Description
Weekly Skill Pairing
Each of the eight skills can be useful on their own or in combination with other skills to disrupt what’s getting in the way of returning to our inner knowing, intention, and integrity. In this four week program, I have combined skills that naturally support or balance each other out.
Week 1 — Awareness + Focus
Opening to what’s here and choosing what matters
Awareness helps us step out of autopilot by opening attention to the body, emotions, thoughts, and habitual patterns that shape our experience. It allows us to see and feel what is actually happening, giving us agency to choose our response rather than react based on our conditioning.
Focus helps us zero in on what is most important in any given moment. Where Awareness widens the lens, Focus narrows it—supporting intentional attention rather than fragmentation.
Together, these skills function like a responsive lens: we widen to see clearly, and narrow to act skillfully.
Core questions:
What’s happening right now? What needs my attention?
Week 2 — Compassion + Curiosity
Understanding experience with patience and care
As Awareness brings judgments into view, Compassion supports us in transforming those judgments into understanding by recognizing our interconnectedness. Compassion trains us to stay present with discomfort—our own and others—which is essential to understand the causes and conditions for the situation to arise.
Curiosity invites an open, patient inquiry into experience. It helps us gain clearer understanding by loosening fixed views and approaching situations with interest rather than certainty.
Together, Curiosity and Compassion help shift us from judgment to understanding, and from reactivity to new possibilities.
Core questions:
Can I meet this with openness and kindness? What else is possible?
Week 3 — Energy (Integrity) + Appreciative Joy
Aligning action with what truly matters
Skillful action requires Energy, but not the kind that comes from force or willpower. Here, Energy refers to our capacity to act in alignment with our values. It helps us move beyond resistance to change and supports action that reflects what truly matters to us.
Appreciative Joy balances this movement by helping us notice what is nourishing, supportive, and life-giving. It counterbalances our tendency toward negativity and replenishes us, making sustained integrity possible.
Together, these skills support action that is both meaningful and sustainable.
Core questions:
What action aligns with my values—and what resources me to continue?
Week 4 — Inner Calm + Equanimity
Letting go and discerning wisely
As we cultivate engagement and joy, we can also become attached—to outcomes, identities, or particular states. Inner Calm supports nervous system regulation and helps us learn how to let go, restoring space and ease.
Equanimity builds on this steadiness by helping us discern which skill is needed in each moment. Rather than reacting impulsively or clinging to a single approach, Equanimity allows us to respond with balance, flexibility, and wisdom.
Together, these skills support clarity, discernment, and wise response.
Core questions:
What attachment is causing stress? What is being asked of me right now—and which skill will serve best?
What Each Session Includes
- 2-hour live guided session with Dr. Shalini Bahl
- Dedicated practices and micro-practices for real-life applications
- Space for reflection and shared inquiry
- Simple between-session invitations for skill building (not homework)
- Recordings available if you miss a session
Dates & Schedule
4 consecutive weeks · Live on Zoom
I. For Folks in the USA
March 5 – March 26
Thursday, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm EST
All sessions are recorded and available to participants.
Investment
$200 for the full 4-week program
Includes:
- All live sessions
- Access to session recordings
- Orientation to ongoing Sama Life practice
A pay-what-you-can option is available.
Those who are able to pay full price help make the program accessible to others—this is part of how we practice community care.
Who This Is For
- People new to skills-based mindfulness
- Experienced practitioners seeking applied, relational practice
- Busy humans wanting depth without overload
Closing Note
Together, these four weeks offer a clear map of the eight mindfulness skills—and an embodied understanding of how to return to them in everyday life.
Foundations focuses on live learning and embodied practice. Optional practice libraries and companion materials are available for those who want additional support between sessions.
Dr. Shalini Bahl is a Professor of Marketing at UMass Amherst, certified MBSR and Search Inside Yourself teacher, and founder of Sama Life. Her book Return to Mindfulness and the 8-skill framework she teaches emerged from her experience as a two-term Amherst Town Councilor, where she discovered that traditional meditation wasn’t enough for high-stakes decision-making. She has been recognized as one of the Top 10 Women in the Mindfulness Movement (2025) and brings over 20 years of contemplative practice to her teaching.
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