In Buddhism, the Eight Worldly Winds are Gain & Loss, Pleasure & Pain, Praise & Blame, and Fame & Disrepute. We get blown around by these winds in our personal and writing lives. We, and our characters, experience gains and losses small and large. We worry about our reputations and can become preoccupied with blame when something goes wrong. We might experience pleasure with acceptance and pain when we feel rejected. How do we stay grounded and find our balance in the midst of these winds and the changes they often bring? 

During this online gathering we’ll explore ways to ground ourselves and find our center in the midst of the Eight Worldly Winds through guided meditation, dharma talks, movement exercises and writing prompts. We’ll use Dharma stories such as The Parable of the Mustard Seed and The Farmer and His Horse as a basis for our writing and meditation practice. We’ll practice mindful listening and speaking through group shares and we’ll come together as a group to harvest learnings from the day.

Earth, Wind & Writing about Change:

Grounding Ourselves in Community in the Midst of the Eight Worldly Winds

Saturday, December 5th

10am-3pm

Online

This workshop is designed for people interested in writing and meditation. All levels are welcome — those with a writing and meditation practice or those new to these practices. Meditations will be guided and writing prompts will be given to support your practice. Through meditation, writing and sharing stories we can turn isolating emotions into connection and ground ourselves in community.

Facilitators: Rebekah Eppley & Meg Hayertz

Rebekah Eppley (she/they) began studying and practicing Buddhism at East Bay Meditation Center in 2014. She is currently a TA for Braided Wisdom’s Original Medicine year-long program. She is also part of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leaders cohort (2025-2027) and the 2026/2027 Buddhist Chaplaincy Training cohort through the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. She practices and teaches with East Bay Meditation Center’s Maha and Alphabet Sanghas and has completed EBMC’s White and Awakening in Sangha program and EBMC’s Spiritual Teacher and Leadership training.

Rebekah worked as a librarian at Oakland Public Library for 18 years. She currently serves as a hospice volunteer in the San Francisco Bay Area. She holds a BFA in Writing, Literature and Publishing from Emerson College, an MA in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and an MLIS from San Jose State University.

Meg Hayertz (she/they), author of Tarot for Beginners (Althea Press), believes creating is an act of listening. As the founder of Creative Momentum, she helps writers free their voice, nourish their practice and finish their project. They hold an MFA in Writing and Consciousness from California Institute of Integral Studies and their fiction has appeared in The Louisville Review, CALYX, Press Pause and elsewhere. She has been practicing Soto Zen since 2008. She met her teacher, Amy Kisei, Sensei, in 2021 and in 2023 she received Jukai in the White Plum lineage of Maezumi Roshi. Also, she believes in you.

Image Credit: Alan Saint Clark