Cornelia Santschi
Cornelia (Punnya) Santschi is a neuropsychologist and meditation teacher. She is deeply committed to environmental conservation and social justice. At the RWJ Barnabas Health Institute of Neurology in NJ, she has specialized in brain-behavior relationships for over 20 years. Cornelia is a devoted student of Buddhism with a dedicated insight meditation practice since 2000. She completed yoga teacher training at Integral Yoga in NYC in 2001, and graduated from the Community Dharma Leader Program in 2017.
As founder/president of non-profit Anatta World Health & Education Outreach, Cornelia has organized culturally sensitive health, education, and women’s empowerment programs in multiple countries, with local partners since 2006, and co-leads yearly meaningful travel tours in Nepal. Cornelia is co-founder/board member of Newark Center for Meditative Culture in NJ, where she serves as meditation teacher and insight community liaison; working to increase access to socially engaged programs within a diverse urban community. She is co-founder/vice-president of the Alegria Dharma Center, a meditation retreat center in Costa Rica, where she is developing a comprehensive EcoDharma retreat program.
Events with Cornelia Santschi
Immerse in Nature and Expand into EcodharmaJuly 19 - 28, 2024
Immerse in Nature and Expand into Ecodharma This retreat is a deep dive into being, in nature, abiding silently, joining inner nature with outer nature, and dissolving separation. Each day includes plentiful time for sitting, hiking/walking meditation, as well as nature meditation instruction, dharma talks, and individual and group practice discussions. There will be a relaxing two night solo opportunity during the retreat, which is an incredible highlight. The overall intention is for deep silence, practice, and the joy and healing that comes with a profound connection with nature, and then integrating that into one’s life. Spiritual practice will be supported by instruction in a variety of nature meditation practices. There will be nightly campfire dharma talks, exploring how being-in-nature can be an important part of our spiritual path by helping to ground us in personal experience of non-separation from the natural world. The emphasis is not on meditative technique so much as developing direct awareness that can lead to a new integration of the internal (spiritual) and external (activity). Supported by the connection and joy that comes from being in nature, we will also begin to investigate and work with the emotions, anxieties or traumas we are all experiencing…
NEW! Transformation in Nature: Solo and Sangha Retreat for Experienced PractitionersJuly 30 - August 3, 2024
Transformation in Nature: Solo and Sangha If you have been wanting to do a longer solo retreat in nature, but were daunted by the logistics, or uncertain about the purpose of a solo or what to bring, this retreat makes all of that simple. Solo nature practice is an incredibly powerful way to realize who we truly are, to touch into being, and the reality of non-separation that brings. When we hang out in a beautiful spot for days, being aware, peaceful, and still, this calms and reassures the wildlife that usually try and avoid humans, and they come and visit, sometimes for hours. This opens our hearts to love and appreciation, to the beauty and power of nature, and we begin to feel completely and utterly at home; effortlessly peaceful, present, and awake. This is deeply healing and transformative, a missing piece in lives of doing and busyness in a hi-tech dehumanized society. This retreat is a unique opportunity to abide in nature for five days, quiet and mostly on your own solo spot, surrounded by beauty. Each day you will return to meet at the lodge for a couple of hours of meditation, sharing, discussion, and support, followed…
