Owning Wisdom with Chip Conley & Stephen Kiesling
Spirituality + Health in Midlife and Beyond
Jan 14 - Jan 19, 2025 in Santa Fe, USA Led by: Chip Conley, Stephen Kiesling, Lee Johnson
Discover How to Achieve “Total Aliveness” in Your Mind, Body, Soul, and Community
When you enter midlife, your primary operating system begins to shift from your ego and your body to your soul.
Yet despite this profound change, none of us are given an explicit operating manual that shows us how to complete the transition successfully – and continue taking good care of our physical selves as well as our mental, emotional, and spiritual selves as we embrace the second half of our lives.
This is a challenge… because with more people than ever disconnected from the faith traditions of their ancestors, this means they may not be able to experience the awe, transcendence, and deep sense of connection they need to feel healthy and whole as they grow older.
That’s why it’s so important to consciously incorporate rituals, beliefs, and healing modalities that enhance all aspects of our wellbeing into our daily lives. When we take care of our spiritual health, we are much more likely to thrive in all aspects of our being.
In this Owning Wisdom workshop co-facilitated with Chip Conley and founder and editor-in-chief of Spirituality and Health magazine Stephen Kiesling, you will explore new spiritual, mental, and physical practices that promote the wellbeing of your body, mind, soul, and community, as well as the nurturing Earth that sustains us.
What You’ll Gain
Through a combination of our MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum and experiential activities that speak to your mind, body, heart, and soul, you will:
By the end of your five days with Chip and Stephen and the MEA faculty, you will have a much deeper appreciation for the inextricable connection between your physical health and your spiritual health.
You will be equipped with powerful spiritual and physical wellbeing practices that help you feel more completely alive in every moment.
Meet Your Faculty
Chip Conley
MEA Co-Founder and Author of Learning to Love Midlife: 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better with Age
Bestselling Author | Entrepreneur | Innovator | Disruptor | Speaker
A three-time TED speaker on the big stage, Chip Conley is one of the world's leading experts at the intersection of business innovation, psychology and spirituality.
As one of the creators of the boutique hotel movement and the "modern elder" to the young Airbnb founders, Chip's been a disruptor and expert on entrepreneurship and business leadership. He’s a globally-recognized thought leader on the future of work and the competitive advantages of a multi-generational workplace.
Inspired by his experience of intergenerational mentoring as a “modern elder” at Airbnb – where his guidance was instrumental to the company’s extraordinary success – Chip founded MEA and has since dedicated his midlife years to reframing the concept of aging and helping people navigate midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility.
What Chip’s workshop participants have to say...
"Chip Conley reminds us all to savor the wisdom, self-knowledge, and joy that accompanies this time in our lives."
Father Richard Rohr
Bestselling author, speaker and spiritual thought leader
"If we are lucky enough, midlife will find us all, but that doesn’t mean crisis has to accompany it. The brilliant and beloved Conley reminds us that with transition and uncertainty comes possibility. No, our doors are not closed after forty, fifty, sixty: in many ways, they are more open than ever."
Esther Perel
Psychotherapist, author and host of Where Should We Begin
Chip Conley will show you that aging is a superpower, capable of changing you (and our world) for the better.
Arthur C. Brooks
Professor, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School
Stephen Kiesling
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Spirituality and Health Magazine
Stephen Kiesling is a founder and editor-in-chief of Spirituality & Health magazine. He was the youngest member of the 1980 US Olympic Rowing Team and the oldest competitor at the 2008 Olympic Rowing Trials. A Scholar of the House in philosophy at Yale, he was a founding editor of American Health magazine and a spokesman for Nike Cross Training.
Stephen Kiesling is the author of The Shell Game: Reflections on Rowing and the Pursuit of Excellence and Walking the Plank: A Year Aboard the Pirate Ship Whydah. He has written for the New Yorker and Sports Illustrated, has been featured in the New York Times and Boston Globe, and has appeared on Today and All Things Considered.
A lifelong journalist, Stephen was a Scholar of the House in philosophy at Yale University. His passion is building parks and playgrounds and is current project is a whitewater park and sculpture garden at Ti’lomikh Falls on the Rogue River in Oregon. He grew up in Los Altos, California, with a Zen priest in the basement and the Parapsychology Research Group in the living room and is currently writing No Risk of Enlightenment.
This workshop is for you if...
1. Searching
You’re searching for answers to the big questions about life, the universe, and everything.
2. Yearning
You yearn to experience more awe, wonder, and transcendence in your life.
3. Exploring
You want to explore your own spirituality and create new rituals and practices that feed your soul
4. Wanting
You want to take good care of your body so you feel healthy and strong for years to come.
5. Looking
You’re looking for a deeper sense of connection to others and to the world around you.
6. Searching
You’re searching for a new way to access the eternal or divine because the old ways no longer work.
7. Feeling
You’re feeling disconnected from nature and want to reimmerse yourself in the vast beauty of the world in a breathtaking location.
8. Learning
You want to learn simple daily practices that can reduce stress and anxiety and cultivate lasting joy and gratitude.
Santa Fe, USA
Rising Circle Ranch
An upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and spanning nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, with ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.
Meet Your MEA Facilitators
In addition to the powerful sessions conducted by Chip and Stephen, you will be guided through the core MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum by our seasoned faculty members:
Lee Johnson
Land, Livestock, and Mindfulness
Lee likes to say that he’s as ordinary as dirt but as complex as soil. He’s resident “cowboy sage” at our campus in Santa Fe, where his love for the simple yet complex hum of nature has led him to work in holistic land management. As steward of our four-square mile regenerative ranch, Lee translates nature’s teachings into simple insights that encourage us to tune into the inner and outer landscape of the world around us.
You will appreciate the opportunity to be in his presence and slow down, listen to nature, and gather around the campfire of shared understanding.
Exploring the Mysteries of Life and Experiencing Awe and Curiosity Is What Helps You Feel Fully Alive.
It’s time to discover the proven tools, rituals, and practices that will help you integrate spirituality into your life while also caring for your 'rental vehicle' – your body – so you can thrive more fully in all aspects of your life.
