Opening the Heart Without Losing Yourself: Emotional Awareness and Compassion with Dr Eve Ekman
We live in a time of extraordinary feeling – grief, outrage, despair, and a longing to stay openhearted without being consumed.
But compassion can be harder than it sounds, and in an increasingly divided world, knowing how to navigate these feelings clearly has become a challenge.
We are delighted that Dr Eve Ekman – contemplative social scientist, teacher, and author – will offer us an evening of teaching and reflection on this topic.
Eve is Director of the Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) programme, an evidence-based training bringing together the psychology of emotions and Tibetan Buddhist contemplative practice, co-created with Dr Paul Ekman and Buddhist scholar B. Alan Wallace.
Drawing on decades of research and practice, Eve will explore what emotional awareness is, the challenges of compassion in today’s world, and what it takes to cultivate them sustainably across the divides, heartbreak, and overwhelm of modern life.
Booking & Donations
There are limited places available for this evening talk. Please book in advance using the form at the bottom of this page.
You will receive a Zoom link in your booking confirmation. The session will be recorded for later watching.
Suggested donations: £8–£15.
We are embracing a sliding scale policy for this event, guided by the Buddhist principle of generosity and inclusivity. There are suggested donations to help cover the cost of putting on these events, including room hires, refreshments, and travel and accommodation costs for the teacher and volunteers. Choosing the higher option includes a donation to support our activities for the benefit of all.
We firmly believe, however, that financial constraints should never be a barrier to participation. If the suggested amount is beyond your means, please choose the lower option or contribute what you can — every offering helps make this event possible for the collective good. Without your honesty and generosity, we wouldn’t be able to make this event happen!
About the Teacher
Dr Eve Ekman is a contemplative social scientist, teacher, and author whose work sits at the intersection of emotion science, Buddhist practice, and human wellbeing.
A founding teacher of the Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) programme, Eve’s path into this work began during six years as a medical social worker in the emergency room, where questions of how to sustain compassion under pressure became not academic, but urgent. She returned to UC Berkeley to complete a PhD in Social Welfare, studying burnout and how we can maintain compassion over the long haul.
Around that same time, she joined her father, Dr Paul Ekman, and Buddhist teacher B. Alan Wallace to launch the first public training of Cultivating Emotional Balance, a secular, evidence-based programme rooted in both modern science and ancient contemplative wisdom. She has directed that programme ever since.
Eve is a Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and collaborated with her father and the Dalai Lama on the Atlas of Emotions, an online tool designed to build a shared language for emotional awareness.
Her own contemplative practice began with B. Alan Wallace, who introduced her to the foundational practices of attention, introspection, and heart-based meditation that sit at the core of CEB.
By booking with us, you are agreeing to our Terms and Conditions, which can be viewed here.
Speakers
Speaker
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Eve EkmanContemplative Social Scientist, Teacher, and AuthorDr Eve Ekman is a contemplative social scientist, teacher, and author whose work sits at the intersection of emotion science, Buddhist practice, and human wellbeing.
A founding teacher of the Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) programme, Eve’s path into this work began during six years as a medical social worker in the emergency room, where questions of how to sustain compassion under pressure became not academic, but urgent. She returned to UC Berkeley to complete a PhD in Social Welfare, studying burnout and how we can maintain compassion over the long haul.
Around that same time, she joined her father, Dr Paul Ekman, and Buddhist teacher B. Alan Wallace to launch the first public training of Cultivating Emotional Balance, a secular, evidence-based programme rooted in both modern science and ancient contemplative wisdom. She has directed that programme ever since.
Eve is a Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, and collaborated with her father and the Dalai Lama on the Atlas of Emotions, an online tool designed to build a shared language for emotional awareness.
Her own contemplative practice began with B. Alan Wallace, who introduced her to the foundational practices of attention, introspection, and heart-based meditation that sit at the core of CEB.