Our first response to troubled emotions is to distance ourselves from the pain, but true healing comes from doing just the opposite. We always have a choice, Pema Chödrön, Shambhala Buddhist nun and well-known author, teaches: we can let the circumstances of our lives harden us and make us increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. Here Pema provides the tools to deal with the problems and difficulties that life throws our way. This wisdom is always available to us, but we usually block it with habitual patterns rooted in fear. Beyond that fear lies a state of openheartedness and tenderness. Pema Chödrön is a leading exponent of teachings on meditation and how they apply to everyday life. She is widely known for her charming and down-to-earth interpretation of Tibetan Buddhism for Western audiences. Pema studied under the meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche and currently studies with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche. Pema is the resident teacher at Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, the first Tibetan monastery for Westerners and has authored several books. Pema was recently interviewed by Bill Moyers on his program Faith and Reason. Click here to see the video of this interview. This five week program is hosted by Lynda Golan and Stanley Weiser. Lynda is a licensed psychotherapist, a trained meditation instructor, and an artist/painter. Stanley is a senior student of Trungpa Rinpoche, and an award-winning writer for screen (Wall Street) and television who has worked with Oliver Stone, Robert DeNiro and James Woods, among many others. Meditation instruction will be available, and the tapes will be followed by group discussion. The suggested donation is $10 per video. Please note that there is no video on September 26. Presented by the Westside Shambhala Meditation Group @ the Santa Monica Zen Center, 1001A Colorado Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (Northwest corner of 10th & Colorado. Look for red brick building complex. Enter though the alley on Colorado. The door to the Zen Center is immediately to your left as you enter the alley.)