News + New Good Things from Tia Norman To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.” -Thomas Merton...
29 days ago • 2 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “Healed people create healed systems." -Hailey Mitsui Peaceful, Centered + Connected The past two months have taken me from mountaintops to marathon routes, conference rooms to moments of deep inner stillness. In March, I spent five days in silence at the Garrison Institute in New York, learning from Cynthia Bourgeault and David Frenette. I flew home just long enough to trade my winter layers for running shoes, then headed to Los Angeles and ran my first...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “You want to fast from something for Lent? Fast from your story." -Cynthia Bourgeault Peaceful, Centered + Connected There is an aspect of myself that has been so conditioned by the fight or flight response as an operative mode of living that it is even afraid of what's good, peaceful, and calm because the latter is so foreign to my nervous system. Dysfunction can take root for so long that healthy function and the reality of safety become foreign and...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “When we sit in stillness, allowing ourselves to be gathered into the depths of the present moment, we begin to glimpse the divinity that is quietly shining through all that we see and all that we are." -James Finley Peaceful, Centered + Connected I'm settling back into the sounds and rhythms of the world after spending five days in silence at the Garrison Institute in New York. The retreat, "The Rising Tide of Oneness - Unity Consciousness for a World...
3 months ago • 2 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “The awakening of the spiritual journey is the realization that there is a deeper part of ourselves that is in complete union with God." -Father Thomas Keating Peaceful, Centered + Connected There is a knowing within you that does not come from striving. A wisdom that is not earned but revealed. In contemplative practice, we learn that intuition is not just a gut feeling—it is the deep inner knowing that emerges as we clear the clutter of the false self....
3 months ago • 3 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “Love rushed into my veinsemptying me of myself. Now filled with the Beloved.....my only possession is my name” -Rumi Peaceful, Centered + Connected Contemplative practice is an invitation into transformation—a slow unraveling of what we thought defined us and a deepening into what has always been true. When we enter the stillness of prayer, breath, or silence, something in us loosens. The roles we cling to, the narratives we’ve constructed, even the...
4 months ago • 3 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “If I love myself I love you. If I love you I love myself.” -Rumi Peaceful, Centered + Connected I was in the post office this week 15 minutes before closing time. There was a family in front of me attempting to mail a large box to Chicago but they had Sharpied the wrong zip code on the package. They were instructed to stand in this place of limbo, not at the counter or in line. There was an understanding that once they had figured out the five magic...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Black Contemplative Prayer Summit News & Resources The decision to host the first Black Contemplative Prayer Summit this month is intentional. It is a way to honor Black History and Black Presence by providing a space, that is for anyone, where Black teachers and thought leaders lead the discussion and practices within the contemplative space. We are excited to welcome you on the 22nd and 23rd! Each week leading up to the Summit you'll receive a short email that will: Help you learn more...
4 months ago • 3 min read
News + New Good Things from Tia Norman “Don't move the way fear makes you move. Move the way love makes you move.” -Rumi Peaceful, Centered + Connected There is an oak tree in our front yard. It was planted as the construction of our home was completed in 2008. As a sapling, it was supported by wires that stretched out to metal poles as a means of support. When they handed me the keys to our new house I was instructed to remove the support from the tree after a certain period to prevent it...
5 months ago • 3 min read