BRN Podcast: Buddhist Recovery Network

What happens when nature becomes part of our recovery practice?In this episode of the Buddhist Recovery Network Podcast, Beth speaks with Paula Snow, Program Director of Off-Grid Retreats, about recovery, Buddhist practice, community, and the healing possibilities of spending intentional time in nature.Paula shares how meditation and recovery have shaped her life and work. She describes the care that goes into creating retreats where people can step away from everyday demands, slow down, and reconnect with themselves, their communities, and the natural world.Beth and Paula also discuss the mission of Off-Grid Retreats, a sponsor of the 2026 Buddhist Recovery Summit. This nonprofit, nomadic retreat center creates opportunities for people to experience mindfulness, movement, and community in nature.Paula will also be presenting at the Summit. Together with Karson Koshin, she will lead Writing as Recovery Practice: Mindful Journaling, Inventory, and Reflection. This experiential workshop will use journaling, gratitude, personal inventory, and Buddhist teachings to support insight, accountability, and compassionate self-understanding.IN THIS EPISODEPaula’s journey through recovery and Buddhist practiceHow meditation has influenced her personal and professional lifeThe healing possibilities of spending intentional time in natureThe vision and mission of Off-Grid RetreatsCreating welcoming and accessible retreat experiencesThe role of thoughtful hospitality in helping people feel safe and supportedWhy connection and community are essential to recoveryBringing mindfulness into everyday activitiesWriting, gratitude, and reflection as recovery practicesPaula’s upcoming workshop at the 2026 Buddhist Recovery SummitOff-Grid Retreats’ sponsorship of this year’s SummitPAULA’S SUMMIT WORKSHOPWriting as Recovery Practice: Mindful Journaling, Inventory, and ReflectionPresented by Paula Snow and Karson KoshinThis experiential workshop explores writing as a recovery and spiritual practice. Participants will work with mindful journaling, gratitude, personal inventory, and reflections on the Four Noble Truths and Noble Eightfold Path.The workshop will offer practical ways to use writing for greater insight, accountability, emotional awareness, and compassionate self-understanding.ABOUT PAULA SNOWPaula Snow is the Program Director of Off-Grid Retreats. She brings extensive hospitality experience and more than a decade of meditation practice to her work creating thoughtful and transformative experiences in nature.Paula is a graduate of the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. Her practice is grounded in Buddhist teachings, recovery, compassionate action, personal accountability, and a deep love of the natural world.ABOUT OFF-GRID RETREATSOff-Grid Retreats is a nonprofit, nomadic retreat center that creates opportunities for individuals and communities to gather and practice in nature.Through nature retreats, gear support, sliding-scale pricing, and partnerships with teachers and land stewards, Off-Grid Retreats works to make nature-based mindfulness experiences more welcoming and accessible.The Buddhist Recovery Network is grateful to Off-Grid Retreats for sponsoring the 2026 Buddhist Recovery Summit.LEARN MOREOff-Grid Retreats:https://offgridretreats.org/2026 Buddhist Recovery Summit:https://buddhistrecoverysummit.org/Join us October 2–4, 2026, at East Bay Meditation Center in Oakland for the Buddhist Recovery Summit: Radical Kindness in the Face of Addiction.

ABOUT JULIA M. HAYESJulia Hayes is an author, storyteller, teacher, and self-described ember keeper whose work centers on spiritual empowerment through mindfulness, creativity, and community.A Buddhist practitioner for more than 30 years, Julia draws from Buddhist teachings, Celtic mysticism, ancient stories, and personal experience. She has been involved in Buddhist-inspired recovery for nearly a decade and facilitates communities grounded in welcome, belonging, and compassionate listening.Julia is the creator and author of SatiSeva: A Buddhist Recovery and Support Book, a collection of 16 mindfulness practices for people in recovery and anyone affected by addiction or negative habit energy. Her work was inspired by her first Buddhist teacher, Thích Nhất Hạnh, and his lifelong devotion to mindfulness.JULIA AT THE 2026 BUDDHIST RECOVERY SUMMITJulia will present:The Balla Cloiche: New Insights to Building and Maintaining Healthy BoundariesIn this experiential workshop, participants will use the image of a stone wall to reconsider boundaries as places of pause, insight, mutuality, and connection. The workshop will explore false security, defensiveness, Wise Effort, and loving-kindness as foundations for developing boundaries that are varied, responsive, and healthy.Join Julia and the wider Buddhist recovery community at:2026 Buddhist Recovery SummitRadical Kindness in the Face of AddictionOctober 2–4, 2026East Bay Meditation CenterOakland, CaliforniaRegistration closes September 25.Learn more and register:https://buddhistrecoverysummit.org/CONNECT WITH JULIASatiSeva: A Buddhist Recovery and Support Bookhttps://www.soulscenter.com/satiseva-a-buddhist-recovery-and-support-book.htmlJulia’s weekly offerings and recovery meetings:https://www.soulscenter.com/weekly-offerings.htmlMORE FROM BRNFind an online or in-person Buddhist recovery meeting:https://buddhistrecovery.org/meetings/Explore BRN Academy teachings and podcasts:https://buddhistrecovery.org/academy/Support the Buddhist Recovery Network:https://buddhistrecovery.org/donate/The Buddhist Recovery Network welcomes people of all backgrounds and respects all recovery paths.•SoulsCenter.com/weekly-offerings.html 👉 join Recovery Dharma & other online offerings•SoulsCenter.com/SatiSeva 👉 join SatiSeva online: Support for Families, Friends, Professionals, Addicts (All are Truly Welcome)Amazon Link to the Sati Seva Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN1MSHNP?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

https://buddhistrecoverysummit.org/Matthew Hahn sat with his first sangha as a prisoner in Folsom State Prison, where he experienced the power of the Dharma to alleviate suffering. Since coming home in 2012, he has practiced principally within the Insight Tradition and is mentored by his primary teacher, Matthew Brensilver. He is a co-founder of the Recovery Dharma program, a facilitator for the Mindful Prisons Program in San Quentin, and is a Dharma leader at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Center. Matthew was empowered with lay ordination by Venerable Pannavati and the late Ashin U Pannadipa. Connect with Matthew Here:• https://matthewhahn.com• https://insighttimer.com/Matthew-Hahn• https://www.instagram.com/hahnscratchJoin the Buddhist Recovery Network for the 2026 Buddhist Recovery Summit. Come to practice, build lasting connections, and help shape the future of Buddhist recovery. Learn more at https://buddhistrecoverysummit.org/

⚠️Trigger Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicidal ideationIn this episode of the BRN podcast, host Beth Herzig speaks with Chris Warner, a therapist and board member of the Buddhist Recovery Network. Chris shares her personal journey of recovery from addiction, emphasizing the importance of mindfulness, trauma awareness, and community support. She discusses how her spiritual practices have intertwined with her recovery process and the role of compassion in therapy. Chris encourages listeners to explore their own sacred paths and take actionable steps towards healing and connection.Chris Warner Chris Warner, M.Ed., CYT, ISTT, works as an international trauma therapist and addiction recovery specialist and is a longtime dharma, meditation, breathwork, and yoga teacher. Chris is also an adoptee and a recovered person, thriving on a lifelong path of discovery, and her daily life, her practice, her teaching and service work, and her professional psychotherapeutic efforts are all grounded in compassionately upholding the innate dignity and rights of all people, in guarding the preciousness of this planet, and with the deep wish that all beings be protected and safe, that all beings know contentment, and well-being, that all beings live in peace, with ease.In private practice, Chris offers adult individual, couples, and group trauma therapy worldwide online, and she also facilitates mindfulness-based psychoeducational, skills, and processing groups open to the public, as well as in residential addiction treatment facilities and with incarcerated persons in corrections facilities. Additionally, Chris leads a weekly Sangha for mindful recovery on select Sunday mornings, offers online sitting groups at various times throughout the year, teaches meditation, breathwork, and yoga classes, and hosts a variety of recovery meetings. She is also a wife, a Japanese Chin mama, a sister and aunt, a cousin and niece, a daughter and a granddaughter, a friend and neighbor, an art-lover, a chef, gardener, poet, writer, beach-walker, nonviolent activist, and an avid reader and lifelong learner.Chris’s Buddhist trainings include taking Refuge and the Mindfulness Trainings from her root teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh, in 2009, as well as participating in retreats and working with beloved teachers Pema Chödrön, Sylvia Boorstein, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Larry Rosenberg, Matthew Daniel, Matthew Brensilver, and Kevin Griffin. Chris is not a lineage holder, and, while she has no current ordination plans, etc., she open-heartedly awaits further unfolding and continues her studies and daily practice. In addition to serving as a current BRN board member, Chris also serves on the Ethics Council for EK (Evolving Kundalini), and she continues to serve as an intern for a variety of Compassionate Inquiry© groups dedicated to bringing compassionate practice to the world scaffolded by the work of Dr. Gabor Matѐ. Chris offers complimentary Consult & Connection calls for anyone considering therapy, and she can be reached through her website, where you’ll also find Zoom links for Sunday Sangha and information on other public offerings: ⁠https://www.chriswarnertherapy.com/⁠

In this episode of the Buddhist Recovery Network podcast, host Beth Herzig speaks with Walt Opie, the board president of the Buddhist Recovery Network. Walt shares his journey through recovery, his introduction to Buddhism and meditation, and his experiences teaching in prisons. The conversation explores the intersection of Buddhist teachings and recovery, the importance of community, and the upcoming summit focused on Buddhist tools for real recovery. Walt emphasizes the significance of mindfulness, self-love, and the role of gratitude in the recovery process.Walt's journey into recovery began at a young age with alcohol and marijuana.He discovered meditation during a period of grounding in high school.Walt's first encounter with Buddhism was through literature and music.He moved to California seeking a broader experience and community.Walt's teaching journey began after he recognized the need for more Buddhist recovery support.Mindfulness is a core teaching that helps prevent relapse in recovery.Walt emphasizes the importance of community in recovery settings.Teaching in prisons provided profound insights and connections for Walt.The upcoming summit will explore various types of addiction and recovery.Walt's current practice focuses on being present and reducing self-centeredness.Connect with Walt Opie via his websiteRead more and Register for the BRN SUMMIT : Facing Our Inner Demons: Tools for Real Recovery October 18-19, 2025Insight Recovery Sangha