Weekly Sit with Lama Willa: Collective Awakening

New offering beginning in January!

Tuesdays, 5:30 – 6:30 pm ET — Live Online

Lama Willa Blythe Baker invites you to practice with her every week: a simple, welcoming opportunity to gather, meditate, and strengthen the rhythm of contemplative life, together.

Collective Awakening is an approach to practice that assumes we do not wake up alone. While we might see practice as a chance to bring greater peace and balance into our human life, the practice of meditation ultimately leads us to understand that we belong to one another. A deep practice gradually dissolves the illusion of separateness. Awakening, by its very definition, is communal. It is a call to embody interbeing, a call to wake up–not as a solitary self–but as a collective.

Regular practice in community can be a powerful way to embody Collective Awakening, and a powerful and simple way of responding to challenging times. Each gathering centers around a 40 minute meditation with a 20-minute Dharma teaching, offering encouragement, perspective, and instruction to support our practice and offer a ground for embodying peace in troubled times.

Week by week, we have the opportunity to deepen our capacity to be present, to listen inwardly, and to meet these times with greater resilience. And there is something especially powerful about doing this together—with a community that keeps showing up, not just for ourselves, but for the collective.

Whether you are a beginner, an experienced meditator, or are finding your way back to the cushion, you’re warmly invited. There is no need to arrive with a perfect practice or a particular state of mind. Meditation is an open door to arrive exactly as we are.

Let’s make space for what matters, and cultivate the power of showing up—together.

Closed captioning is available.

Preparing for Practice

Please come prepared with a comfortable meditation setup, such as a cushion or chair, or a yoga mat or other comfortable arrangement if you prefer to lie down.

Sessions will begin with music and a brief, five-minute ritual led by Lama Willa, including making offerings, lighting candles, and prostrations. You are invited to prepare a small altar or shrine for this purpose, participate in whatever way is comfortable for you, or simply rest during this opening practice.

Program Pricing

It is Natural Dharma Fellowship’s aspiration that no one be turned away from our programs and retreats because they are unable to pay the full cost. This program is offered by monthly subscription with a three-tier sliding fee scale so you may choose the amount that best fits your budget. 

• May All Beings Benefit: $60/month – For those who can afford it, this fee level helps provide support for those with limited financial resources and assists with the care and development of this program.
• The Middle Way: $40/month – This fee covers the basic cost of this program.
• Held in Sangha Loving-Kindness: $20/month – For those with limited financial resources or recent financial hardship.

It is already a wonderful act of generosity that you offer your presence and practice to our Sangha and we do not wish to create any hardship or a barrier to participation. If the lowest payment level does not fit your financial situation, please do not hesitate to request financial aid.

Access to Recordings

While live attendance is strongly encouraged, we understand that not everyone can join every gathering. Participants have unlimited access to recordings of each weekly session via their user dashboard. Please register using the same email linked to your NDF user account (dashboard/mobile app); if you don’t yet have an account, one will be created using your registration email.

Recordings may take time to become available, depending on our volunteer team’s workload. Thank you for your patience.