About 20 years ago, His Holiness the Dalai Lama convened a conference on “Destructive Emotions.” He brought together a small group of world-renowned experts in the psychology of emotion, contemplative practice, philosophy, and neuroscience to present and discuss their research and understanding of this topic.
Out of this week-long meeting came His Holiness’ desire to put together a secular program for lay people to learn more about emotions and how to manage them in daily life, using, among other strategies, mindfulness practices that have been part of Buddhism for centuries. The course, “Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB),” has been taught around the world over the past 15 years. It has been shown to be effective in helping people of many nationalities, faiths, and cultures experience less stress, anxiety, and hostility in their daily interactions with family, friends, and colleagues.
The “bones” and a lot of the flesh of Mindful❋Emotion come directly from CEB, which I’ve been fully trained to teach. I have also added material and exercises that I have developed over 30 years of clinical practice, to help my clients manage emotion.