The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. We reflected on the vast web of inter-being of which we are a part. In today’s class we reflected on our power to feel, witness and to choose kindness.

We considered the different ways we can support ourselves in claiming our power.

We drew on eco-philosopher Joanna Macy’s framework for responding to the environmental crisis.  The framework and the excerpt from Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies are drawn from the Tricycle Magazine article Rilke’s Book of Hours as Portent and Guide. The article describes  four successive stages of social activism: “opening to gratitude, owning our pain for the world, seeing with new eyes, and going forth—that are predicated on the idea that in order to heal ourselves and our ecosystems first we must be willing to feel both suffering and joy.”

Our guided meditation was inspired by the meditation offered by Kaira Jewel Lingo’s Meditation on Loving Our Skin published in Tricycle Magazine.

Suggestions for the specific ways we can support ourselves in feeling,  witnessing and choosing kindness were inspired by Zenshin Florence Caplow’s Zenshin’s Ten Practices for Frightening Times.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We contemplated the ways we are called to love and courage.  We reflected on how our practice of mindfulness develops the ability to listen deeply and to stay with difficult truths.  We cultivate compassion and wisdom so that our actions can benefit all.

We heard part of the Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde’s post-inauguration homily.  She called on the President to show mercy to the many, many people who are vulnerable to great harm because of their social position.  She also prayed that we all show “the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love and walk humbly with each other and our God for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world.”

We heard the poet and writer Maria Popova’s encouragement to Love Anyway.

We heard eco-activist and writer Joanna Macy’s encouragement to stay engaged with even the most difficult truths in life. Her words are drawn from the beautiful book, A Wild Love for the World. This is a collection of writings from leading spiritual teachers, deep ecologists and activists that explore the Joanna’s teachings.

We heard Jane Hirshfield’s poem, On the Fifth Day.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We reflected on our inter-being and inter-breathing with the great web of life.  We imagined ourselves as trees generating life sustaining energy for the world around us.  We contemplated who and what we love and will protect.

We heard from Joanna Macy’s recent Lion’s Roar interview on The Great Awakening the Planet Needs. Joanna Macy has spent over sixty years organizing environmental and social action groups.  Joanna is a national treasure. You can hear more about her remarkable life and work by listening to A Wild Love for the World on On Being with Krista Tippett.  Her work describes the process by which we can develop interbeing.  In essence when we realize our interbeing caring for our world is simply and profoundly a way of caring for ourselves

We heard writer Deena Metzger’s poem, Inflammation. Deena is “a writer, a teacher, a healer and Earth advocate. [She] lives at the end of the road at the border of Topanga State Park with a variety of neighbors including mountain lions, bobcats, raccoons, coyotes, squirrels, rabbits, moles, gophers, rattlers, and a variety of birds who come to the bird feeder every day or to drink at the Buddha fountain.”

We heard eco-philosopher, David Abram’s, thoughts about inter-breathing as interbeing.

We closed with Yahia Lababidi’s poem, Breath.  Underneath the busyness of our lives, nature pulses  – ready to be felt, heard and seen.  Life waits quietly for our attention and care.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. The heartbreaking events of the past week’s catastrophic fires have shown that our survival depends on how we help one another.  We also reflected on the inner resources of balance and equanimity.   Cultivating inner balance can help to see and think clearly.  It can help us to sustain our support and service efforts.

We heard Terry Tempest Williams‘ powerful essay after the 2020 Utah fire season.  Over 330,000 acres burned in Terry’s homeland.  The essay is called A Burning Testament.  I think it speaks to our current western wildfire season.

We heard  from Oren Jay Sofer’s  book: Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love. Oren writes about equanimity as a centering stabilizing resource in our lives.  It enables us to stay right on the edge of reactivity.  We stay long enough to gain perspective and consider an appropriate response.

Our guided mediation was inspired by mediation teacher Kelly Boys‘ teachings on non-sleep deep rest (NSDR).  You can find more of Kelly’s practices on the Alembic YouTube channel Kelly Boys Playlist.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. We contemplated our human need for help.  We give and receive help during the course of our lives.  With mindfulness we can call on our heart’s wisdom to hear and answer calls for help with compassion and wisdom.

We heard from poet and writer David Whyte’s essay, Help.  This essay is drawn from the collection, Consolations:  The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words.

We heard poet Tracy Shaw’s Blessing for the Inward Way.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We contemplated our relationship with Earth as giver.  Our body is a gift, given by Earth.  We are Earth’s dream and she is our dream.  Our natural response is gratitude.  Gratitude arises in a field of abundance among inter-related beings.  We can sense this in our bodies, feel it in our hearts and imagine it into being with our minds.

We heard from Robin Wall Kimmerer’s writing, The Serviceberry.   You can read her Emergence Magazine interview, Practical Reverence. Robin describes her imaginative model for embodying a “practical reverence: an ethic of care, reciprocity, and gratitude for the Earth and Her abundance.”  It might change your ideas about the possibilities of economy.

We heard Valerie Hope Cherrin’s poem EarthDreamBody.  The poem is from an on-line journal, The Work That Reconnects.  The poems are contributed by members who are doing this work of grieving for and advocating on behalf of our beleaguered and beautiful world.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.   We reflected on the nature of stories that lead to change.  We explored how mindfulness can help us to recognize the heart-stories that we are shaped by and those that we bring to life through our compassionate choices.

We heard the story of Bolivian human rights defender, Amparo Carvajal.  This week Amparo was honored with the U.S. State Department’s annual Human Rights Defenders Award.  At 85 years old, she is still creating the stories that the world needs to hear.  You can learn more about her and the other honorees by viewing the Human Rights Award Ceremony.  It is a joy to learn about the dedicated work that happens throughout the world.  (I wanted to bring this forward as it wasn’t mentioned in the New York Times.)

We heard journalist and writer Rebecca Solnit’s comments about the kind of stories that lead to change.  Her comments were drawn from What If We’re Telling the Wrong Stories About the Climate Crisis.

We heard activist and theologian, Dr. Vincent Harding’s encouragement to create the “just country” we want to live in.  You can read more at Dr. Vincent Harding’s Call to Make America America.

We heard David Whyte’s poem, In the Beginning.  You can hear more of David’s mindful insights in his interview with On Being’s Krista Tippett, Seeking Language Large Enough.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We reflected on what it means to have “wise hope” in these challenging times of global strife and environmental decline.  We practiced being with what is true.  We considered our willingness to bring caring actions to the world despite the uncertainty of success.  Each of us can bring our light to this “beautiful broken world.”

We heard readings from Valerie Brown’s book Hope Leans Forward:  Braving Your Way Toward Simplicity, Awakening and Peace.  Valerie is a practitioner and teacher in the lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.  Valerie’s teachings and writings encourage students to make life affirming choices in conditions of challenge and uncertainty.  These choices help us to align our actions with the values that enliven meaning and purpose.  Today we touched on what it is to have “wise hope” for the future of our world.

We heard a few lines of affirmation from Andjelka Jankovic Andjelka  is a seeker and writer of stories, travel guides and life perspectives.  She is inspired by living questions like:  What does it mean to flourish?

We heard David Wagoner’s poem, Lost.  David was a poet of the Pacific Northwest who died in 2021 at the age of 95.  He was a conservationist and a hiker.  He experienced awe in our Northwest lands and also lamented humanity’s treatment of nature. David taught at the University of Washington for many years.  He once said: “Those who do without poetry should imagine their lives without music — they are missing that much by missing poetry.”

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