Welcome to the Heart Space podcast - sharing simple, practical wisdom teachings for modern times. We discuss various wisdom teachings - with a focus on Buddhism (although not exclusively) - and how we can relate them to our everyday, modern lives. We'll also explore a host of nature based connection and meditation practices. Host, Nicola Fanucchi, is an avid meditation and mindfulness practitioner and incorporates nature in her approach. If you enjoy the podcast, please rate and subscribe. Please email Nicola with any questions or comments. You can find us on Instagram @nicolafanucchi
Send us a text This talk is a discussion of Anam Thubten's books the Magic of Awareness and No Self, No Problem. It covers developing awareness and finding enlightenment in our everyday lives. Recorded from a live talk presented on 8 April 2024 at that Kagyu Samye Dzong Buddhist centre, Johannesburg. As this is a live talk, audience participation may not be fully audible....
Send us a text In these increasingly busy and chaotic times, insight meditation can lead us to inner freedom. In this talk, we'll explore the concept of insight meditation and I'll share a simple practice suitable for both beginners and more advanced meditators. Recorded from a live talk presented on 20 February 2023 at that Kagyu Samye Dzong Buddhist centre in Randburg, Johannesburg https://randburg.kagyu.org.za/ As this is a live talk, audience participation may not be fully audible....
Send us a text This episode is an excerpt of a live talk given by Nicola Fanucchi at the Kagyu Samye Dzong Buddhist centre in South Africa in August 2022. Due to the workshop nature of the talk there are several guided meditations. The topic of the talk is exploring the creative manifestation process according to Tibetan Buddhist teachings. The book referenced in the talk is Spontaneous Creativity by Tenzin Wangyul Rinpoche. There is some background noise at times and the Q&As were removed d...
Send us a text In this episode, we'll discuss wisdom and why developing wisdom is the most important (and urgent) thing each of us can do for ourselves and our communities. We'll look at the 5 wisdom superpowers and the 5 mind poisons, and how we can work with these to bring our unique wisdom into our lives. Please join the wisdom movement by signing up at www.thewisdomtoolbox.com for the monthly newsletter and other resources. When you subscribe you will receive the free wisdom superp...
Send us a text We're living in tough times and we need to put wisdom teachings into action. We need more compassionate action and less theory. In this live talk, given at the Kagyu Samye Dzong (South Africa) centre, we work through Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche's fundamental book "Meditation in Action". Part 1 is provided in a workshop format and should be worked through slowly with pen & paper handy. As this is a recording of a live talk, participant questions and answers may...
Send us a text In this episode we will be discussing Pema Chodren's book "Becoming Bodhisattva's" where she provides a practical commentary on Shantideva's 6th century teaching on the 'Path of the Bodhisattva'. The episode focusses on how we can find bodhicitta (or an awakened heart) within our ordinary, day to day lives. This is a recording of a live talk given at Kagyu Samye Dzong Tibetan Buddhist centre in South Africa. To follow along for more content, plea...
Send us a text Is the world and, with it, all our thoughts and ideas as solid & fixed as we believe? In this episode, we'll be discussing the teachings and science behind illusory form and understand how through training our minds we can expand our perceptions. When we are able to loosen our grip on our reliance on form, our beliefs, concepts and ego we make space for freshness and being in the now. The book discussed is: 'Dreams of Light: The profound daytime practice of lucid dre...
Send us a text Welcome to Season 2! In this season we'll be exploring teachings on inter-connection and non-duality, kicking off with this first episode inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings on inter-being. There's a lot of noise in the world right now and our incorrect perceptions cause a lot of suffering both to ourselves and other beings - and most definitely to the environment. By learning to see clearly, we can clear our perceptions and see the truth of how things really ar...
Send us a text How do the 5 elements (water, earth, fire, air and space) influence, and manifest through, our emotions? How can we work with the 5 elements to transform our negative emotions into their positive attributes? In this talk (it's fairly long - you may want to make a cup of tea!) we'll examine how the elements manifest in the most subtle, inner forms and how, by working with the energy of the negative emotion as it arises, we can let it go and transform it into pure expressi...
Send us a text Working with the elements - earth, water, fire, air and space - is an act of continual balancing. We can learn about the elements by observing them in their outer/external form: in nature, our home environments and even in our bodies. This recording is an extract from live talk recorded at the Kagyu Samye Dzong Buddhist centre in Cape Town on 1 May 2021. This is a beginner talk - it's recommended you listen to part 1 of the series first for the general context- Podcast episod...
Send us a text Loneliness is such a common but painful human experience and is so prevalent in our fast-paced world. Although we all seek connection, and even may have more connections than ever before thanks to technology, what we are often missing is authentic, heart-felt belonging. In this episode we'll unpack loneliness from an energetic perspective and talk about the various 'portals' (such as relationships, our inner self, and nature) that we can work with to access our shar...
Send us a text In this episode, I'll share a live recording from a talk held at the Cape Town Kagyu Samye Dzong Buddhist centre in April 2021. In Tibetan Buddhism, it is taught that all energy that arises from the ground of existence (also called emptiness / space) manifests as the five elements, and so it's important to look at energy in general before we dive deeper into the elements themselves. The topics covered include why we meditate, getting to the root of our habits and tendenc...
Send us a text We so often have the best intentions behind making changes but then never fully following through or implementing them. Why? In this episode we'll cover the energetic laws that govern our lives, and how to apply the pattern of birth/death/rebirth to the changes we are looking to make. We'll also explore the wisdom tools of hearing, contemplation and meditation and how these would be applied to different stages in our change-journey. If you would like notes or further rea...
Send us a text "Living from the heart" is a common catchphrase but what does it actually mean and how do we try it for ourselves? In this episode, we'll explore how we can work with the outer landscape, inner landscape and energies to make a lasting shift toward balancing body & mind, head & heart. We'll explore everyday tools such as doing a home audit, an energetic element assessment and some quick breathing techniques you can try right away. If you have any questio...
Send us a text Although we're human animals, we've become increasingly disconnected from our natural environment and this disconnect makes us believe that we are, in fact, separate from the natural world and other species. This perception of separateness from everything fuels dualistic thinking and strengthens our egoic sense of self. In this episode, we'll explore how this disconnect has made its way into our spiritual practices and contemporary culture, and why it's importa...
Send us a text In this short episode, we'll cover a beginner-friendly guide on how to connect to nature. Nature connection is something available to all of us and is part of healing our disconnect and separation with the earth, other species and one another. When we allow ourselves to drop in to our animal body and experience the web of life from the inside, we are able to expand our awareness beyond our current beliefs of who we are....
Send us a text In this short Heartbeat episode, we'll explore a tool called the the 'three pills', adapted from Tenzin Wangyul Rinpoche's book Spontaneous Creativity . The three pills of stillness, silence and spaciousness can be applied in any situation in our lives and allows us to access bigger picture awareness and a fresh, open perspective.
Send us a text Welcome to Heart Space! This podcast is designed to lead you on a journey into your inner nature using the tools of nature connection, deep listening, the elements and the power of imagination and storytelling. We're living in times where us human animals are in desperate need of reintegrating nature back into our lives AND our spiritual practices. By believing in our separateness and self-identity, we're missing out on an entire web of life and experience that's av...
