Embodied Mindfulness Meditation for Somatic and Emotional healing.

Dina Kushnir

Podcast Intro – Heart Attending Welcome.This is a space to slow down, to arrive, and to listen — not only with the mind, but with the heart and the body. I’m Dina A. Kushnir. My work offers a feminine, embodied approach to somatic meditation and spiritual awakening — one that begins not with effort or striving, but with tenderness, presence, and loving attention. At the center of my guidance is a practice I call Heart Attending: an invitation to awaken the heart to awareness, to meet yourself with kindness, and to allow loving attention to become the ground of healing and awakening. In a world that often pulls us out of ourselves — into speed, fragmentation, and self-judgment — this practice invites a return. A return to the body as an ally. A return to the breath as a home. A return to the quiet wisdom already living within you. Through Heart Attending, the body, breath, sensations, emotions, feelings, and perceptions become doorways — not obstacles — to presence and peace. As we cultivate gentle awareness and compassion toward ourselves, somatic and emotional healing unfold naturally, forming the foundation for all spiritual growth. The roots of my work are in Buddhist Vipassana meditation, with a deep emphasis on embodied awareness and the direct experience of body sensations. For over three decades, I have guided meditation groups, retreats, and classes, integrating this lineage with somatic, body–mind, and emotional healing modalities from both Eastern and Western traditions. In this podcast, you are invited to rest, to feel, and to remember what it is like to be at home in yourself.There is nothing you need to fix, achieve, or become. Just bring your presence.And let the heart attend.

  1. 9h ago

    Module 16: Episode 3 - Talking to your spine - movement & practice

    Send me a note, love to hear from you. Part 1: Mindful movement (about 10 minutes) This meditation invites you first to movement. Start with focused on the feet then the spine: shifting weight, rising to the toes, and bending the knees with the breath while drawing earth energy up and sky energy down. It continued with forward bends and back arches using a crossed-arm “taking off your shirt” motion, side bends, and spinal twists led by the eyes. It ended by noticing what had changed, then sitting with the spine lengthened from the crown. Part 2: Guided meditation — talking to the spine (about 20 minutes) This continued the series on speaking to body parts, after earlier sessions on the lungs and hands. This meditation moved down the spine section by section, offering gratitude to each: Cervical spine (7 vertebrae): for turning the head, looking up at the sky and down at the earth, and making space for breath and food.Thoracic spine (12 vertebrae): for housing the spinal cord and anchoring the back muscles and shoulder blades.Lumbar spine (5 vertebrae): for flexibility, while acknowledging that its mobility is also where pain often arises.Sacrum and tailbone: “sacred,” the energetic center of the second Chakra, the Tatian /hara). Click here to support the show. Visit Dina's website, oliveoasis.com, to learn more about her work and her sanctuary in upstate New York. Click Here to Sign up for Dina's newsletter to receive meditations in your inbox every Wednesday.

  2. Oct 21

    Module 16: Episode 1 - Exile, Grace and Speaking to the Lungs

    Send me a note, love to hear from you. Module 16: Speaking directly to the body and awakening its sacred consciousness. This teaching introduces an embodied spiritual practice inspired by mystical teachings associated with the Jewish mystic, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.  The aim of this practice is to awaken the sacred consciousness in the body. Before you begin the talk Establish the sitting posture, resting in breath awareness and chose a body part you like to approach. Start by feeling this part, see its shape feel its energy know its contribution to your life.  Acknowledge its endless devotional work throughout your body and its collaboration and relationship with the rest of the body. Make the speech gentle, kind and full of gratitude. Every cell of your body is conscious listening to your talk. Episode 1. Meditation; speaking to the lungs. This meditation invites you to a new framework built around two states: • Private exile — is the moment the mind disconnects from the body and the present, contracting into thought, story, or judgment about others. • Private grace (or “Geula”) — is the moment attention returns to the body and breath, releasing tension and restoring wholeness. It is an active, repeatable practice: noticing Exile, and gently return to Grace. The Practice Start by feeling strong, aligned sitting posture and an imagined energetic “pillar” through the spine. Follow the breath from the nose, throat, and into the lungs.  Speaking directly to the lungs — offering gratitude for their ceaseless work. The speech is kind and gentle and full of appreciation.  When you notice grief, memory, or old sensations that arise from old childhood illness, return gently to the breath and presence with the lungs. Click here to support the show. Visit Dina's website, oliveoasis.com, to learn more about her work and her sanctuary in upstate New York. Click Here to Sign up for Dina's newsletter to receive meditations in your inbox every Wednesday.

Ratings & Reviews

5
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6 Ratings

About

Podcast Intro – Heart Attending Welcome.This is a space to slow down, to arrive, and to listen — not only with the mind, but with the heart and the body. I’m Dina A. Kushnir. My work offers a feminine, embodied approach to somatic meditation and spiritual awakening — one that begins not with effort or striving, but with tenderness, presence, and loving attention. At the center of my guidance is a practice I call Heart Attending: an invitation to awaken the heart to awareness, to meet yourself with kindness, and to allow loving attention to become the ground of healing and awakening. In a world that often pulls us out of ourselves — into speed, fragmentation, and self-judgment — this practice invites a return. A return to the body as an ally. A return to the breath as a home. A return to the quiet wisdom already living within you. Through Heart Attending, the body, breath, sensations, emotions, feelings, and perceptions become doorways — not obstacles — to presence and peace. As we cultivate gentle awareness and compassion toward ourselves, somatic and emotional healing unfold naturally, forming the foundation for all spiritual growth. The roots of my work are in Buddhist Vipassana meditation, with a deep emphasis on embodied awareness and the direct experience of body sensations. For over three decades, I have guided meditation groups, retreats, and classes, integrating this lineage with somatic, body–mind, and emotional healing modalities from both Eastern and Western traditions. In this podcast, you are invited to rest, to feel, and to remember what it is like to be at home in yourself.There is nothing you need to fix, achieve, or become. Just bring your presence.And let the heart attend.