The Practice of Holding Nothing | Elena Brower
4/23/202651 min
Elena Brower spent two decades as one of the most visible yoga and meditation teachers in the world, stages of thousands, a growing platform, the whole forward-facing life. Then she started doing the opposite. She got quieter. She trained as a chaplain. She began sitting with people in hospice, in silence, holding nothing but presence. Her new book, Hold Nothing, draws on that journey and on an ancient Chinese sutra that became her compass: Welcome nothing. Refuse nothing. Reflect everything. Hold nothing.
This is a conversation about what happens when the drive to impact as many people as possible gives way to the desire to impact as few as possible, as quietly as possible. We explore what Elena's time in hospice has revealed about presence as the ultimate offering, the hidden cost of living a double life while teaching wholeness, how the practice of letting go transforms the closest relationships in your life, why silence is the thing most of us are allergic to and also the thing we most need, and what it actually means to prepare, through every small daily choice, to die a good death, and why that might be the clearest definition of a good life.
A deeply honest, quietly powerful conversation for anyone in midlife who is beginning to sense that the most important work ahead isn't about building more, it's about becoming less.
You can find Elena at: Website | Instagram | Episode Transcript
Next week, we're sharing our conversation with Dave DeSteno about the 'spiritual technology' that can lower your stress and mortality risk, even if you don't consider yourself a person of faith.
Check out our offerings & partners:
- Join My New Writing Project: Awake at the Wheel
- Visit Our Sponsor Page For Great Resources & Discount Codes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Clips
Showing 10 of 11Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJonathan Fields· Host0:00
So what if the most important shift in your life, it isn't about building something new, but about finally letting go of everything that you've been holding? My guest today, Elena Brower, spent more than two decades as one of the most recognized yoga and meditation teachers in the world. We're talking stages of thousands, growing platform, books translated into seven languages, the whole forward-facing life that our culture tells us means that we've, quote, "made it." And then she started moving in the other direction. She got quieter. She trained as a chaplain. She began sitting with people in hospice, not teaching, not leading, just being present, holding nothing but their hand. Her new book is called Hold Nothing, and it's rooted in an ancient sutra that became a kind of a compass for her. Welcome nothing, refuse nothing, reflect everything, hold nothing. In this conversation, we go deep into what it actually looks like to release the identity you built, not because it failed, but because it's no longer who you are. We talk about the hidden cost of living a double life while teaching wholeness and what it took to close that gap. We explore what changes in your closest relationships when you stop holding your partner to who they were and just let them become who they need to become. And we sit with what Elena has learned from being present really at the end of people's lives, and why she now believes that learning to die might well