Events
Upcoming Events, Podcasts, and Courses
2024 – 2025
Eye of the Hurricane Part 2:
Personal & Global Healing, Transformation & Evolution
PARTNER EVENT
With Marianne Rowe
Completion of Eye of the Hurricane 1 is not a prerequisite for participation in this course.
Experiencing the You-niverse –
Bringing Cosmos into Daily Life
PARTNER EVENT
Retreat
- What if you knew you were eating the cosmos for breakfast, breathing in starlight, and dancing with cosmic energy? On this retreat we’ll be exploring how to further bring the perspective of the cosmos into our daily life.
- What if we knew ourselves as more than just this body in this space and time?
- What if we experienced the space between us as connecting rather than separating?
- What if we realized that we are members of a community that’s far more expansive, diverse and cohesive than we ever imagined?
Join us in exploring these timely and pertinent questions as we make connections between our daily life and the cosmos, making meaning of our lives in a larger context. By expanding our view to include the cosmos, we find new perspectives and insight, along with support and guidance that can help us navigate this time of change and uncertainty.
With Marianne Rowe, Stephan Martin, & Mark Westmoquette
Past Events
and February 3, 10, 17, 24
Choosing Earth Course – Deepening Life Purpose Within Our Time of Crisis
We are all aware that humanity is facing significant crises—from destruction of the planet and her life forms to social injustices to the spread of authoritarianism. How will these changes transform our lives? What kind of world will our lives support? What supports a more regenerative or uplifting future?
Join a group that will gather once a week over seven weeks as we explore these questions and the book, Choosing Earth. Through weekly reading assignments, inquiry questions (in dyads and large group), experiential work, and simple yet powerful homework activity, we will expand our understanding and felt sense of this critical time on Earth.
The curriculum for this course has developed over the past four years by Duane, Coleen, and the Choosing Earth Team, along with inputs from colleagues and past participants.
Each session consciously builds a sense of community to support sharing, reflecting, and digesting this visionary and, at times, challenging material. The aim of this course is to expand our capacity to take in the profound collective challenges humanity faces, to grow resilience, build community, and inspire conscious actions.
Facilitated by Choosing Earth Co-director, Coleen LeDrew Elgin, and Choosing Earth facilitators, Carol Normandi and Marianne Rowe. The author, Duane Elgin, will be a guest teacher for portions of most meetings. Read the bios of Duane, Coleen, Marianne, and Carol: choosingearth.org/the-team/
Summer Series
Climate Psychology – What are we learning? What is emerging?
Wednesday, July 13 5:30 – 7:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
What can we learn from the emerging field of climate psychology? Join us on Wednesday, July 13th for this engaging inquiry. With Barbara Easterlin, PhD, Duane and Coleen Elgin. For more information about the program and to regsiter, go here.
No one turned away for lack of funds. Please contact us if you need a scholarship. All proceeds benefit the Choosing Earth Project. This conversation will be recorded and made available shortly after the event.
Lessons from the Front Lines: Life, Loss, and Healing
Friday, July 29, 9:00 – 10:30 am Pacific Standard Time
A wide ranging exploration of what we can learn from trauma, end of life/death and dying, and being fully human in these times.
Duane and Coleen Elgin, Co-directors of the Choosing Earth Project, are delighted to have a conversation with Ladybird Morgan. In addition to more than 20+ years working in hospice and palliative medicine, Ladybird has a wealth of experience dealing with trauma, mental health, and the painful repercussions of sexual violence. She has guided medical practitioners, families, and private caregivers, as well as directors of programs and institutions around the world on how to be present to experiences that may be hard to hear or bear witness to.
Contributing Effectively in Times of Crisis
Wednesday, August 10 5:30 – 7:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
An experiential program with Dr. Roger Walsh
Given our social turmoil and imperiled planet, the great question of our time has become, “What can I do?” This is an invaluable question, but is best viewed as a starting point for a deeper quest. This quest asks still deeper questions, recognizes our current crises as expressions of deeper patterns, identifies strategic leverage points, simultaneously addresses both outer social change as well as individual and collective psychological healing and maturation, and transforms contribution into the growth practice of sacred service, or as it’s traditionally known, karma yoga More information.
At the Threshold: Grief, Initiation, and Transformation
Friday, August 19, 1:00 – 2:30 pm Pacific Standard Time
Join us for a deep dive into the initiation of our times
Duane and Coleen Elgin, Co-directors of the Choosing Earth Project, will engage Francis Weller in a spirited and searching conversation based on his work as a psychotherapist and soul activist. Francis is also the author of the powerful preface for the second edition of Duane’s book, Choosing Earth. The title of his preface describes what we focus on in this impactful conversation: “At the Threshold: Grief, Initiation, and Transformation.” More information and register here
No one turned away for lack of funds. Please contact us if you need a scholarship. This program will be recorded and made available shortly after the event.
Choosing Earth: An Online Experiential Book Study Group
Thursdays August 11, 18, 25, Sept. 1, 8, 15, and 22
5:30 – 7:00PM (PST – US)
Lead by Marianne Rowe, Monterey Bay Meditation Studio
In this 7-week course, with Duane Elgin’s recently revised book as a guide, we explore the crisis and the opportunity that we have before us to change where we are headed. We will engage deep inquiry, mindful discussion, experiential investigation, and simple homework activities to explore, process, and identify where we are and what we can do to cultivate lasting change, individually and globally. Each class focuses on building a container that supports sharing, reflecting, and digesting this visionary and, at times, challenging material.
Marianne Rowe, MS, LMFT is a psychotherapist, meditation teacher, nature therapy guide, relational facilitator, and artist. She is founding teacher at Monterey Bay Meditation Studio where she leads courses and retreats on mindfulness and nature, Sensing the Sacred outdoors, and more. Learn more about Marianne here: choosingearth.org/the-team/
and www.montereybaymeditation.com/
Online Conversation with Duane and Coleen Elgin
Thursday, May 19 5:30 – 7:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
Join us for a discussion about the crisis and the opportunity that we are facing individually and globally, culturally and spiritually. Hosted by Marianne Rowe with Duane and Coleen Elgin.
Live – Awakenings Podcast
April 27th, 12:00 pm Pacific Standard Time
Michele Mieche interviews Duane at 12:50 – 1:30pm PST. Awakenings with Michele Meiche is Your place for insight, tools and the 411 to track & navigate the Path of Awakening, Soul Expression, and living your life more fulfilled in all areas. Learn and share in living more awake, aware and conscious in your everyday life. Awakenings broadcasts live every Wed. 12pm -1:30 pm PT. More info: Awakenings Podcasts are available on Itunes
The Time is Now: Showing up for the Earth
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
April 24, 2022 (Sunday)
10:00 a.m.– 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time
This online gathering on Earth Day weekend is a time to connect with our love for the Earth, our shared, magnificent home, and all life on it. Out of that connection comes a deep care and commitment to be wise stewards, compassionate and humble co-inhabitants and to do our part to preserve and protect this planet and all the life it supports as an act of love.
Hosted by James Baraz, a founding teacher of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Duane and Coleen are guest presenters along with Renee Lertzman, Kaira Jewel Lingo, Kristin Barker, and MaMuse. This is a Spirit Rock Meditation Center event.
Online Interview with Duane & Coleen Elgin
recorded on April 15, 2022
Georgia Kelly interviews Duane & Coleen.
Georgia is the Founder and Executive Director of Praxis Peace Institute.
Watch a recording of the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NA_53_aHWg