Marc Lesser

Finding Inspiration and Effectiveness in the Midst of Exhaustion
2021-03-23
Microsoft E2 offers an unparalleled opportunity to learn together and celebrate the achievements of extraordinary changemakers–both leaders and educators–who are transforming education to ensure students can achieve more in their lives today and in the future.
Education institutions worldwide have seen tremendous disruptions and opportunities in the past year. The Microsoft E2 will offer inspiring keynotes, thought-provoking research, innovative practices, collaboration, and solution showcases.
Special guest, Marc Lesser, will lead a session on how to take care of oneself in order to find inspiration and effectiveness in the midst of exhaustion. This session will be aimed at School and System leadership focused on integrated data platforms to drive decision making and lead effective transformation.

Whatever You Meet Is The Path: A One-Day Meditation and Mindfulness Retreat
2021-03-27 09:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Begin, renew, or deepen your meditation and mindfulness practice.
We’ll follow a gentle schedule of meditation and walking meditation, interspersed with time to write, reflect, connect, and take in the richness of our lives. The schedule includes a short presentation and discussion.
“Meditation is just to be ourselves…That is our way, to live fully in each moment of time. This practice continues forever.”
–Shunryu Suzuki

Seven Practices of a Mindful Leader Online Course
2021-04-20 16:00 - 2021-05-11 17:30
As a leader, you work to get results. You worry about targets, quarters, attracting talent… and you feel a constant pressure to grow. But sometimes you focus so much on these end goals that you don’t pay attention to your journey.
The result? You feel out of touch and dragged along.
It’s only when you face problems in your team, or productivity takes a nose-dive that you peer over the balance sheets and realize you’re not where you wanted to be.
The truth is, leadership is about more than numbers. People and connections and relationships matter.
Mindful leaders are more successful, less stressed, and more connected to their purpose.
You can be the kind of leader who…

Cultivates productivity through authentic relationships
Communicates what matters and brings people with them
Builds alignment within their teams
Brings out the best in themselves and others

In this four-week interactive course, you’ll discover how to use the tools of mindfulness to develop emotional intelligence so you can be more purposeful, present, and empathetic in your workplace.
By the end of this course, you’ll understand how to do the work that will move you from fire-fighting and overwhelm to a more connected and effective form of leadership.
We’re all leaders and we can all benefit from being more awake and connected in our everyday lives. Join us and learn how to be a more purposeful, active, and empathetic force for change in your organization.

Step Into Your Life - A 1/2 Day Virtual Retreat
2021-06-05 09:00 - 12:30 | Zoom
In our world of busyness, of more/faster/better, this half-day retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew. We will explore the practices of effort and effortless as a path to well-being and “stepping into your life.”
Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of meditation, talk, and some discussion, interspersed with time to write, reflect, and take in the richness of our lives.
This event is suitable for anyone looking to begin, renew, or deepen a mindfulness and meditation practice, and no prior experience with meditation is necessary.
“The practice I speak of is not meditation. It is simply the dharma gate of repose and bliss…It is the manifestation of ultimate reality…Once its heart is grasped, you are like a dragon when he gains the water, like a tiger when she enters the mountains.”
–Dogen

Mindful Leadership Training at Spirit Rock
2021-08-27 - 2021-12-18 | Spirit Rock, Community Meditation Center, 5000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd, Woodacre, CA, 94973, United States
This certificate training program is open to and designed for leaders and aspiring leaders in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. We will cultivate the mindful and compassionate leadership skills of focus, clarity, emotional regulation, well-being, self-awareness, caring for self and others, with a mindset of service to community and the world.
Through mindfulness curriculum, meditation instruction, group discussions, and practice opportunities, we will cultivate skills and behaviors that can be applied directly to our personal and professional lives. By developing and incorporating these intentional practices, we will strengthen professional relationships and workplace environments, expanding impact beyond our own learning for the broader benefit of our work and organization(s).

This program includes training in three realms: personal, relational, and organizational. Some included themes are:
Mindful, compassionate, values-aligned leadership
Courageous conversations
Building and empowering effective partnerships and teams
Personal ecology: self-care, well being, resilience
Self-awareness and self-management: emotional intelligence and working with difficult emotions
Coaching and mentoring: compassionate accountability
Fostering belonging

Registration closes August 23rd. Learn more and/or Register here.

Zen Wisdom for Modern Times: 3-month Practice Period
2022-01-05 18:00 - 2022-03-30 19:30 | Zoom
This three-month mindfulness and meditation online program is for anyone looking to begin, renew, or intensify a meditation practice. It’s a time to bring more attention and commitment to what matters most and to how we “show up” in our lives.
All experience levels are welcome, from those beginning to those with a lifetime of meditation experience.
The theme for this practice period is Zen Wisdom For Modern Times. Our focus will be on how Zen practice can be integrated into daily life to help us:
– cultivate greater wellbeing
– navigate change and challenges
– discover more meaning and purpose in work and relationship
DATES, SCHEDULE, AND COST
We’ll meet every Wednesday from January 5 – March 30, 2022
Schedule:
6:00 – 6:30: meditation
6:30 – 7:00: teaching
7:00 – 7:30: group discussion w/breakout groups
Scholarships available (no one turned away for lack of funds). Request more info.

Mindful Leadership Training at Spirit Rock (Online)
2022-08-26 09:30 - 2022-12-17 16:30 | Zoom
Description:
This certificate training program is open to and designed for leaders and aspiring leaders in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. We will cultivate mindful and compassionate leadership skills and practices to embody our care for ourselves and others, with a mindset of service to community and the world.
A core, distinct pedagogical approach of this program is participating in and co-learning with a supportive community of like-minded peers both in the large group and small monthly pod meetings. Through lectures, group discussion, guided meditations, readings, reflections, experiential exercises, and personal meditation practice, we will cultivate skills and behaviors that can be applied directly to our personal and professional lives. By developing and incorporating these intentional practices, we will strengthen professional relationships and workplace environments, expanding impact beyond our own learning for the broader benefit of our work and organization(s).
This program includes training in three realms: personal, relational, and organizational. Some included themes are:

Mindful, compassionate, values-aligned leadership
Cultivating well-being: self-care, rest, and resilience
Self-awareness and self-management: emotional intelligence and working with difficult emotions
Transforming professional and personal relationships through embodied, skillful communication
Courageous conversations
Empowering and inspiring people and teams
Coaching and mentoring: compassionate accountability
Fostering and co-creating belonging

Program Includes:
Monthly large group sessions – online (recorded)
Monthly small team sessions
Daily and monthly home practices and readings
Monthly written reflections
Monthly office hours – online (recorded)
Optional opt-in affinity groups
Dates:
Program runs August 26 – December 17, 2022. Specific training dates below. All large group session times are: 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. US Pacific Time.
Fri-Sat, Aug 26-27 (2 days); Opening Weekend
Fri, Sept 23
Fri, Oct 21
Fri, Nov 18
Fri-Sat, Dec 16-17 (2 days); Closing Weekend
Location:
Online via Zoom
Learn more about the program here. Register now.

7 Practices of a Mindful Leader - Hollyhock, Cortez Island, BC
2022-09-11 18:00 - 2022-09-16 13:00 | Hollyhock Leadership Learning Centre, Highfield Rd, Comox-Strathcona I, BC, V0P 1K0, Canada
7 Practices of a Mindful Leader with Lee Klinger Lesser and Marc Lesser
In our world of busyness – of more, faster, better – this retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew.
It is a time to step fully into the richness of our lives. Together we will follow a gentle schedule of sensory awareness practice and sitting meditation interspersed with talks, Zen stories, journal writing, as well as small group and large group dialogue as we uncover how these stories and dialogues may be utilized to transform our way of being in the world as leaders.
Leadership is primarily about cultivating clarity, empowering others, and skillfully responding to change. Each day our practice will be focused on one or two of the seven practices of a mindful leader described below:
• Love the work
• Do the work
• Don’t be an expert
• Connect to your pain
• Connect to the pain of others
• Depend on others
• Keep making it simpler
We are all leaders. We all lead our own lives and we all have tremendous influence in our work, families, and relationships. We will practice developing ways to integrate mindfulness into our ability to envision, connect, empower, and collaborate. Sensory Awareness and Zen are practices through which we connect with our natural intelligence and vitality; we can discover what responds in us in the midst of change and growth; and we can learn to rely on our sensations as guides to the fresh terrain of each moment.
This workshop focuses on tools that help us to be present, tools that are antidotes to busyness and that support our ability to be in touch with what matters most. By slowing down and looking deeply, we can connect with our sensations and our deepest aspirations and find the freedom and open-heartedness that are our birthright.
Starts with dinner on September 11 and ends with lunch on September 16. A detailed schedule will be available 1-2 weeks in advance of the program.
Register here.

Appreciate Your Life: 3-month Practice Period
2023-01-18 18:00 - 2023-04-05 19:30 | Zoom
This 3-month Mindfulness and Meditation Practice Period is for anyone looking to begin, renew, or intensify a meditation practice.
All experience levels are welcome, from those beginning to those with a lifetime of meditation experience. Together, we will form a community of listening and support, and will bring attention and commitment to regular meditation practice and to how we “show up” in all parts of our lives.
The theme for this practice period is Appreciating Your Life. Our focus will be on how Zen practice can be integrated into daily life to help us:
– cultivate greater wellbeing
– navigate change and challenges
– discover more meaning and purpose in work and relationship
DATES, SCHEDULE, AND COST
We’ll meet every Wednesday from January 18 – April 5, 2023
Schedule:
6:00 – 6:30: meditation
6:30 – 7:00: teaching
7:00 – 7:30: group discussion w/breakout groups
SESSION BREAKDOWN
January 18: What’s Zen Got To Do With It?
In our opening Practice Period session, we will talk about Zen practice and its application to our modern world. Marc will introduce the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind and the teachings of Shunryu Suzuki.
January 25: Beginner’s Mind
A discussion of “beginner’s mind” – the art and practice of seeing and experiencing everything as fresh and new. We will explore the meaning and power of Zen as a non-dualistic practice, and developing a mind that is ready for anything.
February 1: Precise Forms for A Flexible Mind
A discussion of the first talk from Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind on “Posture.”
February 8: Exploring the Breath
A deep dive into the practice of meditation – the practice of fully being ourselves.
February 15: Control
A discussion of the paradox of intention and letting go.
February 22: Thinking Mind
Finding equanimity in the midst of a turbulent world.
March 1: The Power of Attention
The contrasting practices of effort and effortlessness, in meditation and all parts of our lives.
March 8: You Are Not Your Problems
Shifting our relationship with challenges and difficulties.
March 15: Living Beyond Duality
How to not feel limited by ideas of success and failure, effort and effortlessness. We explore what is meant by “no gaining ideas.”
March 22: Humility and Confidence
An exploration of the concept of Big Mind in Zen practice and how it supports greater humility and greater confidence.
March 29: Everyday Mind Is the Way
How to drop into our ordinary, extraordinary minds and hearts.
April 5: The Practice of Focus
The practice of focus as the practice of appreciating our lives.
Scholarships available (no one turned away for lack of funds). Request more info.

Mindful Leadership Training
2023-08-25 09:30 - 2023-12-09 16:30 | Zoom
Nikki Mirghafori, PhD and Marc Lesser
Sponsored by Spirit Rock
This online certificate training program is open to and designed for leaders and aspiring leaders in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors. We will cultivate mindful and compassionate leadership skills and practices to embody our care for ourselves and others, with a mindset of service to community and the world.
A core, distinct pedagogical approach of this program is participating in and co-learning with a supportive community of like-minded peers both in the large group and small monthly pod meetings. Through lectures, group discussion, guided meditations, readings, reflections, experiential exercises, and personal meditation practice, we will cultivate skills and behaviors that can be applied directly to our personal and professional lives. By developing and incorporating these intentional practices, we will strengthen professional relationships and workplace environments, expanding impact beyond our own learning for the broader benefit of our work and organization(s).
This program includes training in three realms: personal, relational, and organizational. Some included themes are:

Mindful, compassionate, values-aligned leadership
Cultivating well-being: self-care, rest, and resilience
Self-awareness and self-management: emotional intelligence and working with difficult emotions
Transforming professional and personal relationships through embodied, skillful communication
Courageous conversations
Empowering and inspiring people and teams
Coaching and mentoring: compassionate accountability
Fostering and co-creating belonging

PROGRAM INCLUDES:

Monthly large group sessions – online (recorded)
Monthly team sessions
Daily and monthly home practices and readings
Monthly written reflections
Monthly Q&As – online (recorded)
Optional opt-in affinity groups

Step Into Your Life: One Half-Day Meditation Retreat (In person and online)
2023-10-22 09:00 - 12:30
In our world of busyness, of more/faster/better, this half-day retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew. We will explore the practices of effort and effortless as a path to well-being and “stepping into your life.”
Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of sitting and walking meditation, a talk, and some discussion. Anyone looking to begin or deepen a meditation and mindfulness practice is invited to attend.
What is meditation? I like a definition proposed by Dogen, the 13th century founder of Zen in Japan: “The practice I speak of is not meditation. It is simply the dharma gate of repose and bliss…It is the manifestation of ultimate reality…Once its heart is grasped, you are like a dragon when he gains the water, like a tiger when she enters the mountains.”

Half Day Retreat
2024-01-28 09:30 - 12:30 | Mill Valley

Half Day Retreat, In-Person and Online, Sunday, April 7th
2024-04-07 09:00 - 12:30

Half Day Retreat, In Person (Mill Valley) and Online, Sunday, October 13th
2024-10-13 09:00 - 12:30

Step Into Your Life. A Zen-Inspired Retreat. Green Gulch Farm, November 1 - 3.
2024-11-01 16:00 - 2024-11-03 16:00 | Green Gulch Farm, Muir Beach, CA, United States
In our world of busyness, of more, faster, better, this retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew – a time to step fully into the richness of your life. Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of sitting and walking meditation, interspersed with talks and discussions from the wisdom of Zen teaching as we explore how these stories and dialogues may be utilized in our relationships, our work, and our lives.
We will practice with the essence of meditation, just sitting with what is. And we will experience a variety of guided meditations, exploring our inner voices, our intuition, and our emotions. Through meditations, conversations, awareness practices, and writing we’ll create a safe, vital, and meaningful time of learning together. This retreat is open to all people interested in stopping, exploring, and bringing more awareness and mindfulness to daily life.
To register.

Half Day Retreat In Mill Valley (and Online) December 8th
2024-12-08 09:00 - 12:30

Appreciating Your Life, A 3-Month Online Zen Retreat/Practice Period, January 8 - April 2, 2025
2025-01-08 18:00 - 2025-02-11 18:25
A 3-month Practice Period is a great way to begin or deepen your mindfulness and meditation practice and cultivate ways for integrating mindfulness practice with your work and all parts of your life
Online meetings are Wednesday from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. PT. We will begin each session with 30 minutes of lightly guided meditation, followed by a short talk, as well as small group and large group discussions.
The theme for the Practice Period is Appreciating Your Life. This is the underlying theme of meditation practice and Zen practice – seeing and feeling everything, the good, bad, ugly, beautiful – as gift and an opportunity to learn, grow, and engage. It’s the practice of feeling deeply, opening our hearts and minds, with a mindset of appreciation, and of being of benefit, through our ability to see more clearly, to accept what is, and work effectively with change and for change.
Our focus will be on how Zen practice can be integrated into daily life to help us:
– cultivate greater wellbeing
– navigate change and challenges
– discover more meaning and purpose in work and relationship
Our primary reading for the practice period is Branching Streams Flow In The Darkness, Zen Talks on a poem called the Sandokai, or the Harmony of Difference and Equality. This is an excellent primer on the non-dual teaching is Zen practice and how to apply them to your wellbeing, relationships, work, and social and environmental responsibility.
Being part of a community that meets weekly is a powerful way to find more clarity and connection as we begin a New Year. Each week we will meditate together for 30 minutes. Then, I’ll give a short talk, unpacking ideas and practices from Branching Stream Flow In The Darkness. We will have a variety of small group and large group discussions, to practice and deepen the tools and themes discussed. Each week you will leave with an actionable insight, or a practice, and a suggested reading.
Weekly sessions will be recorded and made available in case you miss any sessions or want to revisit them.
I hope you will join me.
Best regards,
Marc

Half Day Retreat in Mill Valley (and Online) February 2nd
2025-02-02 09:00 - 12:30

Half-day Retreat, In-person and Online, December 14th
2025-03-30 08:00 - 17:00

Half-day Retreat, In Person and Online March 30th
2025-03-30 09:00 - 12:30

Public Talk. San Francisco Zen Center, 300 Page Street, and Online. July 5, 2025, 10:00 a.m.
2025-07-05 10:00 - 11:30
Marc will give the Saturday morning public dharma talk, on July 5, 2025, 10:00 a.m. PT at the San Francisco Zen Center.
300 Page Street, San Francisco CA 94102
Everyone is welcome. No fee.
More info and livestream.

Half-day Retreat, In-person and online, July 13th
2025-07-13 09:00 - 12:30

Public Talk. Green Gulch Farm, Muir Beach, In-person and online, August 24th, 2025, 10:00 a.m.
2025-08-24 10:00 - 11:30
Marc will give the public dharma talk on Sunday, August 24th, 2025 at San Francisco Zen Center’s Green Gulch Farm.
Time: 10:00 a.m.

Step Into Your Life. A Zen Inspired Retreat. Tassajara, August 26 - 31
2025-08-26 16:00 - 2025-08-31 11:00
In our world of busyness, of more, faster, better, this retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew—a time to step fully into the richness of your life. Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of sitting and walking meditation, interspersed with talks and discussions from the wisdom of Zen teaching as we explore how these stories and dialogues may be utilized in our relationships, our work, and our lives.
We will practice with the essence of meditation, just sitting with what is. And we will experience a variety of guided meditations, exploring our inner voices, our intuition, and our emotions. Through meditations, Zen teachings and stories, conversations, awareness practices, and writing we’ll create a safe, vital, and meaningful time of learning together. This retreat is open to everyone interested in stopping, exploring, and bringing more awareness and mindfulness to daily life.
For more information and to register: https://www.sfzc.org/calendar/events/tassajara/step-your-life-zen-inspired-retreat-zmc-826-831

Half-day Retreat, In-person and Online, October 12th
2025-10-12 09:00 - 12:30

Zen of Coaching: Online Training with Marc Lesser, Five Fridays - October 24 - December 5
2025-10-24 - 2025-12-05
Zen of Coaching is a transformational online program for executive coaches and leaders who want to deepen their presence, expand their impact, and build a coaching practice rooted in wisdom, not just performance. Blending Zen principles, mindfulness, and real-world leadership experience, this course—created by Marc Lesser, the Zen teacher and CEO who helped bring mindful leadership to Google—supports you in cultivating stillness, navigating complexity, and coaching with greater authenticity, clarity, and purpose.

Enroll Now

3-Month Practice Period, Becoming Yourself, January - March, Online
2026-01-07 18:00 - 2026-03-25 19:30
A 3-month Practice Period is a great way to begin or deepen your mindfulness and meditation practice and cultivate ways for integrating mindfulness practice with your work and all parts of your life.
Online meetings are Wednesday from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. PT. We will begin each session with 30 minutes of lightly guided meditation, followed by a short talk, as well as small group and large group discussions.
The theme for the Practice Period is Becoming Yourself. This is the underlying theme of meditation practice and Zen practice – studying yourself and going beyond yourself; seeing and feeling openly, the good, bad, ugly, beautiful – as gift and an opportunity to learn, grow, and engage. It’s the practice of feeling deeply, opening our hearts and minds, with a mindset of appreciation, and of being of benefit, through our ability to see more clearly, to accept what is, and work effectively with change and for change.
Our focus will be on how Zen practice can be integrated into daily life to help us:
– cultivate greater wellbeing
– navigate change and challenges
– discover more meaning and purpose in work and relationship
Our primary reading for the practice period is Becoming Yourself, Zen Talks from Shunryu Suzuki This is an excellent primer on the non-dual teaching is Zen practice and how to apply them to your wellbeing, relationships, work, and social and environmental responsibility.
Being part of a community that meets weekly is a powerful way to find more clarity and connection as we begin a New Year. Each week we will meditate together for 30 minutes. Then, I’ll give a short talk, unpacking ideas and practices from Becoming Yourself. We will have a variety of small group and large group discussions, to practice and deepen the tools and themes discussed. Each week you will leave with an actionable insight, or a practice, and a suggested reading.
Weekly sessions will be recorded and made available in case you miss any sessions or want to revisit them.

Half-day Retreat, January 11th, In-person, (Mill Valley) and Online
2026-01-11 09:00 - 12:30

Finding Your Way. A Zen Inspired Retreat. Green Gulch Farm, February 5th - 8th
2026-02-05 15:00 - 2026-02-08 12:00
Much of our lives are spent searching for more, for better—for something other than who we are and the world we find ourselves in. This retreat offers time to stop, reflect, renew, and discover the art and practice of appreciation and wonder. Drawing on the teachings and wisdom of Zen, the weekend will include periods of meditation, guided reflections, short talks, and small and large group conversations. We’ll explore themes of impermanence, effort and effortlessness, and the freedom that arises when we release judgment and embrace what is.
This retreat invites you to pause, breathe, and listen deeply, beyond the noise of striving and self-comparison. Finding Your Way is not about fixing or achieving, but about softening into clarity and trust in forging your own path. Rather than searching for answers “out there,” this retreat nurtures the capacity to meet our lives with curiosity, compassion, and fresh eyes.
Whether you’re in a moment of transition, seeking deeper clarity, or simply longing to rest and renew, this retreat offers space to explore, heal, and grow.
No prior meditation experience is needed. Come as you are. Leave with less weight, more wonder, and a renewed connection to your own way.
To Register: https://www.sfzc.org/calendar/events/green-gulch-farm/finding-your-way-zen-inspired-retreat-ggf-25-28

Half-day Retreat, In-Person (Mill Valley) and Online, March 22nd
2026-03-22 09:00 - 12:30
