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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The Yogabliss  on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  I think when we meet this way we are giving each other a personal gift – we allow ourselves to be seen in the intimacy of our homes.  Thank you all for that.  In preparing for today’s class reflected on how mindfulness is a practice of intimacy.  When I am able to stop and really be with my own body I realize there is so much calling for my attention – often for healing.  I stumbled upon a beautiful essay about healing trauma written by author Katherine Robb.  Katherine is working on #TheFearGardenProject which she uses to explore small moments in every day life that might foster connection.  She posts beautiful imagery and also writes essays about healing and trauma.  I found her essay, Listening to the Body as a Guide Through the Trauma of COVID-19, very moving.  She describes how many of us carry wounds in our bodies without our mind’s awareness or understanding.  She describes her experiences of somatic – body awareness – healing as a way of being true to herself. The work is incremental and slow – very much like mindfulness practice. Continue reading →

The Yogabliss  on-line Moving into Meditation class met in the sanctuary of our homes this morning.  Coming together – even in digital space – gives me such a boost.  Your presence lessens my sense of loneliness and isolation.  Thank you so much for being here!   Now, more than ever, we need to feel our connectedness – with each other and also that sense of true belonging with our own being . . . We’re adapting to living our lives at home.  Still – we can easily get carried away by reports of what is happening to our family members, our friends, our communities and our nation.  It takes a bit of energy and a bit of faith to interrupt the momentum of fear that insinuates itself into our lives.  I’ve been reaching out for support as part of my daily practice.  This week I enjoyed a Tara Brach’s beautiful talk about R.A.I.N.  This is the technique that Tara teaches on how we can work with difficult feelings through a process of Recognition, Allowing, Investigating and Nurturing.  It inspired the guided relaxation we explored in our class today. Continue reading →

The Yogabliss  on-line Moving into Meditation class met in the sanctuary of our homes this morning.  I felt such a deep sense of gratitude that students are willing to continue to practice in these challenging times.  Most of us are being asked to “contain” ourselves to avoid contagion.  Others are on the front lines of healing risking their lives.  Last night I listened to a very helpful talk, Meditation in an Emergency, given by meditation teacher and writer, Sam Harris, who says “we are in a strange state of emergency.”  He describes our situation as one in which we are being forced to retreat.  Yet we don’t retreat from the world entirely – most of us consume a steady stream of very worrying information.  Our anxiety levels keep growing until we find ourselves overreacting to situations – many of which we have no control over. Continue reading →

Our Moving into Meditation class explored forgiveness.  We drew inspiration from Jack Kornfield’s book, No Time Like the Present:  Finding Freedom, Love and Joy Right Where You Are. In Chapter 6, Forgiveness, Jack explores the various ways past experiences weigh us down and color our perception.  He suggests that we intentionally cultivate an all- encompassing awareness to include ourselves and others in our circle of loving kindness. Forgiveness is a lifelong healing practice.  Poet Jane Hirshfield describes the letting go that living demands of our hearts.   Living is for-giving. Continue reading →