The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored concentration as “just and loving attention.”  We aspired to extend this quality of attention from our “grandmother’s heart” and to see ourselves and others with “grandmother’s eyes.”

We heard from David Brooks’ New York Times essay, How to Save a Sad, Lonely, Angry and Mean Society.  David encourages us to see, feel and understand our shared humanity.  Part of our salvation is extending “just and loving” attention to one another.

We read from the Roshi Joan Halifax essay, Grandmother’s Heart.  She observes that “life is in need of balance and life is in the balance.” Roshi urges us “to find that immoveable center, that plumb line that aims toward gravity, the wise elder within us. Let’s find that strong back that supports our soft front, and let’s find or call out our grandmother’s heart.”

We heard Dane Anthony’s poem Right Here.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. We focused on concentration and what the mind needs to cultivate wholehearted concentration.  When we bring our heart’s awareness to concentration we see that it is a devotional practice.  We are moved to create the conditions in which concentration can naturally arise.  What a relief to experience the ease of whole hearted concentration.

We continued to draw from Oren Jay Sofer’s new book: Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love.  Oren describes concentration as a “collected and stable heart.” He believes concentration arises when the heart is interested and at ease.

We heard Professor Gloria Mark remark about creating pauses to rest the mind periodically throughout the day.  I heard these remarks in her discussion with Ezra Klein, Tired? Distracted? Burned Out?  Gloria is author of Attention Span A Groundbreaking Way to Restore Balance, Happiness and Productivity.

We heard from poet Jane Hirshfield’s essay The Mind of Concentration from her book Nine Gates:  Entering the Mind of Poetry. In this essay Jane explores the many dimensions of concentration: “penetrating, unified, and focused, yet also permeable and open.”

We heard Madronna Holden’s poem, Indwelling.  I discovered the poem recently published by Kosmos Journal.  Her site is an adventurous compilation of writings on world views and values, ecofeminism, folklore and poetry.  Have a cup of tea here and be delighted!

Finally we heard a brief quotation from chaplain and author Lynn Casteel Harper.  You can read more of her views on remembering and inclusivity in the December Sun Magazine interview, Speak Memory:  New Ways of Understanding Dementia.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored how mindfulness can help us navigate in the world.  We reflected on how we need each other to create the space of loving awareness.  We need each other to bring mindfulness into its mature expression as heartfulness.   I am so deeply grateful for the meaningful conversations I’ve had with dear ones this week.

We continued to draw from Oren Jay Sofer’s new book: Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love.  We reflected on how the awareness of life’s impermanence can help us be more present in the world.  This presence is integral to deep conversation and helpful action in the world.

We heard William Stafford’s poem, Ritual to Read Each Other.  The poem encourages us to reflect on how we understand ourselves and others.  Patterns and assumptions can misguide and mislead us.  The poem speaks about our need of each other in finding our way in life.  Paradoxically, we need to find one another so that we might not lose ourselves.   You can find a wonderful exposition of the poem’s meaning at the Growing Edge podcast program, A Ritual to Read Each Other.  This is a conversation between musician Carrie Newcomer and writer, teacher, activist Parker Palmer.

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The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. We explored mindfulness as “heartfulness.”  We cultivated embodied presence and invited the heart wisdom to reveal itself.

We continued to draw from Oren Jay Sofer’s new book: Your Heart Was Made for This: Contemplative Practices for Meeting a World in Crisis with Courage, Integrity, and Love.  We are explored the quality of mindfulness.

We drew on the work of John Prendergast.  John has been a spiritual teacher and psychotherapist.  We drew from his book, The Deep Heart:  Our Portal to Presence.   “The ‘deep heart’ is John’s term for the subtle center of emotional and energetic sensitivity, relational intimacy, profound inner knowing, and wholeness found within our hearts.”

We heard Rosemerry Trommer Wahtola’s poem, How.  Rosemerry generously offers a daily poem through her site:  A Hundred Falling Veils.

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