Awakening the Giant Within

Free Online Talk with Samantha Keen and Catherine Klebl

Awakening the Giant Within: Meditation is so much more than relaxation

Wednesday, April 8th  ·  Noon PDT (West Coast USA)  ·  Free Online

Reserve your place: email ATEPortland@gmail.com

A personal note from Samantha Keen, author of Reclaiming Vitality: A Healing Journey Through Chronic Fatigue and Burnout — and someone who knows firsthand what it means to find a deeper strength when life demands it.

I’ve been teaching meditation for many years. And the question I hear most often isn’t “how do I relax?” It’s “how do I stay connected to myself when everything falls apart?”

That’s what this talk is really about. Not meditation as a retreat from life — but meditation as a way of meeting it. More fully. More bravely. More awake.

If you’ve ever navigated a health crisis, a difficult relationship, a moment where the stakes were suddenly very high — you’ll know that what you need in those moments isn’t calm, exactly. It’s groundedness. Presence. The ability to think clearly and act from your deepest knowing, even when everything around you is loud and uncertain.

Through my own healing journey — and through years of working with meditators and seekers — I’ve come to understand that there is a vastness inside each of us. A spiritual giant, you might say. And meditation is what wakes it up.

What does it mean to awaken the giant?

It means different things in different moments. Sometimes it’s practical — the ability to be fully present when life demands it. Sometimes it’s deeply personal — standing tall in who you are rather than shrinking from it. And sometimes it’s spiritual — accessing that part of you that carries a far greater perspective than the worried, contracted self that shows up when we’re under pressure.

★ Presence under pressure

You’re in a hospital with a loved one. Hours of high stimulation, big decisions, no map. Meditation gives you the inner ground to stay clear-headed and present when it matters most.

★ Standing tall in yourself

Public speaking. Difficult conversations. Social situations where anxiety has always had the upper hand. You learn to stay rooted and meet those moments as the best version of yourself — not a managed version, but the real one.

★ The spiritual giant

That part of you with magnitude, heart, and wisdom. The part that knows how to hold a far greater standpoint — even in the middle of the storm. This is what a deepening meditation practice begins to reveal.

Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita

I love the story of Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, because he is so deeply, recognizably human. He stands at the edge of a battle he knows he must fight — and he falters. The cost feels too great. The ethics too tangled. He would rather walk away.

But Krishna — who I understand as the voice of divine knowing inside each of us — doesn’t let him off the hook. He doesn’t tell Arjuna what to want. He helps him see more clearly. He awakens the giant within. And Arjuna, against every instinct of the smaller self, chooses to face what is required of him.

That’s the invitation I want to offer in this talk. Not to make life easier. But to help you become someone who can meet it — all of it — with more of yourself present.

The small parts of us rail against hard things.

But the giant inside already knows what’s true.

This talk is for you if…

You already have some kind of meditation or spiritual practice, and you sense it could be doing more for you. You’re drawn to the idea that meditation isn’t just about stillness — it’s about becoming more alive, more awake, more yourself. You’ve faced difficult seasons in life and you want to meet whatever comes next from a stronger, deeper place.

You don’t need to have read my book or attended anything I’ve done before. Just come with an open heart and a willingness to explore. I promise it will be worth your Wednesday lunchtime.

Awakening the Giant Within

Wednesday, April 8th  ·  Noon PDT (West Coast USA) ·  Free Online

A free talk with Samantha Keen — author, IST Practitioner, meditation teacher, and guide for those ready to meet life with their whole self.

And Catherine Klebl — IST Practitioner in Portland, Oregon

Wednesday, April 8, 12-1pm PDT

location: register for Zoom link

email ATEPortland@gmail.com

If you are interested and want to pursue these kinds of practices in person, this talk is being held ahead of a Meditation Weekend Workshop:

Awakening the Third Eye, April 18^th and 19^th

Portland, Oregon

Registration: email ATEPortland@gmail.com, Phone: 503.975.8504 Registration link

Cost: $300 or Students/Refresher: $175

It is time for the spiritual giants to awaken!

I hope to see you there. — Samantha