Book Study Group
Register here for 2026 Book Study Group sessions.
After registering, Zoom will send you a confirmation email with your personal link for joining the meetings. Please do not share that link; it is yours alone.
Share the fun of the Book Study Group by encouraging others to register with the link above.
Currently reading:
Born to Flourish: How New Science and Ancient Wisdom Reveal a Simple Path to Thriving
By Richard J. Davidson, PhD and Cortland Dahl, PhD (2026)
How can we live happy, fulfilling lives in the face of today’s challenges? This accessible program grounded in neuroscience answers the question with simple practices we can easily fold into our daily lives for profound results.
In a world pulling our thoughts and emotions in so many directions, Born to Flourish offers a way to turn stress and anxiety into clarity and calm. Renowned neuroscientists and contemplative teachers Richard J. Davidson and Cortland Dahl bring us a powerful program rooted in decades of research from the Center for Healthy Minds and the non-profit Humin. Focusing on four transformative practices (Awareness, Connection, Insight, and Purpose) they bring us key tools to help train our brains to overcome depression, despair, and loneliness.
"Born to Flourish provides all of us with a powerful, strongly scientifically validated, and incredibly user-friendly four-step framework for living life in a profoundly meaningful way. Step by step, it guides us in how to effectively mobilize our multiple intelligences for inhabiting both the ordinary and the particularly nitty gritty moments in their fullness, thereby tapping into our full potential for flourishing, and perhaps, even transforming our world."—Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, Founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), author of Full Catastrophe Living
Schedule:
September 14 through November 23, 2026
Every other Monday for 90 minutes
9:00 am PT / 10:00 am MT / 11:00 am CT / 12:00 pm ET
September 14 – Chapters 1 - 4
September 28 – Chapter 5 and Appendix pp 235-242
October 12 – Chapter 6 and Appendix pp 242-247
October 26 – Chapter 7 and Appendix pp 247-252
November 9 – Chapter 8 and Appendix pp 252-257
November 23 – Chapters 9 - 10
Book Study Group guidelines are simple:
Read the chapters and bring your thoughts to the next meeting.
Register for the meetings via Zoom (using the REGISTER link above). After registering, Zoom will send you a unique link to join the series of meetings. Do not share the link, it is unique to you.
About the Book Study Group
Since 2018, between 20 and 30 avid readers meet every two weeks via Zoom to discuss. We choose books with depth and relevance to issues of the day.
List of previous books read by the Book Study Group.
Vision for the Book Study Group
We participate in in-depth discussions and share ideas on books that speak to our ecological integrity, social and economic justice, and peaceful coexistence.
We educate ourselves about ecological, social, economic concerns so that we have better and more effective ideas about how to co-create change, and act from knowledge and insight gained through our reading and our dialogue.
We attract diversity.
We have facilitators trained in helping diverse groups of individuals with different approaches and ideas to have discussions where all can be heard.
We can act as a possible educational resource for other action groups within EAN
We continue to select books by having members offer suggestions, and then choose by majority vote/agreement
We encourage the formation of smaller groups from within the book group who want to chat, discuss, and just enjoy each other’s company
We hold an annual BIG READ for all members of EAN
We conclude each meeting with an action step to reduce GHG in the atmosphere.
