026: Purpose, authenticity, & letting go of your ego with the help of mindful awareness - Deborah Eden Tull

Deborah Eden Tull is a Zen meditation/mindfulness teacher, author, spiritual activist and sustainability educator. She spent seven years as a monastic at a silent Zen Monastery, and has been immersed in sustainable communities for 25 years. Eden’s teaching style is grounded in compassionate awareness, non-duality, mindful inquiry, and an unwavering commitment to personal transformation. She teaches dharma intertwined with post-patriarchal thought and practices, resting upon a lived knowledge of our unity with the more than human world. She also facilitates The Work That Reconnects, as created by Buddhist scholar Joanna Macy. Eden has been practicing meditation for the past 30 years and teaching for over 20 years. She is the author of three books, The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide to the Sustainable Food Revolution, Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and the Planet, and Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown. She lives in Black Mountain,North Carolina and offers retreats, workshops, leadership training, and consultations internationally.

💫 We cover :

• Eden’s path; 7 years as a monastic at a Zen Monastery to publishing books, launching an international non profit , and leading retreats
• Process vs. product when it comes to creativity & ambition
• Interconnection vs. innerconnection 
• Reframing our perspective on darkness vs. light: in life, within ourselves, difficult emotions, yin vs. yang (restorative vs. active time & energy)
• Becoming a channel for your creativity
• The journey of “unlearning” to find your purpose
• Mindful working + career, bringing balance to our work + spiritual life
• How self improvement is a “myth” + finding true freedom
• Releasing the ego to tap into greater creativity and the power of “co-creation”
• The power of intentions instead of resolutions
• Meeting the unknown with curiosity vs. fear

💫 Mentioned in this episode:

• The Natural Kitchen: Your Guide to the Sustainable Food Revolution
• Relational Mindfulness: A Handbook for Deepening Our Connection with Ourselves, Each Other, and the Planet
• Luminous Darkness: An Engaged Buddhist Approach to Embracing the Unknown

💫  Connect with Eden