the passages to things we have read or experienced in our lives. We will be prompted to reflect on our experience in the present moment where our own history and future aspirations may coalesce in a sense of timelessness. Once we learn this practice, we will be able to apply it to other forms of reading, from how-to manuals to sacred texts!

About Our Guest Teacher

Elizabeth Rovere, MTS, MA, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist, yoga teacher and podcast host in New York City where she has a private practice of group and individual therapy. She is keenly interested in spiritual experience as a profound aspect of psychological transformation. Current work interests include the neuroscience and metaphor of the human heart, climate justice and esoteric religious history. Elizabeth is a RYT-200 BodyAwake Yoga Teacher, and is launching a podcast called "Wonderstruck"  on the wonder and awe within human experience. She holds an MA from Yale in Russian and East European Studies, an MTS from Harvard Divinity and a PsyD from William James College. Her clinical training was at Harvard University and NYU Medical Center. She lives in Brooklyn with her family. 

More information about this special event and registration options can be found on the Dharma Workshops page in the Community section of our website, here. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. To save your space and bypass the registration fee, contact Eric McCullum at eric@insightla.org. We look forward to seeing you there!