Staying Present When Love Gets Hard:
Dharma for Conflict, Boundaries, and Real Connection
A Four-Week Journey into Interpersonal Awakening
Tuesdays, June 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2026
5pm to 6:30pm, pacific time
online via Zoom
You can find your breath. You understand impermanence. You’ve touched genuine compassion on retreat. But when conflict arises with the people you love most, it’s like your whole practice disappears. Every teaching you've studied vanishes the moment strong emotion takes over.
Join Buddhist teacher and psychologist nico hase for a four-week exploration of dharma in relationship. Rooted in years of monastery training and real-world relational work, this course offers ancient wisdom for modern hearts—delivered with warmth and practical tools.
What You'll Learn & Experience
Each week combines guided meditations, dharma talks, and hands-on practice to embody these essential aspects of awakened relating:
👉Week 1: Presence in the Fire — Learn to stay grounded and spacious when emotions flare, both yours and theirs. Discover how the very moments that feel most challenging are doorways to deeper intimacy.
👉Week 2: The Courage to Be Clear — Explore wise speech, authentic expression, and healthy boundaries. Practice saying what's true without causing harm, and receiving difficult truths with an open heart.
👉Week 3: Conflict as Sacred Ground — Transform your relationship with disagreement and rupture. Learn Buddhist approaches to repair that honor both truth and tenderness.
👉Week 4: No-Self, No Other — Discover how emptiness teachings dissolve the barriers between self and other, opening new possibilities for compassion and understanding in relationship.
What people are saying
"With his PhD in counseling psychology and his decades-long commitment to meditation and dharma practice, nico brings a unique depth and perspective to his mentoring and teaching. Working with him can help you make real changes, right now, in the midst of your busy life."
—Judson A. Brewer, MD PhD Director of Research and Innovation, Brown University Mindfulness Center
"nico's classes have a sense of community, a warmth and humanity that make me feel very much at home. I feel that I am growing and I am not alone in the process of growing."
— Carolina Casteñeda del Río, MS, MFT
This Course Might Be For You If...
You're an experienced meditator tired of feeling like your spiritual practice lives in a different world from your closest relationships
You want to learn how to stay present during difficult conversations
You're ready to transform conflict from something you avoid into something that deepens intimacy
You long to bring the spaciousness you find in meditation into your interactions with others
You're curious about how emptiness and compassion can revolutionize how you relate
What's Included
4 weekly 90-minute live sessions (all recorded)
Partner and small group exercises to embody the teachings relationally
Private online community for ongoing support and connection
Practical homework assignments to integrate the teachings into your daily relationships
Real-time practice sessions with supportive peer feedback
Course Details
Dates: Tuesdays - June 9, 16, 23, and 30, 2026
Live Sessions: Tuesdays, 5-6:30pm PT
Format: Online via Zoom (all sessions recorded)
Registration & Payment
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.
