Drop It:
Renunciation, Nonattachment, and the Joy of Release
A Four-Week Class
Tuesdays, March 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026
5pm to 6:30pm, pacific time
online via Zoom
Exhausted by Your Own Wanting?
You know the feeling: that constant low-level anxiety—about getting what you need, keeping what you have, and making sure everything turns out okay. The mental energy spent strategizing, controlling, and white-knuckling your way through life. You're tired of your own desire—but you're also terrified of letting go.
What if that exhaustion is actually pointing you toward freedom? What if the deepest relief comes not from finally getting everything you want, but from releasing your death grip on having to have it all work out perfectly?
Join Buddhist teacher and psychologist, nico hase, for this transformative four-week exploration of renunciation as radical love. Drawing from years of monastic training and psychological insight, this course reveals how letting go isn't about becoming cold or detached—it's about opening to a warmth and intimacy far deeper than grasping could ever offer.
What You'll Discover
Each week, we'll explore a different facet of the liberated heart:
👉Week 1: The Joy of Renunciation — Discover what we're truly letting go of (hint: it's not what you think), and why true renunciation feels like coming home to yourself
👉Week 2: Grasping vs Belonging — How nonattachment actually deepens our sense of intimacy and belonging with life and loved ones
👉Week 3: Desire and the Middle Way — Explore how to work skillfully with craving without falling into repression or indulgence—finding the middle path that honors both wisdom and aliveness
👉Week 4: Releasing and Receiving — Experience letting go not as loss, but as love in action—how opening our hands allows life to fill them
The Paradox of Freedom
Through guided meditations, practical exercises, and deep inquiry, you'll explore:
Why renunciation is actually the ultimate act of self-care
How to distinguish between healthy desire and desperate clinging
The difference between detachment (which is cold) and nonattachment (which is warm)
How to let go in real life—without spiritual bypassing
How releasing what we think we need opens us to what we actually long for
What's Included
Four 90-minute live sessions with nico hase (all recorded for your convenience)
Guided meditations and reflection practices for daily life
Private online community for sharing and support between sessions
What People Are Saying
"nico is a deeply experienced practitioner, with a strong dedication to his meditation journey. He has immersed himself for many years in long intensive practice, and I highly recommend his teaching."
— Joseph Goldstein
Author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening
Co-founder of the Insight Meditation Society
"It's no exaggeration to say meeting nico changed the course of my life. Taking Psychology of Mindfulness with nico at UW-Madison shifted things for me in an incredibly meaningful way... nico's kind and clear presence, his ability to build community in the classroom, and his genuine caring about my personal and unique experience inspired me to make meditation a big part of my life. And that has made all the difference."
—Olivia S.
Course Details
Dates: Tuesdays - March 3, 10, 17, 24, 2026
Live Sessions: Tuesdays, 5-6:30pm PT
Registration & Payment
Please use the button below to register. We are offering this class on a dana (donation) model. The suggested donation is $120 to $360 for the course.
nico hase lived in a monastery for six years before earning a PhD in counseling psychology and becoming an Insight Meditation teacher full time. He currently mentors mindfulness teachers, teaches online and in-person retreats, and speaks with students in one-on-one sessions. He and his beloved life partner devon are the authors of How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life.
