A 5-Day Course at Kripalu for InSPIREd Living
There’s an easy trap to fall into when we’re trying to achieve happiness, health, and well-being. The trap is thinking that by addressing one dimension of our life, everything else just falls into place.
We may think that:
If I only had the right diet, I’d lose weight and be happy with my body. If my pain was gone or I was cured of this illness, life would be perfect. If I found the right fit for a spiritual path, I’d be connected to my unique meaning and purpose. If I connected with my soulmate, I’d live happily ever after. If I only found a better job, had well-behaved children, or more close friends…life would be good.
Life is rich and full of beauty inside and out. Instead of a simple prescriptive approach to fixing or curing that one compartmentalized part of yourself, what if you looked at your entire self? By looking at the way these important aspects weave together your experience, you address the whole versus the part.
Optimal well-being comes not from fragmentation, but by integration—the whole, not the parts.
No matter where you are on the wellness spectrum—from ultra-marathoner to beginning meditator to someone living with a debilitating or life-threatening illness—optimal well-being means compassionately embracing all that we are, and taking action to become more enlivened as we open the doors of perception wider to include more and more possibilities.
In this inaugural SPIRE course, co-founders of the Wholebeing Institute Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar and Megan McDonough lay the groundwork for a new model of well-being called SPIRE—a five-pronged approach to foster lifelong learning for the ultimate aim of leading a happier, more fulfilled life.
In his letter to a young poet, Rilke gave the following advice, “Live the questions now.” In this program, you will explore the following questions, learn the tools to address them, and leave the course with a plan of action to live the change you want to see in the world:
Spiritual well-being: What gives you purpose and meaning? What values drive your actions?
Physical well-being: How do you cultivate positive regard for the body, treating it well and being aware of the innate ability of the body to affect the mind?
Intellectual well-being: What are the ways you stretch, grow, and challenge the mind by cultivating creativity and fostering the love of learning?
Relational well-being: How do you contribute to and benefit from the people around you? No less important, what are the ways you foster a healthy relationship with yourself?
Emotional well-being: How can you increase pleasurable emotions and cultivate resilience to deal with painful emotions?
How does addressing wholeness, i.e. growth in these five arenas increase or potentiate vitality and well-being?
Guest Faculty
Guest presenters during the week include Kripalu’s master teachers Stephen Cope, speaking on the importance of following your calling, and Dr. Maria Sirois, addressing the power of resiliency in the human spirit.
Program Format
Where: Onsite at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
When: July 21-July 26
Tuition: $425, plus room & meals
