There are infinite opportunities for us to notice impermanence all around us. Nature is a never-ending dance of life and death, arising and passing away. It's never static, never fixed. The flower bud opening into a blossom, leaves falling from a tree, the sun rising and setting, the moon waxing and waning, ocean waves swelling and cresting, crashing and receding, or birdsong that emerges and dissolves back into silence—death and impermanence are everywhere. All of these sights and sounds are reminders of this dance.
Alisa Dennis, PhD
Residential Retreat Teacher
Alisa Dennis, PhD, SEP began meditating in the 1980s through an early interest in metaphysics and ancient wisdom traditions and has practiced for over 30 years. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Teacher Training Program, class of 2020, and shares the Dharma through retreats and courses in the Insight tradition.
Her teaching integrates mindfulness, embodied awareness, and relational and spiritual inquiry. Her teaching reflects a synthesis of diverse wisdom traditions, grounded in direct experience. Alisa is a clinical psychologist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner and also practices homeopathy—an approach that, like the Dharma, listens closely to patterns of experience and supports the natural movement toward balance.
She is particularly interested in the body as a doorway to steadiness, insight, and compassion, and she considers nature one of her teachers.
She lives in the Atlanta area with her wife, where she supports meditation practitioners and maintains a private Somatic Experiencing, psychotherapy, and homeopathy practice. She enjoys gardening, painting, bicycling, traveling, and exploring lesser-known histories.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Alisa Dennis through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.