The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  Today we focused on the experiences of being held and belonging.  As we reenter more “real life” activities our inner resources of kindness, compassion and caring are so very important.  Drawing on loving awareness can help bring compassion to the moments of fear, stress and vulnerability that we may be experiencing through this transition.  Loving awareness can also help us extend kindness to others who are likely contending with difficult change.

We heard Bhavya’s poem, A Sense of Belonging.  You can find more of Bhavya’s poems at AllPoetry.com an online poetry writing group.  All are welcome to contribute and explore.

We drew inspiration from Frank Ostaseski’s book, The Five Invitations.  Frank is a longtime meditation teacher and hospice program training director.  His Five Invitation’s website has a series of freely offered courses including:  I Want to Live My Life More Fully, I Want to Be a Compassionate Companion and I Want Help Facing Loss, or Living With Illness.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  On this beautiful Spring morning I witnessed two crows chasing an eagle down river.  It happened in an instant – wonder so fleeting.  Today we explored the vital beauty in our lives.

We considered how we are expressions and stewards of Earth’s beauty.  We inherit and bequeath precious life in a long river of time.

We drew inspiration from poet laureate, Joy Harjo’s writings in the anthology, When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through and her poem, The Life of Beauty.  Joy edited the anthology of native nations’ poetry.  The collection is a beautiful compilation of traditional oral prose and the gifts of today’s emerging poets.

We also considered The Natural History of Our Senses,  Diane Ackerman’s writing about the way our senses emerge from genetic inheritance and express themselves in relationship to our human and more than human world.

We drew on the work of environmental activist and Buddhist Scholar, Joanna Macy.  You can learn more about the work by going to the Work That Reconnects Network.

We raised our voices in chant while in stillness and movement.  Here is our chanted appreciation of Earth, her incredible beauty:

May we breathe in beauty.
May we feel in beauty.
May we walk in beauty.
Maw we touch the world in beauty.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. Today many of us come together to honor and to remember the people who have mothered us – those dear ones who have given themselves to us in love. We explored the many ways mothering happens between humans and more than humans.  We considered mothering memories that travel from being to being and across time.  We also reflected on our experience of mothering, nurturing, guiding and mentoring others.

Poet Joy Harjo’s beautiful poem, Remember, called upon all our relations, reminding us of the broader kinship we hold with life.

We drew on Dr. Suzanne Simard’s new book, Finding the Mother Tree.  Her work reminds us of the more than human mothers that nourish and sustain world around us.  Suzanne is best known for her groundbreaking research that demonstrated how trees communicate and exchange resources through networks of mycorrhizal fungi in the soil.  She continues to explore the ways trees recognize and support their kin.  You can hear a fascinating discussion, Finding the Mother Tree, hosted by Emergence Magazine.

Finally, we heard Anne Haven McDonnell’s poem, She Told Me the Earth Loves us.  Anne is author of the poetry book, Living With Wolves.  For a real treat you can hear Anne read four of her poems at Terrain on-line journal.  My favorite is How to Sit With a Wolf.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. Today we contemplated the ways we see – always through the lens of our conditioning.

We humans don’t see a direct representation of external reality.  We see a translation formed by our eyes and minds. We explored seeing with our hearts.

Mary Oliver’s poem, Luna, invited us into a tender meeting with a Luna moth.  She describes her open-mindedness and the freedom of “not knowing enough about anything.”  Sometimes our “knowing” gets in the way of clear seeing.

In her book, The Fruitful Darkness, Roshi Joan Halifax describes the many creaturely voices that require a certain humility to be heard and understood.  Can we see clearly without knowing we are part of a greater living web?

In her poem, Seeing Ourselves Cleary, Lauren Bowmen reminds us how we need many perspectives to see clearly.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  We contemplated how we walk the line of life we are given. We find a balance between handling life’s difficulties and nourishing and uplifting the heart.

This is where mindfulness really helps.  We engage experience with an open, kind and curious awareness.. We cultivate  a loving awareness that helps us let the world in without getting overwhelmed.  

In guided meditation we reflected on life’s gifts that are easy to overlook – an easy breath, a pain free morning, a good night of sleep.  We thought about simple kindnesses given to us by others and our own goodness.  Savoring these pleasant experiences feels good. Lingering over what’s good in life feels hopeful.

We heard poet Joy Harjo’s poem, Perhaps the World Ends Here.  Hah!  The title sounds grim I know.  The poem is about the kitchen table a place where we as family and friends gather to celebrate our joys and mourn our sorrows.

We also heard some of meditation instructor Oren Jay Sofer’s interview, Why Buddhism is Inherently Hopeful.  Oren encourages us to practice careful attention so that we can truly understand our interdependence and mutuality. All of our actions count and can contribute to building a better world.

Finally Marilyn Peretti’s poem, Stepping Lightly, reminds us of the weight of each of our steps has on this earth.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  We reflected on how meditation is an “inherently relational” practice.

Mindfulness is more than developing concentration.  It is how we develop awareness of our selves, others and our shared humanity.  Guided meditation, inspirational poetry and prose inspired feeling and imagination, compassion and caring.

Mickey ScottBey Jones’ poem Invitation to Brave Space describes a circle of caring in which we “call each other to truth and love.” Micky ScottBey Jones, the Justice Doula, is an author, speaker & facilitator and the Director of Healing & Resilence Initiatives with the Southern-based collective Faith Matters Network. You can read more of her inspiring work at Sojourner’s Magazine.

We drew on Bryan Doerries’ interview with On Being’s Krista Tippett:  You Are Not Alone Across Time. Bryan is director and cofounder of Theater of War Productions.  Theater of War partners with institutions all over the world to bring theater and facilitate town hall discussions to people from all walks of life.  The plays are enacted by professional and lay actors.  Audience members are invited to share their personal reactions to the Greek tragedies and contemporary works that challenge our humanity.   You can learn more about Bryan and the groups work by listening to the interview.

We also drew on meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer’s essay The Inherently Relational Nature of Mindfulness.  This is a very instructive essay about how the Buddhist path of spiritual development is intended to be practiced dynamically in relationship.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. Today we shared guided meditation and somatic practices to explore how we experience and relate to our bodies when they are in pain.  Pain calls for our attention, right now.  Our experience of pain is strongly influenced by how we respond to that call.

We shared meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer’s reflections on the role compassion plays in our experience of pain.  You can find his very helpful essay, Five Mindfulness Tools for Pain, and his guided Meditation Resources for Pain on his web-site.

We heard Jane Hirshfield’s poem My Skeleton.  The poem describes the body as a silent partner with whom we walk through life – alternately holding and being held. We also heard reflections from her Tricycle Magazine interview, Felt in Its Fullness.  She describes how intimate somatic awareness in meditation offers us deeper understanding of ourselves and our place in the world.

We explored poet David Whyte’s reflections On Pain.  He describes how our world becomes smaller when we are living with pain.  It also grows larger as we reach for help and as we are able to understand we aren’t alone in pain.

In his essay, Guide to Finding Courage in Difficult Times, David explores how we find solace.  He encourages us to draw on the innate wisdom of the body which can guide us in choosing whether to investigate closely or to shift our awareness away from painful sensations.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  Today we dedicated our hearts and minds to compassion.  We explored ways to cultivate it within ourselves so that we are prepared to offer it to others.  The practice goes deep – touching our fear and vulnerability and our caring and courage.

We drew inspiration from the poet Naomi Shihab Nye’s Kindness and Mary Oliver’s To Begin With:  The Sweetgrass.  They paint pictures in words that land in our heart, flesh and bones.  They move us beyond the edges of our skin into the “gravity of kindness” and to “becom[ing] a child of the clouds.”

Our guided meditation 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.  He offers ways of “resourcing ourselves” so that we can bring caring action to others without becoming overwhelmed.

Teacher and writer Parker Palmer’s short essay, We Deserve the Compassion We Give, reminds us of the “inner mending” we all need to do in order to be there for others.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/RiverTree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  We explored different ways of sustaining attention:  in meditation, movement and contemplation.  Training our hearts and minds to stay with personal experience is a way of strengthening the ability to “be with” another person.  We need to see and touch another person in order to flourish and grow.  Sadly, being with another is something that social distancing has made painfully difficult.

I am so grateful that we are able to create a safe space in which to communicate and care.

We drew on a podcast discussion, How to Meet Your Needs for Connection: Attunement,  between psychologists, Forrest and Rick Hanson. They explore our fundamental need for connection and the qualities that are essential to meaningful relationship. They also share about their personal experiences with the emotional risks of attunement.

We heard Oregon poet laureate, Kim Stafford’s poem Believe in Song.  In down to earth language, the poet asks us to trust the exchange of deep listening and singing our song.  Kim offers a series of Pandemic Poems at his web-site. Writing poetry is an inspiring way to bring heart and creativity to metabolizing the difficult experiences of the past year.

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