Watch: Practices for When You Are Sick, led by Roshi Joan Halifax

Roshi Joan Halifax leads us through a short and simple practice to help us navigate the illness and fear brought on by the coronavirus crisis.

Rod Meade Sperry
14 April 2020

You likely know Roshi Joan Halifax. She’s the founder, head teacher, and abbot of Upaya Institute and Zen Center, the author of such books as Standing at the Edge and Being With Dying, and is a frequent contributor to Lion’s Roar.

In this video, Roshi Joan leads you through a short and simple practice, helpful as we navigate the illness and fear brought on by the coronavirus crisis—or any time we confront illness—so that we can accept, but not overidentify with, our pains and responses to the difficulties they bring.

For more from Roshi Joan, listen to the March 11 Lion’s Roar Podcast, which features this practice, her thoughts about the virus crisis, and how she and the Upaya team have responded to it, keeping offerings like their Spring Practice Period focused on women in Buddhism, and this May’s Varela International Symposium, about the nature of awareness, available.

Rod Meade Sperry. Photo by Megumi Yoshida, 2024

Rod Meade Sperry

Rod Meade Sperry is the editor of Buddhadharma, Lion’s Roar’s online source for committed Buddhists, and the book A Beginner’s Guide to Meditation: Practical Advice and Inspiration from Contemporary Buddhist Teachers. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with his partner and their tiny pup, Sid.