Hello and welcome to the Feast for the Soul.
As Director of the Feast for the Soul, I am excited to take you on this journey with me and thousands of others who observe the Feast each year.
The Feast for the Soul is a 40-day spiritual practice intensive that promotes self-discovery, mindfulness, meditation, and creative practices. You can think of it as a virtual retreat whereby you commit to 40 days of spiritual practice. Whether you meditate, dance, paint, practice yoga, or observe another spiritual practice, this 40-day intensive will help you to kick off a new way of living year round. The Feast for the Soul provides resources, support, and teachings that you can access free of charge. There is a wealth of information on this site and you’ll gain free access to meditation teachers from across the globe.The master meditation index provides you with inspiration and guidance for your daily practice.
By signing up to participate, you are joining a growing global community of more than 20,000 individuals committed to sustaining a daily spiritual practice during the Feast.
We recently changed our name to better reflect our global community, encompassing both hemispheres throughout the year. When it is winter on one side of the globe, it is summer on the other side. By naming our 40-day spiritual intensive Feast for the Soul, we show our dedication to the Feast community around the globe.
For those new to meditation or spiritual practice, you will find inspiration and guidance here. The faculty includes 14 inspirational teachers from a variety of traditions and religious practices. Each one has generously offered a series of meditations to support you on your journey to being more self-aware and self-realized.
During the Feast, you can choose to listen to one teacher throughout the Feast, or choose a new teacher each day and explore the offerings. You can access all 700 meditations here.
For those who are already practicing a daily 40-minute meditation, you might want to add a few new components to your daily spiritual practice such as reading sacred texts, engaging in creative practice, or going for a mindful walk after your 40 minutes. If you sign up for the daily emails, you will be encouraged to try some new practices and inspired by teachers who may be new to you.
The idea is to commit, really commit to deepening your practice every day for 40 days. However, if you somehow miss a day or two, you can always begin again. You can begin each moment anew, each day anew, each relationship anew, and each day you can face the world with a new perspective by diving into your personal spiritual practice. In fact, you can start right now.
I believe our work is to find and create an unshakable peaceful interior so that it resides in the altar of our heart every day of our lives. This is a time of deep practice. I am practicing with you. Thank you for adding yourself to the community of peacemakers who begin a journey to true inner peace.
Over ten years ago, an American meditation practitioner in the Sufi tradition, Valerie Skonie, created the Winter Feast for the Soul after she read a poem by Rumi, a 13th Century Persian Mystic:
A new moon teaches gradualness and deliberation, and how one gives birth to oneself slowly.
Patience with small details makes perfect a large work, like the universe.
What nine months of attention does for an embryo forty early mornings alone will do for your gradually growing wholeness.
~ Jelaluddin Rumi
This poem inspired me to create a 40-day worldwide spiritual practice period—a virtual intensive—during which people of all ages in all traditions make a commitment to practice deeply and expand their awareness. I gathered numerous teachers from various traditions and religions who each provided a 40-day program of meditations and discourses free of charge to anyone interested in participating.
The Mission
To support individuals all over the world in committing or recommitting to their personal daily spiritual practice by inviting them to participate in the annual 40-day spiritual intensive. The faculty is composed of spiritual guides and teachers from a variety of religious traditions and lineages who offer guided meditations and discourses, volunteer their support, and lend encouragement to Feast participants. The Feast is a cost-free intensive that everyone — regardless of spiritual tradition, path, or practice — is encouraged to observe in order to create more personal peace and world peace.
The Vision
We envision a world at peace made up of a community of individuals, each committed to their personal daily spiritual practice, thus creating more peace on this planet. We visualize people everywhere, regardless of the imagined boundaries of creed, culture, and philosophical beliefs, participating in the synchronized spiritual practice intensive, the Feast for the Soul. We imagine a world where all peaceful spiritual traditions and organizations are embraced,
All Are Welcome
The Feast engages new friends and old and supports them in sustaining their commitment to their daily spiritual practice The Feast welcomes participants from all faiths, beliefs, and peaceful paths who practice a variety of worldwide spiritual traditions and philosophies, among them: meditation, yoga, martial arts, journaling, creative arts, prayer, daily acts of kindness, and/or reading spiritual texts. The Feast offers guided meditations and discourses online, available free of charge, year-round.
Spiritual Practice
The Feast encourages all forms of peaceful spiritual practices that bring an individual to a period of stillness in their daily life. The Feast for the Soul 40-day period suggests a commitment to 40 minutes of spiritual practice each day. This intensive period of practice can cultivate a transformational experience of peace, contentment, and love. From this inner peace, loving kindness and compassion flow naturally into daily life.
Acts of Kindness
The practice acts of kindness toward one’s self and others can flow effortlessly from the wellspring of compassion and peace that is cultivated by a dedicated daily spiritual practice. In this world of dramatic change, it is important to emphasize that those who desire peace have a role to play. We must cultivate inner peace and commit to the outer expression of our practice.
40 Minutes Each Day for 40 Day
The number 40 has great historical significance in the lives of important spiritual teachers. Forty is the number of change. If we truly want to make a difference in the world, then we must begin by inviting change into our own lives. Consider Moses, Elijah, Buddha, Jesus, and Mohamed. They all left their ordinary lives for 40 days to connect with the Indwelling Spirit. During the Feast, you don’t have to leave your life. You simply commit to making your spiritual practice a priority during the Feast.
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