Fire Without Burnout: Peace Activation in the Year of the Fire Horse

Featuring Eva Dalak, hosted and produced by J'aime Rothbard.

“If I am an empty cup, the last thing I want to do is serve.” - Eva Dalak

We’ve just stepped into the Year of the Fire Horse — a year known in Chinese astrology for bold movement, passion, and powerful forward momentum. Fire Horse energy can mobilize us. It can awaken courage. It can stir urgency.

But it can also burn us out if we’re not resourced.

In this episode, Eva gives us a privileged glimpse into her three-week journey facilitating peacebuilding workshops across Israel and Palestine — and why tending to our inner state isn’t a luxury, but the foundation for long-term peace.

Moving between vastly different realities — from militarized checkpoints and hosting spaces to witness intergenerational grief, returning to lush, restorative landscapes of Costa Rica where she lives part-time — Eva shares what it means to embody peace in places where peace feels almost impossible. Rather than pushing harder, she speaks about becoming steadier. More regulated. More present.

The conversation offers a sacred peek into the workshops Eva was engaged in on a daily basis:  from nervous system resilience workshops with Palestinian women leaders, facilitated heart-centered dialogue between bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families through the parents circles and family forums. Eva also shares about her collaborations with Roni Oren, Dalit Eliahu and Yonathan Shimriz to carry out a key intention of Peace Activation to work with Israeli civic leaders during these intensely polarized times.

Eva elucidates the difference between peace activism and Peace Activation — cultivating inner safety, regulation, and embodied presence so that our actions arise from clarity rather than reaction, denial of others' experiences, and force.

In a year fueled by fire and heat, this is a conversation about tending your flame — staying resourced, connected to nature and self, and becoming the space for peace instead of burning out by fighting for it.

Registration is now open for the Peace Activation 7-week Foundation Online Training Next Cohort: April 9th - May 21st, 2026

Resources

⁠Learn more about Peace Activation ⁠

⁠Eva Dalak⁠

⁠Eva's book, Dancing in the Dark⁠

One Whole Peace - Eva and Dalit’s co-founded initiative 

Dalit Eliahu  

Two fingers : A tapping song from Rwanda

Events

7-Day Peace Activation Immersion Retreat in Greece at Zen Rocks, May 22-28 2026 

Subscribe to the Peace Activation Newsletter to receive event updates

Podcasts

Peace In the Midst of Conflict : A Conversation with Dalit

From Soldier to We Are One : Awakening Beyond Enemy Lines with Rani Oren