A wholehearted journey in Mindfulness, Compassion and Gratefulness Practices to plant seeds for inner & outer transformation
"With beauty before me may I walk
With beauty behind me may I walk
With beauty above me may I walk
With beauty all around me, may I walk."
Walk in beauty is the translation of the Navajo term for the spiritual path of celebrating the sacredness of life. Thinking and acting in a Beauty Way sheds light on how we walk, feel physically and emotionally, and how we explore our own inner wilderness in relation to everyone and all life. To walk in beauty refers to being in balance and conscious relationship with a natural way of life, cultivating the intention to deeper understand the wisdom of nature. It is about remembering the mystery that all inter-is.
Walk in beauty also means remembering the spark of light in each of us, even in midst of challenging moments in our collective human experience. „Feel the preciousness of life", Bernie Glassman said in his last Bearing Witness Retreat in Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2017. As social human beings, we are equipped to feel with the joy and the suffering of others, ourselves and life on this precious planet Earth. By experience, we also know the desire to contribute to something vaster than just ourselves. We long for meaning to be happy.
Therefore, we need each other and the energy of community. To walk in beauty together and exploring the deeper meaning of interbeing is the overarching vision and solid ground of my work, teaching mindfulness, compassion and gratefulness practices. It is a lived path towards peace.
In this phase of my life, I offer to you planting seeds and walking together on a path that is inspired by my experience as a Certified Teacher in Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), a Certified Teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Yoga instructor (BDY/EYU, 500 hours). I work also as Certified Teacher with Mark Coleman’s "Awake in the Wild" year-long training in contemplative nature practice. I love to integrate elements of the EcoSattva training with OneEarth Sangha and Earth Holding practices from the Plumvillage Community. Trained in the Mindful Schools K12-Curriculum. Experienced in Council Practice (Zen Peace Makers) and various contemplative dialog formats (Bohm Dialog, Interpersonal Mindfulness by G. Kramer); trained in the Foundation Course “Time to Think”. Continuous trainings like "White Awake", "Cultural Healing, Restoring Kinship", based on "My Grandmother's Hands: Racialized Trauma" by Resmaa Menakem, "Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness" with David Treleaven. Trained in related MSC formats like "MSC for Healthcare", "MSC for Shame" and "Fierce Self-Compassion". Consultant and team member at Monviso Institute, Piemonte, a real-world laboratory for research, education, entrepreneurship and new living on sustainability transitions and regenerative design for a more resilient and just society; a contributor to the MOOC and CAS at ETH Zurich "Designing Resilient Regenerative Systems". An active team member in Jeremy Lent's "Deep Transformation Network". Co-founder of the Inner Development Goal (IDG) "Empathy and Compassion Hub" and official contributor to the Inner Development Goal Summit 2023 in Stockholm by co-hosting the RELATING domain space and co-facilitating in the BEING space, Un-Conference and After Glow with mindful self-compassion-based practices. Currently, teacher training in MBST, Mindfulness-Based SustainableTransformation, by Inner Green Deal, and teaching in the Edu-:Social Project intervention study at Neuroscience Lab, Max Planck Society, with Prof. Dr. Tania Singer.
By career, I hold one Master of Art (MA) degree in International Cultural & Business Studies (European Studies), and one MA in Development Cooperation & NGO Management. My work builds on 15 years of previous experience in international consultancy in development cooperation as project manager and consultant in evaluation in fields like education and health, among others, mostly for the European Commission, other international agencies or national governments and NGOs. In 2008, life invited me unexpectedly to change direction, arriving closer within, leaving the consultancy work and starting to practice and learn mindfulness, meditation, yoga and (self-)compassion practices. Since then, I feel immersed into continuous exploring, learning, teaching and training in the fields of mindfulness practices. For me, these trainings are supportive bridges into important fields like regeneration, anti-racism practices and awareness about the impact of our world views on how we live life and engage with others and our planet. I still love painting, being creative in many ways, backpack and immerse in the outdoors, as I was lucky to do plenty as a child. Playing Shakuhachi flute, handpan and dance enrich my life. And mostly, our three teens are my wise teachers.
While home base is Freiburg, Germany, I have worked and lived in France, Spain, Italy, Brazil, Peru, California, and other countries. I am fluent in German, English, Spanish, skilled in French and Italian and still keeping up basic Portuguese language skills.
While being trained in a broad range of mindfulness-based teachings formats (mindfulness understood as heartfulness, awareness and relationality), in my experience and vision, all formats flow together and support each other on a path towards a lived “Yes to belonging” and “Peace in oneself, Peace in the World”, experiencing our interconnectedness within the mysterious web of life.
December 12, 2024
Join us at the "Global IDG EMPATHY & COMPASSION Hub/Network" for a monthly practice invitation - "EMPATHY AND COMPASSION"
December 16, 2024
Building Momentum Through Daily Practice with the "Awake in the Wild" Community
December 17, 2024
MSC-Meditationsgruppe ONLINE
January 20, 2025
"Friedlich leben beginnt in uns selbst" - MSC-8-Wochenkurs (online) mit Mirjam Luthe und Andrea Zacke
January 23, 2025
"Dankbares Leben ist ein Weg zum Heilwerden der Welt.“ (Br. David Steindl-Rast). Wir möchten in diesem Kurs die Haltung dankbaren Lebens und unsere Verbundenheit mit dem Leben stärken, um in uns selbst und gemeinsam aktiv eine Basis für transformative, systemische Prozesse und Grundlagen für ein friedvolleres Miteinander mitzugestalten.
May 15, 2025
Achtsames Selbstmitgefühl, ergänzt durch Naturmeditation, achtsame Bewegung und Dyadenpraxis - ein Friedensbeitrag
September 1, 2025
A time to befriend yourself in community and deepen your connection to Planet Earth and your relation to the IDGs (Inner Development Goals)
For any questions, collaborations or just a simple 'Hello' you can reach me at mirjam@walk-in-beauty.org
You can also sign up for my newsletter to get the latest updates on new courses, talks or blog entries:
My idea for this grant was to involve one of the CMSC partners, the "Global Engagement Institute" for our Kenya and Vietnam “Globally Engaged MSC Intensives” (and hopefully a future one in India) and a more recent local partner "Mental Health Hub" (mHub) in South Africa. My intention for the grant was to strengthen these organizational relationships and helping build local MSC teacher capacities by sharing the grant with a local MSC Teacher in Kenya. We hope to start rolling out a larger MSC project in Africa that mostly relies on local teachers.
A conversation about honouring birth and death, grace and dignity in motherhood.
Gratitude, Family Rituals, and the Natural World
Acknowledging Our Many Names: My Experience of Bearing Witness in Auschwitz
World views - From Sustainability to Regeneration. To deal with sets of environmental and social crises, we need a cultural and mental transformation. This MOOC is the first part of an interconnected series of four MOOCS which bring together science, design and transformative praxis as a fluid, intervention-based and synergistic process for addressing complex challenges. This is explored through broadening world views, reframing complexity, designing as nature, activating our minds through physical movement, and connecting with new communities.
Ein Artikel zu Dialog, Dankbarkeit und der Praxis "Neubeginn" von Mirjam Luthe und Andrea Zacke im Mai 2022