View All Courses
Log In
Subscribe

 Dates: Thursday, September 30, to Sunday, October 3, 2021.
The Wholebeing Weekend will be held at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

To be alive means experiencing constant change. There are good times and bad. Highs and lows. Backs and forths. Problems and possibilities. Life is never a straight line.

This Wholebeing Weekend is all about busting out of a small story, and living into a bigger picture—learning to live in expectant openness to what’s happening now and holding hope for what’s to come.

This event is open to all those interested in:

✲ Understanding the stress response and navigating it with skill and compassion
✲ Nourishing hope and creating space for possibilities
✲ Engaging tools that strengthen resilience, to be more nimble and fluid as you ride the waves of life.

From Thursday, September 30, to Sunday, October 3, 2021, the on-site experience will be held at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, with an online experience happening simultaneously. Both in-person and online participants will have access to keynote recordings after the event.

The Experience
The flow follows the Wholebeing learning experience—learning from experts, embodying the lessons for yourself, and connecting within a community.
Day 1: Thursday evening

You are not alone. This is a shared journey. On opening night, Megan McDonough will create a context for connecting onsite participants with your fellow travelers, getting a sense of togetherness as we embark on the weekend experience.

Keynotes will be live-streamed for those attending online, interspersed by group exercises done together on Zoom with Henrique Bueno.

 

Day 2: Friday
Your best life is not necessarily stress free, drinking piña coladas poolside. Growth happens when you stretch, and that can be stressful. In the morning, you’ll learn from Megan about the science of stress—the natural endocrine, nervous, and immune system response to a challenge. You’ll be introduced to the R3SET stress framework for holding awareness of the felt sense of the stress response, your potential to navigate it, and the ability to make better choices in the moment.

In the afternoon, we move to the science and application of learned hopefulness, taught by Dan Tomasulo, author of the new book Learned Hopefulness. Hope gives you something to hold onto and look forward to as you live with the difficulties of today. You’ll learn and explore experientially how hope interventions are used in different timelines, mentally moving between the past, present, and future.

In the evening, onsite participants take everything learned and connect in community through exercises, dialogue, and good old-fashioned play—integrating, deepening, and celebrating lessons learned today about stress and hope. 

Keynotes will be live-streamed for those attending online, interspersed by group exercises done together on Zoom with Henrique Bueno.

 

Day 3: Saturday

Life gives you many opportunities to pick yourself up … again and again. Life calls for perseverance. In today’s session, Maria Sirois will introduce you to the paradox of resilience—a new and slightly different take on resilience that integrates with hope.

Keynotes will be live-streamed for those attending online, interspersed by group exercises done together on Zoom with Henrique Bueno.

 

In the evening, onsite participants will have a campfire (weather permitting) and savor our learnings and time together.

Day 4: Sunday

In our closing session, we will reflect on the journey, integrate key learnings, and tap into an openness to meet the unknown that is inherent in this human experience.

Who This is For
This weekend is open to all those interested in navigating challenges while moving towards better, both experienced positive psychology practitioners and those new to the practice.
Faculty
Megan McDonough

Megan McDonough

is the CEO and founder of Wholebeing Institute, an educational organization teaching the science of human flourishing. With a degree in nuclear medicine, decades of leadership experience, and 25 years of teaching and practicing yoga, Megan combines intellectual understanding with an embodied approach to teaching and leading. She’s an award-winning writer and the author of four books on mindfulness. Her work focuses on helping people thrive and organizations to do the same.
Dan Tomasulo

Dan Tomasulo

Dr. Dan Tomasulo is one of the top 10 online influencers on the issue of depression. He is the Academic Director and a core faculty member at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute (SMBI), Teachers College, Columbia University. He holds a PhD in psychology, MFA in writing, and Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. He authors the daily column Ask the Therapist, as well as the Learned Hopefulness blog for PsychCentral.com, and developed the Dare to Be Happy experiential workshops for Kripalu. His award-winning memoir, American Snake Pit (2018), tells of the first experimental group home releasing inmates from America’s most notorious asylum, Willowbrook. His most recent book is Learned Hopefulness, the Power of Positivity to Overcome Depression.

Maria Sirois

Maria Sirois

Dr. Maria Sirois is a master teacher, facilitator, and author. She is devoted to the science of well-being and the art of crafting a life and work that embody health, passion, and success. As a positive psychologist (PsyD) and consultant, she focuses on the resilience of the human spirit, particularly when under chronic stress, during significant transitions, and/or feeling the shock of wholesale change. Known for her wisdom, authenticity, and humor, she brings a wealth of perspective from decades of study in the mind/body medicine and resilience disciplines.
Henrique Bueno

Henrique Bueno

Henrique Bueno is the CEO and founder of Wholebeing Institute Brazil and the World Happiness Fest Brazil, acting as international speaker, facilitator of happiness, leadership and communication and as guest professor at several universities in Brazil. He is passionate about people and life, immersed in the scientific study of what makes life worthwhile. He holds a master’s degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of East London.
About the Himalayan Institute

A leader in the field of yoga, meditation, spirituality, and holistic health, the Himalayan Institute is a nonprofit international organization dedicated to serving humanity through educational, spiritual, and humanitarian programs. Over 40 years, the Himalayan Institute has hosted mission-aligned programs and seminars featuring some of the most experienced and accomplished teachers in the country. Situated on a 400-acre woodland campus in the picturesque Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, the center features simple accommodations ranging from single rooms with a private bath to shared rooms with a hall bath. Learn more.

Please note that housing costs are separate from the tuition and include yoga/meditation classes and vegetarian meals.

Review the Himalayan Institute’s COVID-19 Updates.

Important update: ALL attendees must be fully vaccinated to attend. Proof of COVID vaccination is required. Please email us [email protected] with any questions.

Himalayan Institute
952 Bethany Turnpike
Honesdale, PA 18431
570-253-5551
Email: [email protected]
Directions