The Columbia City Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. We brought tenderness to our mindfulness practice. Recalling our good childhood memories is a way of self soothing and reducing stress. Our good memories are an inner resource we can draw on in times of difficulty. Our mindfulness practice can help us to pause at the threshold of conflict to consider our intentions and what will best serve understanding.
We were inspired by the Greater Good Science Center program, Are You Remembering the Good Times? Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye shared her insights after recalling her good childhood memories. Studies have shown this practice to reduce stress and uplift our mood. Naomi’s recent experience prompted her to wonder how we can nurture ourselves and one another.
We heard We heard Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem, Small Basket of Happiness. Naomi reminds us of how our loved ones’ loving awakens in those moments when we tenderly bend and listen.
We heard naturalist, writer and educator J. Drew Langham’s poem, Joy Is the Justice We Give Ourselves. You can learn more about poet, professor and writer J. Drew Lantham by listening to his On Being interview with Krista Tippett: Pathfinding Through the Improbable. Check out his memoir The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man’s Love Affair with Nature at your local library.