The Yogabliss, Your Heart Life on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. We explored the experience of befriending:  ourselves and others.  Mindful presence makes befriending possible.  Truly listening is loving.  We have the possibility of learning what is needed in the moment.  We have the opportunity to respond with kindness, patience and understanding:  what the world needs now and has always needed.

We drew inspiration from poet and teacher David Whyte.  We heard a few paragraphs from his essay on Courage from the book, Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words.  I think David speaks to the courage we express in our willingness to care, to stay engaged with life and to respond to what is needed when we can.

We heard Jane O’Shea’s poem I’ve Come to Listen. The poem is from her collection Follow Yourself Home.  Not surprisingly Jane spends some of her time “teaching people how to have effective conversation.”  I enjoy the poem because the simple lines read like a healing mantra.

We ended with Parker Palmer’s poem Everything Falls Away.  Parker posted this poem on Facebook page in 2020.  One of his latest books is On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old. He writes compassionately from his experience of being “on the brink of everything” as he navigates elderhood.  I think he speaks about befriending when he writes: “The only way to become whole is to put our arms lovingly around -everything- we know ourselves to be: self-serving and generous, spiteful and compassionate, cowardly and courageous, treacherous and trustworthy.
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The Yogabliss, Your Heart Life on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  On this beautiful Spring day we reflected on the preciousness of our time.

We considered what it is to wait and what it is to be.  There are intentional pauses that bear all sorts of feeling and thought.

There are unadorned moments of being in which our minds can rest.  All reflect the gift of consciousness that we share.

We heard Toko-Pa Turner’s poem:  Waiting.  The poem is from her book, Belonging, Remembering Ourselves Home.  Toko-pa writes, makes art and music and works with dreams.  The poem describes “good forms of waiting.”

We heard Mary Oliver’s poem, Heavy.  The poem is from her 2007 collection, Thirst.  The poem describes the heaviness of grief – the burden we can not or will not put down.  A friend suggests we can carry this weight and live on to experience the world’s beauty annd to love. Continue reading →

The Yogabliss, Your Heart Life on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  We engaged our imagination in a compassion meditation.  We imagined the land, culture and people of Ukraine.  We imagined the decision makers who hold the fate of so many in their hands.  We imagined the Russian people who are so closely related to their Ukrainian sisters and brothers. We reflected on the suffering and turmoil of the war.  We imagined sending  the physical, emotional and spiritual support needed to bring safety, healing, peace and renewal.  May they and all beings be relieved of suffering.

We practiced a compassion meditation adapted from Nomali Perera’s To Contact and Hearten Ukraine: Guided Tonglen Meditation.  Nomali works in coaching facilitation and teaches meditation.

Our guided reflection was inspired by meditation teacher and writer, Oren Jay Sofer.  He offers many ways to contemplate and cultivate compassion.  His teaching outlines the dimensions of compassion to include equanimity and wisdom.

We heard from To Begin With, the Sweet Grass by  Mary Oliver. This poem is from the collection,  Evidence: Poems.  Mary paints pictures in words that land in our heart, flesh and bones. They move us beyond the edges of our skin, to “become a child of the clouds,” to love ourselves and to love the world.

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The Yogabliss, Your Heart Life on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  We explored the practice of equanimity as a way of accepting the human condition.  It involves feeling the feelings we’d rather turn away from.  We began by exploring the qualities of awareness and our ability to narrow and widen our view.  We practiced meeting challenging mind states with intimacy and also from the perspective of caring witness.

Today’s practice was informed by Ajahn Sucitto’s book, Parami, Ways to Cross Life’s Floods. The book outlines ten life affirming practices of:  Generosity, Morality, Renunciation, Discernment, Energy, Patience, Truthfulness, Resolve, Kindness, Equanimity.

We heard from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s book Living Buddha, Living Christ.  This book explores the shared spiritual values of Buddhism and Christianity.  Thich Nhat Hanh encouraged readers to appreciate their spiritual traditions while sharing inspiration to live with compassion.  He posed penetrating questions about the true meaning of peace.

We drew from Ruth King’s book, Mindful of Race. Ruth is a meditation teacher and racial justice activist.  Her Mindful of Race Training Program weaves mindfulness practice with an exploration of our racial conditioning, its impact, and our potential.  Her teaching helps make the direct experience of equanimity accessible at times when we need it most.

We heard William Yellow Robe’s poem, Breathe Deeper. William was an actor, author, director, educator, playwright, and poet.  He authored over 45 plays centering the Native American experience.  He was a citizen of the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, until his death on July 19, 2021.  Breathe Deeper is a beautiful poem that invites readers to allow the breath to guide us into equanimity. Continue reading →