For Our Members

Nourishing Ourselves in an Age of Overwhelm

With jenna hollenstein

Thursday, september 24, 2026
8:00 PM EDT

“You do not have to be good… You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

Mary Oliver’s words remind us of something both simple and radical: before we are ideas, identities, accomplishments, or self-improvement projects, we are living bodies. Yet modern life relentlessly pulls us away from this truth. We are encouraged to relate to our bodies as problems to solve, appearances to perfect, numbers to optimize, or obstacles to transcend.

Drawing from Buddhist practice, neuroscience, and compassionate inquiry, this talk offers an alternative. Rather than asking how to control the body or escape it, we’ll explore what becomes possible when we learn to inhabit it more fully. Together we’ll consider how attending to our most fundamental biological and emotional needs—rest, nourishment, safety, connection, movement, grief, pleasure, and belonging—can become a profound expression of practice.