In art and practice, it’s about getting in there, exploring, and probing to see what’s alive. It’s about doing whatever you need to get into contact with your body before you start your creative exploration. It could be Tai Chi or Qigong, dancing or swimming, taking a walk or sitting in meditation—whatever puts you in touch with the felt sense of being human and the senses of being human. Creativity is often deeply entwined with that free flow of sensual experience.
Anne Cushman
Residential Retreat Teacher
As a teacher and writer, Anne Cushman explores the intersection between meditative practice, creative expression, and the down-to-earth details of embodied human life. A practitioner of both dharma and yoga since 1982, she is a Spirit Rock residential retreat teacher; core faculty for Spirit Rock’s Dharma Yoga Mindfulness Training; director of mentoring for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program; and a founding teacher of Cloud Sangha, an online mindfulness community. She is the author of the memoir The Mama Sutra: A Story of Love, Loss, and the Path of Motherhood; the novel Enlightenment for Idiots; the India pilgrimage guide From Here to Nirvana; and Moving Into Meditation, a mindfulness manifesto for yoga practitioners. Her essays on spiritual practice in daily life have been widely published in venues that include the New York Times; Yoga Journal; O, The Oprah Magazine; Tricycle: The Buddhist Review; Lion’s Roar; and many other publications. She mentors writers and practitioners of embodied mindfulness worldwide, teaches retreats in person and online, and leads courses that combine creative writing, meditation, and yoga.
Anne Cushman's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | Online
April 27 - April 28, 2024 | Saturday - Sunday | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Write to Wake Up: Creative Writing and Meditation
Unleash your stories, stir your imagination, and honor the wild heart of your life through an immersive weekend of creative writing and meditation. Together, we’ll practice writing in a way that helps us wake up. We’ll settle our minds and open our hearts through meditation in movement and stillness, so we can write from a deeper place. Through sharing our stories with each other, we’ll connect with our common humanity.
Anne Cushman
Training | On-Land | Dharma Institute
May 2024 - June 2025 | 3 Retreats (two residential, one non-residential hybrid)
Dharma Yoga Mindfulness Training
175 CE Units by Yoga Alliance. This yearlong Dharma and Yoga certificate program integrates Buddhist wisdom teachings and meditation practice with āsana, prāṇāyāma, and somatic movement. In the teaching of Yoga and embodied meditation, Dharma and Yoga are interwoven as one path to awakening. The training includes silent retreat, community connection, and structured support for deepening your personal practice. Our approach is centered on accessible and trauma-informed practices that nourish belonging and provide systematic grounding in the essential practices of these two great traditions.
Retreat | On-Land
November 9 - November 14, 2024 | Saturday - Thursday | 5 nights
Finding Your Ground: Mindful Yoga and Embodied Dharma
How do we stay grounded, centered, and rooted in compassion and wisdom—especially through personal and global challenges? In this silent retreat, we’ll offer teachings and tools from the Dharma and Yoga traditions for settling your nervous system, grounding your energy, and connecting in an embodied way with what matters most. Each day includes gentle guided Yoga; seated, walking, standing, and lying down meditation instruction and practice; and Dharma reflections and discussion.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Anne Cushman through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.