Real Life with Jennifer Till

09/20/2024

International Peace Day is this Saturday, September 21, and I'm offering Being Peace: Remembering that the deepest peace we long for begins within.

Dances of Universal Peace and meditation --
1:00-2:30 pm at The Rock Circle at 1909 Chesapeake St, Charlottesville (take Chesapeake Street to end).

I do hope you'll be here as we join together to cultivate and orient our hearts toward Peace, Love, Equanimity, and Joy. Please let me know if you're planning on attending.

The Dances of Universal Peace are simple, meditative, and joyous circle dances using sacred phrases, music, and movements from the world’s wisdom traditions. Th­ere are no performers or audience; no musical or dance experience is necessary; and all are welcome to join. New arrivals and experienced dancers join hands in a circle as the leader teaches the group the words, melody, and movement.

04/03/2014

Welcome to another day of being alive!

04/02/2014

Over the last 5 years at Real Life, we've had a number of truly wonderful interns, all of whom have come to us through academic connections because they are trying to gain experience while earning academic credit.

Carissa Wolkiewicz, the amazing intern who is working with us now, is primarily focused on the work experience and not the academic credit. It is our great loss that Carissa will be finishing up in 2 weeks, and it recently occurred to us that there may be others of you in our community with a similar desire to gain the experience of working with our show.

So...I would like to extend an invitation to any of you who listen to the show, the podcasts, or follow the blog or page...If you are interested in exploring working with us as an Associate Producer, please let us know. This can be done remotely (outside of the Charlottesville area). Or if you know of anyone who would be interested, please pass this invitation along...

02/16/2014

There is some kiss we want with
our whole lives, the touch of
spirit on the body.

Seawater
begs the pearl to break its shell.

And the lily, how passionately
it needs some wild darling!

At night, I open the window and ask
the moon to come and press its
face against mine.

Breathe into me.

Close the language-door and
open the love window.
The moon
won't use the door, only the window.

Rumi (Trans. Coleman Barks) | Artist unknown

02/05/2014

The moon came to me last night
with a sweet question.

She said,

"The sun has been my faithful lover
for millions of years.

Whenever I offer my body to him
brilliant light pours from his heart.

Thousands then notice my happiness
and delight in pointing
toward my beauty.

Hafiz,

Is it true that our destiny
is to turn into Light
itself?"

And I replied,

Dear moon,

Now that your love is maturing,
we need to sit together
close like this more often

So I might instruct you
how to become
who you
are!

~Hafiz

01/24/2014

First reading I went through too quickly. I slowed it down, read one. Took a breath. Absorbed it. Read the next. Took a breath...

Here are 19 Life Lessons from the Dalai Lama that he wishes to share with you. The Dalai Lama is regarded as the spiritual leader of Tibet and has spent his life helping people around the world rea...

01/24/2014

Past guest, Sharon Salzberg, is in Charlottesville this weekend. Today, she's giving a talk at noon at UVA's Contemplative Sciences Center and tomorrow Sharon will be offering a 1/2 day retreat for IMCC's Prison Project. Here's a link to our talk last week.

To paraphrase Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, writing about something else entirely, Happiness may be hard for some to define, but almost everybody knows when they’re feeling that way.

01/21/2014

A friend from Charlottesville wrote this article about her 30-day hugging meditation experiment. (I'm hoping she'll join me on Real Life with Jennifer Till!)

A 30 day Hugging meditation experiment leads to an overflowing of compassion and meeting with Mother Amma.

01/21/2014

Are we really alive?
If you died tomorrow, could you say, "I have smelled and I have tasted; I have touched and I have cared; I have bathed in the waters of life; I have listened to the birds in the early morning; I have greeted the sun, was silent with the moon, sang with the sea; I have received the gifts, the laughter and the tears, and I have offered them back; I have loved and I have allowed to be loved"?
Do we realize where we really are? Just this moment?


Image by Aneta Ivanova, a 21 years old photographer from Bulgaria. anetaivanova.com

01/21/2014

Without exception, this is the most touching human connection I've ever seen.

I didn't expect this 87-year-old woman to respond to a church hymn this dramatically.

01/21/2014

A famous actor makes a frightening discovery about women and barely keeps it together explaining why.

01/17/2014

It's finally Friday, which means that New York Times Best selling author and teacher of Buddhist meditation practices, Sharon Salzberg, will be on the show tomorrow morning.

Tune in to hear her insight and find out how meditation can help improve your life balance.