The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. I think we gather for many reasons which, for me, include connection, caring, inspiration, meaning and solace. This week we witnessed the needless death of George Floyd.  We watched the responding protests and civil unrest mounting intensity.  Each of us brought our grieving hearts to practice.  We drew inspiration from lyric poet Gregory Orr. In an NPR story about his work, Gregory states, “I believe in poetry as a way of surviving the emotional chaos, spiritual confusions, and traumatic events that come with being alive.”

Gregory found his way to poetry four years after accidentally killing his brother in a hunting accident when he was twelve years old.  He found a way of expressing his deeper story about the event his family was never able to talk about.  As a young man he nearly died during the civil rights movement when as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) he was jailed and severely beaten.  His work contains a sense of urgency about finding meaning and voice. You can hear Gregory talk about his story in this On Being interview, Shaping Grief with Language.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  I look forward to our class all week.  I love the feeling of belonging.  I take courage knowing that we share very simple and powerful intentions.  We are learning about ourselves in an intimate way and an expansive way.  We’re intimate with sensations, emotions and thoughts.  We expand our hearts to allow our human experiences to belong.  We draw inspiration from each other.  It is a joy to see your faces even on a screen.

Our practice and reflection were based on Tara Brach’s new book, Radical Compassion and a reading from novelist, playwright, essayist, poet and civil rights activist James Baldwin. You can find out more about his work from the American Masters program Take This Hammer.  I quoted from an essay from his book, Nothing Personal.  This beautiful prose was set to heart felt music by Morley and Friends as, Nothing is Fixed, part of the  2020 Universe in Verse program.  I hope you have time to give it a listen.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  Again I feel such gratitude for your presence.  You were so kind as you patiently waited for class to begin.  Your support enabled me to feel vulnerable, imperfect and o.k.  When I got home today I found this advice from writer Jack Kerouac:  “Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you’re already in heaven now,”  As luck would have it, today’s class was inspired by our vulnerability.  I recently discovered Tara Brach’s new book, Radical Compassion and her beautiful talk:  Loneliness as a Portal to Sacred Presence.  This is part of her Sheltering in Love series which I have found very helpful in my sheltering practice.  I also shared from Krista Tippett’s interview with poet David White:  The Conversational Nature of Reality in which he spoke to our essential vulnerability. Continue reading →

The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  I think of you, students, during my long morning walks. I imagine you taking your own walks, being with kids or grandkids.  I hear or read something and I want to share with you.  Even while our on-line sharing is brief – it is precious.  Thank you for your presence and generosity of spirit. Today’s practice was inspired by poets, Jane Hirshfield, Terry Tempest Williams, Mary Oliver and a scientist, Alison Gopnik, whose prose is often like poet’s.  The common theme in these works is a sense of caring beyond oneself.  The kind of caring a mother does for her child.  In The Evolutionary Power of Children, a marvelous interview with On Being’s Krista Tippett, Alison makes the case for a universal ethic of caring much like the mother child relationship.  I think this ethic of caring is alive in the ways people are supporting each other these days.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. I so deeply appreciate the patience and kindness everyone gave me after so many technical interruptions.  (As if didn’t already have so much experience with interruptions!)  Today’s class was inspired by the wonderful poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke and the work of Rilke scholar Joanna Macy.  Joanna has spent over sixty years organizing environmental and social action groups.  Joanna is a national treasure.  In post-world war two Germany she worked for the CIA before volunteering for the Peace Corps to work with Tibetan refugees in Dharamshala.  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.

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