CEB TIMELINE
2000
The 2000 meeting, birth place of CEB, was an intimate invitation only four-day dialog organized by the Mind and Life organization focused on emotions from the perspective of contemplative practice, philosophy, and science. Paul Ekman presented an evolutionary perspective of emotion, from the science on the universality of facial expression, and the physiology of our daily emotional experiences. The Dalai Lama was captivated by this science and immediately recognized the benefit of applying the scientific understanding of emotions to cultivate the mind while educating Ekman about contemplative antidotes to destructive emotions. In Buddhist Psychology, uprooting mental afflictions, or states of mind that distort our perception of reality, disrupt the equilibrium of the mind and cause us to inflict our own and other’s suffering, is resonant with the scientific endeavor of regulating destructive emotions. Furthermore, through precise inquiry into our lived experience, Buddhists assert that destructive emotions are adventitious to our ‘true’ nature, natural state, innate contentment, generosity, love, and compassion.
At the culmination of this meeting, the Dalai Lama requested that the important ideas raised, specifically how to manage the everyday obstacles of our destructive emotions and cultivate a wholesome way of being, be turned into a secular training. Dr. Paul Ekman, Dr. Alan Wallace, Dr. Mark Greenberg, Matthieu Ricard, and Dr. Richard Davidson accepted the challenge and began to sketch out what such a training program could look like and how to evaluate its impact. Through these discussions, “Cultivating Emotional Balance” was born.
2005 University of California San Francisco CEB Study
$800,000 was raised to conduct a thorough research trial on the first CEB training designed by Paul Ekman and Alan Wallace offered by Alan Wallace and Margaret Cullen with a large research team. The 8-week intensive (42 hr) meditation/emotion regulation training intervention was designed by experts in contemplative traditions and emotion science to reduce “destructive enactment of emotions” and enhance prosocial responses. Participants were 82 healthy female school teachers who were randomly assigned to a training group or a wait-list control group, and assessed pre assessment, post assessment, and 5 months after training completion. Assessments included self-reports and experimental tasks to capture changes in emotional behavior. The training group reported reduced trait negative affect, rumination, depression, and anxiety, and increased trait positive affect and mindfulness compared to the control group. On a series of behavioral tasks, the training increased recognition of emotions in others (Micro-Expression Training Tool), protected trainees from some of the psychophysiological effects of an experimental threat to self (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST), appeared to activate cognitive networks associated with compassion (lexical decision procedure), and reduced hostile behavior in the Marital Interaction Task. Most effects at post assessment that were examined at follow-up were maintained. Researchers on the study include Details on the findings from the original research can be found here.
2010 Inaugural Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training Phuket Thailand 2010 CEB Phuket
In this first year of the CEB teacher training Paul Ekman and Alan Wallace were planning to teach a five week course combining emotional skills with contemplative practice. Fifty students from around the globe gathered in this newly formed center and program. Eve Ekman had planned to attend as an observer during a summer break of her PhD studies at UC Berkeley. Paul got sick and was not permitted to fly, Eve joined the program as the lead teacher skyping Paul in each afternoon. Following this first year of teaching Eve joined the official teacher training team! CEB Brazil teacher training lead Elisa Kozsasa and Thupten Leshke who supported the creation of the first teacher’s manual attended this first year.
2011-2012 Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training "Thanyapura Mind Centre" Phuket Thailand 2011 Paul on Skype Photo 2011 Eve at Australia Conference photo
CEB teacher training spent a total of three years at Thanyapura Mind Centre. Alan was also leading 8 week shamta retreat here making the center quite the hub of practice in a remote beautiful corner of the globe. Thanyapura boasted a school, olympic training facility, and this opportunity for private, quiet practice. These shamata retreats are generously offered here in podcast form. In these first years we had many Australian participants joining from “across the pond” and created a hub for CEB in Australia. Malcom Huxter joined to support meditations in 2011 and A in 2012. Eve and Alan both participated in Australian Based Conferences on Happiness and It’s Causes, videos of Alan here in 2012 Eve in 2013
2013 Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training "Casa Tonali" Mexico 2013 CEB Mexico Participants Photo, 2013 CEB Mexico Eve and Participants, 2013 CEB Mexico Group
Teacher training in the hills above Mexico city drew a wonderful crowd from across Mexico who are involved in the meditation and secular education work of Casa Tibet and Atentamente organizations. This year included participants Tenzin Chogkyi and Ryan Redman who would become essential parts of the year long CEB teacher training in 2018. Julian Veliz and Daniela Labra supported Eve and Alan on the retreat. The beautiful setting and warmth of the community resonated throughout this training and retreat. In this retreat new versions of the emotion episode timelines were developed in collaboration.
2014 Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training "Holy Isle" Scotland 2014 Holy Isle Photo_Eve, 2014 Holy Isle Horses,
On the island of Aran off the West coast of Scotland this historic island had been used for retreat since the 6th century. In addition to another wonderful group of participants we were joined by wild horses, goats, and sheep. The Holy Island training was supported by accomplished teachers Alma Anyon and Glen Svennson. A collaborative effort was made this year to create a table to showcase the model of mental balance. Cerys Thiamoni, who would create the Paz y Mente program including core CEB teachings attended this year.
2014 Inaugural CEB Retreat at "Vajrapani Institute for Wisdom Culture", USA 2014 Inaugural CEB Photo, 2014 CEB Vajrapani Eve Tenzin Ryan, 2014 CEB Vajrapani Teaching Hall Painting
TEnzin Chogkyi, Ryan Redman and Eve Ekman lead the first in a series of week long CEB retreats tucked in the redwoods of Boulder Creek. This teaching container created a deepening of connection among this teaching crew and participants.
2015 Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training "St. Josephs" Australia 2015 CEB Australia Photo, 2015 CEB Australia Group work photo
In New South Wales, during the ‘winter’ months CEB was held in a historic Christian Monastery in Kincumber. This group of participants included many Australians and a spirit of long nights dark sharing wisdom and practices from the collective wisdom. Douglas Veenhof supported this training as well as Thupten Leshke. Reseracher Anit Milicevic who has studied CEB in nursing populations was in attendance.
2015 CEB teaching trip in India Photo 2015 CEB India
Eve Ekman and emotion researcher and colleague Luma Mutahdie teach CEB in Bangalore and Delhi. These two day workshops include a diverse background of professional and religious paths including hindu, buddhist, christian, and muslim. Eve attends the opening of the National Institute of Mental Health in Bangalore for the founding of a contemplative study center for meditation and Yoga with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
2016 Peer Review Study on CEB with Nursing Students
The present study (non-randomized) investigates the effects of a targeted 6-week emotion regulation and mindfulness training program (CEB) in educators and mental health workers. Participants who completed CEB training (n = 20) demonstrated a significant improvement in mindfulness and a significant increase in emotional awareness when compared to the control group (n = 20).
2016 Atlas of Emotion Online Launch 2016 Atlas of EMotions Meeting HHDL Paul etc, 2016 Making of AOE, 2016 Eve and HHDL, 2016 AOE HHDL Hands
Eve and Paul Ekman launch the Atlas of Emotions website created by Stamen design and supported by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.The Dalai Lama imagined “a map of our emotions to develop a calm mind.” He asked his longtime friend and renowned emotion scientist Dr. Paul Ekman to realize his idea. Ekman took on the creation of the Atlas alongside his daughter, Eve Ekman, a second-generation emotion researcher and trainer. The Atlas represents what researchers have learned from the psychological study of emotion.
2017 Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training "Istituto Lama Tsongkhapa" Italy 2017 CEB Italy Group Photo, 2017 CEB Italy Castle
In picture perfect northern Italy hosted by the ILTK this wonderful group of participants enjoyed the former Tuscan castle as the dining hall and had great inspiration from the vast sky for practices. This year’s group again brought new visions and ideas for how to apply CEB in everyday settings from yoga to education. Jocelyn Lai, a long time supporter of the CEB organization was in attendance this year and Jeanne Pili who co-leads the CEB Brazil supported this training for her second time/
2017 Peer Review Study on CEB With Caregivers
The aim of this pilot study was to run a CEB program for professional caregivers of patients with intellectual disability (n = 19, 18 female, mean age = 40.47). Psychometrically validated instruments for the assessment of mindfulness, self-care, emotion regulation, and self-compassion were used. Within the pilot data, preliminary multivariate analysis of variance pointed in the direction of meaningful increases in both the five facets of mindfulness and de-centering. Additional analyses suggest that the pilot intervention can improve self-care self-compassion while reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, panic, and somatized illness.
2017 CEB Teacher Training Brazil, Albert Einstein Hospital CEB Brazil Albert Einstein Hospital
Elisa Kozsasa and Jeanne Pilli launched CEB Teacher Training Brazil hosted through the largest hospital in South America, Albert Einstein, in Sao Paolo.
2017 CEB teaching trip Brazil 2017 CEB Brazil Eve, Cerys, Paz y Mente Students, 2017 CEB BRazil Lecture, 2017
CEB Road Trip, Eve visits Brazil and teaches for Paz y Mente and with Albert Einstein Hospital Faculty and Casa Tibet Sao Paolo.
2017 The Philosophy, Science and Practices of CEB at 1440 Multiversity Santa Cruz, CA 2017 1440 Eve Ryan and Paul,2017 CEB 1440 Elisa, Ryan, ALan
Paul Ekman, Alan Wallace, Eve Ekman, Ryan Redman and Shauna Shapiro gathered for a two day workshop addressing the core tenets of emotional balance.
2018 Cultivating Emotional Balance Teacher Training "Landguet Ried "Switzerland 2018 CEB Switzerland Photo, 2018 CEB Group Photo
In rolling hillsides of green this idyllic retreat center outside Bern hosted our final five week residential CEB teacher training. This caring group of participants generously shared chi-gong, mandala making, and feeding of your demons to broaden and enrich the CEB training. Deb Ramsey and Bento Soares who provide mentorship to current CEB trainees were in attendance.
2018 Garrison Institute CEB Retreat Alan Wallace and Eve Ekman 2018 CEB Garrison Alan, 2018 Garrison eve and Alan
Alan and Eve joined forces for the first CEB retreat together at the historic Garrison retreat center in upstate NY. The wonderful group of participants were highly engaged and the contents of this retreat are available as an online course through Wisdom Publications.
2018 -19 Cultivating Emotional Balance North American Year Long Teacher Training, "Vajrapani Institute" 2018 CEB teacher training Vajrapani, 2018 CEB Eve Lani Ryan, 2018-19 CEB teacher Training Group Photo
Set in the shady redwood grove of Vajrapani retreat center the inaugural year of the North American Teacher Training allowed many participants who had wanted to learn CEB but were were unable to take 5 weeks out of their life to attend. We also ramped up on the integration of materials and teaching skills across the 12 month certification. Our brave first cohort created a thoughtful and deep learning experience across this first year as Lani Potts, Ryan Redman and Eve Ekman created the new program experience helped by Jacob Lindsey.
2018 and 2019 CEB Weekends at Vajrapani 2019 CEB weekend Vajrapani Photo, 2019 CEB weekend and Vajrapani -stoopa, 2018 vajrapani CEB week
Two beautiful small group weekend retreats at Vajrapani to teach core principles of CEB lead by Ryan Redman, Tenzin Chogkyi and Eve Ekman
2019-2020 Cultivating Emotional Balance North American Year Long Teacher Training, Land of Medicine Buddha 2020 CEB Teacher Training Photo
We moved down the hill from Vajrapani to another redwood grove with patches of bright sun and many trails to contemplate natural beauty. Our participants brought great drive and motivation and aspiration to create change in their respective fields.
2020 CEB Online Mini Trainings
As the world adjusted to the global pandemic CEB decided to suspend teacher training and instead focus on mini-immersive CEB training in June and October.
2020 CEB Book Project Launches
Ryan Redman and Eve Ekman began writing the CEB Book, a supportive text that will illuminate the core values and practices of CEB for a general audience. Weaving in the practical exercises and foundational wisdom from Paul Ekman and Alan Wallace the CEB book brings rigorous contemplative science to life.
2021 Online CEB Course with Ryan Redman and Eve Ekman Photo Eve Ekman and Ryan Redman 2019
This training was recorded with a live audience at the San Francisco Dharma Collective in 2019. In this 9 hour 9 CE training program participants develop attention, restore motivation, identify the root causes of enduring happiness, discuss burnout, explore contempt and shame, investigate different pathways of empathy, practice self-compassion, and build connections through vulnerability and trust. Available here
