The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored the ways we can bring our “mind-heartfulness” to our meditation.  This means paying attention with love.  It means bringing our whole-hearted attention to the ten thousand joys and ten thousand sorrows of life.  We started with the practice of being mindful of emotions.  We explored the different ways of being with our emotions – staying with them and at the same time letting there be with a curious spaciousness.

Our guidance came from meditation instructor, author and social activist, Larry Yang. Larry teaches mindfulness and loving kindness retreats and has a special interest in creating access to the Dharma for diverse, multicultural communities.  I can highly recommend his book, Awakening Together: The Spiritual Practice of Inclusivity and Community.

We also drew inspiration from poet David Whyte‘s poem, Imagine My Surprise and poet Mark Nepo‘s poem Walking North.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  Our class focused on the ways we see ourselves and the world.  We drew inspiration from the artist Georgia O’Keeffe who questioned whether anyone really sees a flower.  Deep seeing takes time like having a friend.  In his talk, Tone and Learning to Be a Good Friend, meditation instructor Oren Jay Sofer also encourages us to befriend ourselves while meditating.  The inner atmosphere of acceptance, curiosity and kindness  influences the ways we engage the world.

In her book, On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation, scientist Alexandra Horowitz explores the ways we see the world.  What we choose to attend to shapes our very being.  After her many walks she observes the most important learning was about the interplay between attention and intention.   We ended with two lovely poems drawn from the resources offered by The Network of Grateful Living.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. Today’s practice was about our connections – the way we relate to ourselves and one another.   We explored ways of “presencing” that is, staying with what surfaces in our bodies, hearts and minds.  This prepares us to be fully present in our relating – even with feelings of disconnection and loneliness. Spiritual teachings tell us that we are all interconnected, interdependent.  Yet in today’s social separation and society’s fragmentation I – like many of my friends – often feel alone.

We drew on Irish poet and philosopher’s inspiration from his book: Eternal Echoes:  Celtic Reflections of Our Yearning to Belong.  He beautifully describes how our need to belong is at the center of our hearts.  Our practice gives us the opportunity to become aware of and recognize the sensations, emotions and thoughts as signals.  They often signal our unmet needs – needs that are universally human.  Truly they can help us understand and connect with one another.  Belonging is in the loving care we give and receive from each other.

Meditation teacher and author Sebene Selassie describes belonging as a paradox. True belonging includes our longing for connection and the challenge we have in accepting ourselves and each other – it doesn’t always feel good.

Finally we enjoyed Jean Valentine’s whimsical poem about relating:  Sanctuary.  Jean served as the State Poet of New York from 2008 to 2010. She has authored over a dozen books of poetry and taught at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored ways of bringing our practice to our every day lives.  We do this by bringing four fundamental meditation skills to what every we are doing:  concentration, clarity, caring and equanimity.  We drew on the work of mediation teacher and author, Jeff Warren.  You can find his article, Finding the Right Practice, on his web-site along with many resources aimed to empower you to find the practice that works for you.  You can also listen to a fascinating discussion, Crisis Advice from Meditation MacGyver, between Jeff and Ten Percent Happier podcast host, Dan Harris.  It’s about “democratizing” meditation practice and teaching and the various activities we value in life can be done as a meditation.

We ended practice with poet Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem, Invitation which you will find below.

Many of us want to keep our friend Mike in our hearts this week.  Mike is living with a serious illness.  Some of us plan to do Metta Meditation as we hold Mike in our hearts.    You can explore Sharon Salzberg’s Guided Loving Kindness Meditation.  You can also make up the phrases that resonate with your heart.  Here are the ones I practiced with this week:

May you be safe,
May you be well,
May you love and be loved,
May you be free from suffering,
May you know peace.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We shared the practice of cultivating compassion.  All of us have been deeply touched by the pain and suffering we witness every day.  Sometimes it’s really hard not to look away or shut down.  The mindfulness practice of cultivating compassion or loving kindness is a way of responding by staying present with what is difficult and also tapping into the love and kindness that truly is our super power.

We started with a short loving kindness practice inspired by Diana Winston. Diana is  Director of Mindfulness Education at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center.  You can practice at home by going to her podcast, Getting Out of Your Head.

We drew on meditation instructor, Oren Jay Sofer including his recent talk,  Introduction to Loving Kindness.  His very worthwhile talk offers context, instructions and helpful suggestions including a guided meditation.

Next time you need a little breathing break you might check out meditation and author, Sharon Salzberg’s delightful short animation, Where Does Compassion Really Come From?

Explore giving your heart’s attention to Corinna Luyken’s children’s book, My Heart.  You’ll find it toward the end of Maria Popova’s post on Favorite Children’s Books of 2019,

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored the practice of being mindful of difficult emotions focusing on anxiety.  We’re living with great uncertainty:   a global pandemic and an intense social struggle for racial justice.  Our personal sharing about illness, loss, connection and joy evokes our vulnerability and our deep caring.

Our emotions arise to help us survive.  Bringing mindfulness to our anxiety can help us recognize it and relate to it  and to let it be.  We can experience how the feeling expresses in physical sensations that move and change or transform altogether.  We can grow our tolerance for being with the unpleasant experience.  We can tap into our inner resources and offer ourselves tender caring and compassion.  We did a guided meditation developed by mediation teacher and Nonviolent Communication trainer, Oren Jay Sofer. You can find his guided meditation, Meeting Anxiety, in the text of his article Handling Anxiety.

In our relaxed reflection we drew on a talk given by Mark Nunberg, the guiding teacher of Common Ground Meditation Center.  You can find the talk, The Teachings in Brief for Troubled Hearts in Troubled Times, at the Dharma Seed podcast.

In closing we spoke a bit about the Dalai Lama.  You can find his live webcasts at his web-site.  You can also hear The Dalai Lama’s Advice for Right Now, in his interview with the Ten Percent Happier correspondent, Dan Harris and Richard Davidson, the founder of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  We explored how stories shape our lives. When we sit down to meditate, we reclaim our attention perhaps our most precious resource.  Our awareness empowers us. It enables us to experience our shared humanity. Our circle of caring inspires me to go deeper, reach further.  I’m breathing thank you’s now.

During our relaxed reflection we drew on essayist Rebecca Solnit’s book, Call Them by Their True Names.  Rebecca describes how stories come to live inside us.  To be fully conscious, we need to see them, question them and often transform them to co-create a more just world.

We heard from writer and social activist, Parker Palmer’s book, Healing the Heart of Democracy.  He asks us to be guided by what we know in our hearts, to hear and speak “heart-talk” so that we can “act humanely on what we know.”

In his On Being interview, Fortifying Imagination, we heard Jason Reynolds‘ urgent call for loving and supporting our young people as they strive to create a better world.  Jason’s written a new companion to Ibram X. Kendi’s history of racism, Stamped From the Beginning, for young readers: Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning.  Looking into digital faces feels so strangely intimate.  Thank you all for giving me your face.  This vulnerability we share conveys an open heartedness that relates to our exploration of communication.  Perhaps we are all making these explorations as we live through a time that is calling for our action.  One of our most powerful human resources is our voice.  We learned some fundamental communication principles from meditation teacher and Nonviolent Communication trainer, Oren Jay Sofer.  Oren is author of Say What You Mean.  He offers on-line classes, retreats and workshops on Mindful Communication.

We drew inspiration from In poet and writer, Ursula Le Guin.  Her book of essays, The Wave in the Mind, extolls the magic and power of words. In her essay, Listening is Telling, writer and social commentator Maria Popova writes about the courage it takes to step into the speaking and listening dance of vulnerability.  Finally we heard writer Neil Gaiman’s poetic tribute to “marine biologist and poet laureate of science”  Rachel Carson, After Silence.

We practiced a present body centering practice “coming home to our bodies.”  We then spent some time in relaxed reflection.

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