Owning Wisdom with guest faculty Mark Nepo
The Power of Friendship
Feb 10 - Feb 15, 2025 in Baja, Mexico Led by: Mark Nepo, Jeff Hamaoui, Teddi Dean
Financial aid is available. Apply Here.
Relationships Are the Key to a Long, Happy, and Healthy Life
The social science backs it up: an 85-year Harvard study shows that our relationships are the number one thing that make us happy in life, and that people who have strong and lasting relationships with close friends are more likely to live longer, healthier lives.
But what does it actually mean to befriend another person? What does it mean to befriend yourself and the world around you?
How do we stay true to our relationship with ourselves and with life while remaining true to our relationships with each other – and how do we take care of ourselves when friendships fail or when we feel like we don’t know how to be good friends?
In this Owning Wisdom workshop co-facilitated with MEA’s resident poet laureate Mark Nepo, you will explore the gift and spirit of friendship and discover how lasting friendship can become a conduit that connects you to the larger forces of life.
What You’ll Gain
Through a combination of our MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum and Mark’s guided introspection and engaging discussion-based activities, you will explore:
By the end of your five days with Mark and the MEA faculty, you will likely have a more open and connection-oriented heart and mind – and a deeper understanding of what it means to be a good friend to others, to yourself, and to life itself.
This is an excellent workshop to experience with a friend or loved one.
Meet Your Faculty
Mark Nepo
Poet, Philosopher, Teacher, Student
NY Times bestselling author | Columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine
Mark Nepo is a New York Times best-selling author and has been called “one of the finest spiritual guides of our time,” “a consummate storyteller,” and “an eloquent spiritual teacher.” Beloved as a poet, teacher, and storyteller, Mark has published twenty-five books and recorded sixteen audio projects. He has received Life Achievement Awards from AgeNation (2015) and OMTimes (2023).
In 2016, Mark was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People, and was also chosen as one of OWN's SuperSoul 100, a group of inspired leaders using their gifts and voices to elevate humanity. He became a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine and is a multiple Nautilus Book Award winner, who has appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s SuperSoul Sunday program and Good Morning America.
Mark devotes his writing and teaching to the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationship. You are going to appreciate the open and sacred heart space he creates for you to explore the power of friendship in this workshop.
What Mark’s workshop participants have to say...
"Mark Nepo is a Great Soul. His resonant heart—his frank and astonishing voice—befriend us mightily on this mysterious trail."
Naomi Shihab Nye
Author of You and Yours, 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, and Red Suitcase
"Mark Nepo is one of the finest spiritual guides of our time."
Parker J. Palmer
Author of A Hidden Wholeness and The Courage to Teach
"Mark Nepo joins a long tradition of truth-seeking, wild-hearted poets—Rumi, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver—and deserves a place in the center of the circle with them."
Elizabeth Lesser
Cofounder, Omega Institute, author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow
This workshop is for you if you want to...
Cultivate deeper connections with others and the world around you
Live a full and whole life in authentic relationship with yourself and others
Discover how to be a better friend and show up for others with your full attention and presence
Learn how to care for yourself and others when relationships fail
Know how to repair damaged relationships when possible and desirable to do so
Enter into a deeper conversation with the universe through the context of friendship
This workshop is an excellent opportunity to experience the magic of MEA with a friend or loved one. If there’s someone you’d like to deepen or celebrate your friendship with, be sure to invite them to join you.
Baja, Mexico
El Pescadero Resort
A stunning oceanfront property offering all of the amenities of a luxury hotel with beautiful beaches perfect for swimming or surfing. Located on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, just a short drive from Todo Santos, the “Pueblo Magico”.
Meet Your MEA Facilitators
In addition to the powerful sessions conducted by Mark Nepo, you will be guided through the core MEA Owning Wisdom curriculum by our seasoned faculty members:
Jeff Hamaoui
Co-Founder
MEA co-founder and poetic Chief Education Officer Jeff Hamaoui is a gentle and empathic facilitator, business innovation veteran, and community builder who’s taught sustainability courses at Wharton, Berkeley, and Stanford.
Teddi Dean
Head of Mindfulness and Movement
Teddi Dean is the Head of Mindfulness and Movement here at MEA. He offers a fun, accessible and wisdom filled approach to both mediation and yoga. Teddi loves working with beginners and has a gift in showing that each and every one of us is capable of dropping into stillness.
Teddi Dean grew up in Southern California where he was immersed in surf and skateboard culture. He was part of skateboard royalty as a team member of the infamous Powell and Peralta Bones Brigade.
“A friend may be reckoned the masterpiece of nature.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Each of us is on a journey to be who we are. It’s a never-ending process by which we discover our gifts and how we can be of most use to the world. With good friends at your side, the journey becomes so much richer and rewarding.
During this workshop with Mark, you will be invited to look closely at the discovery of our kinship, the nature of friendship, the inevitable trials by which our bond is strengthened or broken, and the acceptance of our humanness.
Nothing is quite like the space of tenderness and truth that arises when we are comparing notes on being alive. It’s time to affirm the spirit of friendship and praise what it takes to love another well – and better understand how friendship helps us live.
