Loosening the Grip: A Day of Meditation on Love and Letting Go

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What does it take to stay fully present with someone you love, all the way to the end? At Emberlight, we learn this at the bedside of the dying. Loving presence asks us to stay without fixing, listen without rushing, and love without holding on. It grows in the space we make when we loosen our grip.

We invite you to spend the day, or half of it, in meditation and reflection with David Gaia Kano, exploring a question at the heart of conscious living and conscious dying: can we love fully and commit deeply without gripping so tightly?

So much of our suffering comes from holding on. We hold on to comfort, to certainty, to how we believe things should be. Meditation offers a way to notice that grip and gently soften it.

As our grip softens, presence has room to grow. We listen more deeply. We meet pain, our own and others', with compassion. We bear witness to what is, rather than what we wish it to be. Each small letting go becomes practice for the larger passages of life.

In the morning, David will guide you a little deeper into meditation with a variety of techniques, including silent sitting, breath awareness, walking meditation, and continuous mantra listening, so you can discover which one resonates for you. Between sits, you will share in pairs and small groups, practicing the deep listening that holds a caring community together.

David will offer a talk drawn from more than five decades of daily practice and respond to your questions. You will leave with a practice to carry home, and an invitation to pair with a practice buddy or join a weekly group so your devotion keeps growing after the day ends.

No meditation experience is needed. New and seasoned meditators are equally welcome, and if you are new, the morning is a good place to begin. All you need is the willingness to be present with yourself, exactly as you arrive.

We will gather in the Light House on the Emberlight campus. Join us for the full day, the morning, or the afternoon.

• Morning, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm: instruction, guided practice, sharing, and David's talk

• Lunch, 12:30 to 1:30 pm: held in silence on campus. If you are joining for the full day, please bring a bag lunch. There is space on site to heat and cool food.

• Afternoon, 1:30 to 5:00 pm: silent practice with little or no teaching, best suited to those already comfortable with silent meditation. An accessible guided option is offered for newer meditators.

What to bring:

• A water bottle and comfortable clothing

• Your favorite meditation cushion or bench, if you have one (cushions, mats, and chairs are also available on site)

• A smartphone with earbuds or headphones, for the mantra listening practice

• A journal

About David Gaia Kano

David has practiced sitting meditation every day for more than 53 years. He teaches a weekly meditation class at Asheville Community Yoga and completed his 250-hour yoga teacher training in 2025. David wrote Faith to Practice, a book to help people build a reliable daily meditation practice. He teaches from his own experience, in plain language and with common sense, helping people bring meditation into everyday life.

Reciprocity

This is a Pay What You Can event, and all proceeds support Emberlight. The care we offer is free to every resident and family who comes to us, and it stays free because this community holds it up. Your ticket goes directly into that work. We invite you to give what feels right for you, and for those able to give more, that generosity is what keeps a bed open and a hand held for the next person who needs one.

Please note that all event tickets are non-refundable, except in the case that Emberlight cancels the event.

Please contact events@emberlightway.org with any questions.