It's storytime! By that, I mean, it's time to write yourself a new story. Dream a new dream. Author yourself an untold myth, full of the wildness, mystery, and multidimensional high jinks I believe all of us want and deserve.
The Infinite Field is a space in which the combined practice of meditation and freewriting come together to help writers and non-writers alike clarify seemingly vague ideas and comprehend the value of their lives with enormous self-compassion; spaciousness; loving inquiry; and an expansive window of welcome for paradox, beauty, and synchronicity. I designed this sangha (a Sanskrit and Pali term for a community or assemblage of practitioners joined together for a common purpose) as a place to grow seeds of beauty and self-discovery, and then watch them flourish in your life. Here, you’ll be offered the tools to connect with the most majestic and meaningful gifts inside you—your proverbial buried treasure. And, if you think meditation and writing are self-indulgent forms of personal development, think again.
The story that prompted the creation of the Infinite Field begins in a time before time, with a frayed constellation of connections shattering and losing their adherence to the greater whole. These orphaned stars fumble along, serendipitously stumbling into new connections, as well as untold beauty and peril. Ultimately, they each discover that their superpower lives in the recesses of their primal memories—and when they find it, they also tap into the great secret that's hiding in plain sight…
Want to find out what that secret is? Play with me in the Infinite Field and you will!
As hundreds of participants have experienced, the Infinite Field is a magical cauldron in which creativity, mindfulness (or should I say heartfulness?), love, justice, and enchantment coalesce, for the purpose of bringing you all the way back home. Trust that the journey “home” is an important part of the process of waking up to your divine creativity. Because sometimes, in order to find the right plot points, you have to wander and meander a little while.
In my seasonal daylong playshops, you’ll move through a variety of meditations, ranging from potent guided visualizations to reflections that’ll set the wheels of creativity in motion. The majority of our time together will be for meditation instruction and writing—but because writing is a revolutionary act of spell-casting and reality-shifting, we’ll be building a space that encourages vulnerable, transparent connection and the willingness to transform and be transformed through speaking and listening. This space is intentionally intimate and includes plenty of time to settle in, share your voice, and connect with your fellow participants.
A pen, a journal, a comfortable area to sit or lie down, and a spirit of gentle curiosity are more than sufficient.
You’ll feel more self-regulated, connected to yourself, and capable of connecting to others from the most enduring and resilient parts of you: your intrinsic creativity and lucid awareness. We’re living in an era that has made us feel more distraught, distracted, lonely, fragmented, and worried about the state of the world than ever before—and we absolutely need tools that enable us to navigate these complexities with grace. The Infinite Field offers you a chance to jump on the trampoline of pure discovery and caterwauling inventiveness—for, as you enter the terrain of play, you transform in unforeseen ways. And, as you tap into yourself with compassionate discernment and lovingkindness (while bringing along your spelunker's hat for some deep-sea diving into your psyche!), you'll become better equipped at extending a loving hand to all sentient beings who need it. The Infinite Field will help you recognize the magic that's always calling you home, so that you can remember your divine origins and use this knowledge to brew an enchanting cauldron of justice, belonging, acceptance, and possibility, among other essential ingredients.
The Infinite Field is a space for curious seekers; a space where you can explore your creativity and other superpowers through a combination of guided visualization and reflection. I created the Infinite Field because I innately get that the act of writing is about so much more than garnering admiration and visibility for our words. I’m a writer and editor, professionally speaking, but there’s a deeper, “witchier” significance to the act of writing, which is literally a process of spell-casting. I am passionate about helping people potentiate their gifts through the generative act of being present with ourselves and writing from that place. By doing away with the toxic lies that keep us buried beneath a heap of distractions and despair, we can begin to reauthor our lives and bravely tell new stories that our entire planet deserves! I'll be the psychopomp that guides you through the multidimensional realms, so that you can collect the pieces you need to weave your own garland of stories (or poems, or essays, or plays, or musings in whatever form or genre you prefer!). As I like to remind people, the universe is made of stories. And the Infinite Field is a space of intentionally choosing and/or weaving your own, if you dare!
Daylong playshops usually run for about four hours and will vary, based on the topic they’re centered around (previous playshops have centered around such topics and explorations as the Heart Sutra, the many different forms of the Buddhist mother goddess Tara, the connection to the realms beyond the veils around the time of Halloween, and what it looks and feels like to be a courageous truthteller). They’ll take place on a seasonal basis, usually around the equinoxes or solstices. Each session includes about 3–4 meditations. After each meditation, participants are offered a poem or short piece of writing to contemplate, as well as a writing prompt that allows our inherent creativity to emerge from our in-the-moment experience. Our personal deep dives are complemented by group sharing and Q&A, as our wisdom isn’t meant to be just for ourselves. Given my training as a mindfulness meditation facilitator in the Insight meditation tradition, my focus with respect to the meditations, poetry, prose, and prompts I choose is liberation from suffering and oppression, as well as a deep connection to awe, wonder, and historically marginalized perspectives.
I am a writer, meditator, creativity coach, mentor, modern-day mystic, and fairy godmother (my clients’ words, not mine!). I have always loved archetypes, fairy tales, and mythical forms of storytelling, which inform my approach to blending meditation/contemplation with creative discovery. Add to that more than a decade of working as a collaborative writer for a medley of authors, agents, and publishers, as well as my work as a trauma-informed mindfulness meditation facilitator. Naturally, I have a potent combination of skills that are perfect for weaving a magical web of self-regulation and connection to the many muses who flit in and out of the unseen realms to remind us that inspiration is always here!
Let’s start with meditation. I firmly believe that meditation is for everyone, but I’ll leave that up to you. Although I come from a Buddhist background, my meditations are secular in nature, with a strong grounding in the idea that we are all connected to “source” consciousness. My meditations are typically guided visualizations that prompt a sense of wonder and connection to your essential self—that part of you that the Buddhists call “Buddha nature,” which is an ineffable purity of spirit that transcends words but has at its root a quality of imperturbable peace and goodness. I believe that if all of us felt our own Buddha nature on a daily basis, we’d be connected to a self-replenishing power source that could change our very concept of reality. Now, on to writing. Writing is one way to cast a spell—and, as a word witch, it’s my favorite. But plenty of people who come to the Infinite Field engage in drawing, dancing, making music, daydreaming…Heck, even sharing your musings with your cat is an incredible act of spiritual catharsis! Overall, you need not be a writer to enjoy and be enriched by this process (although I’ve met plenty of people who told me they started or finished their book through their sojourns in the Infinite Field). All that’s required is a deep desire to experience liberation from the churning of the discursive mind, and a willingness to be guided to the small, gentle, still voice within that longs to express its wisdom. I’ve been through a lot of trauma in my life, and I’m interested in using the space to explore this. Is that appropriate? While my meditations are trauma-informed, the Infinite Field is not meant to be a substitute for therapy or professional mental-health services. While my hope is that the Infinite Field will complement any other kind of healing-justice work you might be doing, if you are going through an especially difficult time, I recommend working with a mental-health professional.
Cost is on a sliding scale, for the greatest accessibility to participants. Playshops range from $150 to $300. I ask that participants pay at the top end of what they can afford. No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
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I offer a monthly closed group for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) womxn (a word that is often used in intersectional feminism as an alternative spelling to be inclusive of trans and nonbinary women) who are interested in building community through their writing and meditation practice. If you’re interested, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. This space is by donation only, and we meet once a month for 1.5 hours.
I also offer customized courses and playshops to interested organizations.
You can fill out the form at the bottom of the page or the general Contact Form if you would like to find out more.
“Thank you as usual, Nirmala. This morning’s session was so very powerful. I appreciate how your prompts seem to always be on time with what I am dealing with in the moment. I am so grateful for the space that you provide for us to write, meditate, renew, and just be without judgment. The poetry and readings are so inspiring and relevant. I feel blessed to have been here.”
—Derise
“I’ve had a very uncomfortable relationship to writing. It used to feel hard, very hard. Through Nirmala’s closed group sessions, I’ve learned to not just enjoy writing, but I LOVE freewriting. There is a potency in the combination of meditation, listening to poems, and freewriting where the heart opens and you get to know yourself in ways that no other practices allow. So much meaning making happens in this contemplative space. It’s a chance to be with oneself through a collective container. No overthinking—simply letting my spirit come through my hand onto paper. Nirmala knows how to pick just the right prompts, poetry, and meditations to lovingly guide the group. I always feel nourished after our sessions.”
—Usa Lee
“Nirmala creates a beautiful space for BIPOC womxn to be with one another. Even though we don’t share much as a group—just some check-ins and check-outs, with most of the time devoted to guided meditations and self-exploratory writing—it’s a powerful, one-of-a-kind space to surrender into.”
—Bo
“I came into Nirmala 's Infinite Field group in the middle of her winter sessions. I immediately felt welcomed and at home, as if sitting by a warm fire in a comfy chair with a steaming cup of tea. As one who writes, I was deeply touched by Nirmala's gentle but powerful facilitation. I felt as though I had stepped into another space of creation, where something opened up inside of me that had previously felt closed off or inaccessible. I am grateful to have found this space and hope to participate more.”
—Soltahr
“The grounded, expansive nature of this space opens me to myself. I feel encouraged and supported to explore within, with inspiration from without. I return to the prompts and find them waiting to open me in new ways.”
—Jan
“I feel uplifted in the Infinite Field. As a novelist and poet, I find Nirmala’s prompts to connect to our bodies as we contemplate putting words to computer so inspirational. If you are BIPOC or a person of the global majority, you’ll feel welcome here. Nirmala’s choice of prompts lets me relax. I know she keeps us aware of a whole, not narrow, world.”
—Lu
“The Infinite Field has been a space I've consistently returned to because it has unequivocally helped me return to myself—my creative Self, my intuitive Self. The container feels peaceful, safe, and daring. Nirmala's facilitation is skillful and kind, supporting my ability to trust, open up, and share my light.”
—Yolanda
“I've been a part of Nirmala's Infinite Field since the pandemic started four years ago. Nirmala is a wonderful facilitator and both creator and holder of space. I've always appreciated the combination of meditation and writing, but Nirmala has helped me stay consistent and develop a deeper understanding of a tool to add to my own mental health ‘toolbox.' I leave each session calmer and more connected to myself!”
—Eden
“I have worked with Nirmala during both a workshop settings as well as 1:1 private coaching sessions, over a series of several months. I can truly say that her facilitation and style of support has catapulted both my skill and enthusiasm for writing. Her insights into my work were wise as well as constructive, and filled me with a deep well of inspiration to keep up my craft. I truly cannot think of another teacher I have worked with that has such a profoundly touching balance of head, heart, and spirit.”
—Jackie
Closed groups for BIPOC womxn are offered on a sliding scale from $50–250. For the half-day retreats, the suggested donation is $25–100. While donations are welcome, they are not required—and I encourage you to give freely or not as your heart wishes. Your presence is a gift!
If you wish to contribute, please send your donations via Venmo: @Nirmala-Nataraj or via following form:
