The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. What a joy to come together in the spirit of hope.  This crisp cold day is still shining with sunlight.  It seems to reflect the intention we share in coming to meditate: to work with our hearts and minds so that we can bring our gifts to the world.

We started practice with Mary Oliver’s beautiful poem, Sunrise, a celebration of light and our shared humanity.

We explored Vaclav Havel’s writings on hope.  Vaclav was an extraordinary human being.  He was a Czech statesman, poet, writer and former dissident, who served as the last President of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as the first President of the Czech Republic from 1993 to 2003.  He was imprisoned multiple times for speaking out for human rights.  You can find his essay, An Orientation of the Heart, in Paul Loeb’s book, The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear.

We also reflected on the meditation teacher and author, Oren Jay Sofer’s definition of practical hope.  He outlines this in his talk, The Utility of Hope.  Oren encourages students to place trust in the truth of present while examining the state of our minds and hearts and the state of the world we inhabit.  It sounds easy and it actually takes a lot of work to recognize our bias and conditioning.  It takes courage to challenge our own beliefs.  It takes commitment to see the world as clearly as we can.  That’s where hope – grounded in the truths we can truly know – comes in.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  I am so grateful for the many circles of practice that are working to keep their hearts and minds open.  We’ve migrated our circles to this cyber space which – thankfully – allows us to stay connected and continue sharing our lives.  In moments of feeling overwhelmed by the many perils we are facing these connections keep me going.  Thank you.

We began our practice with a beautiful poem, School Prayer, given to us by by naturalist and writer Diane Ackerman. Diane crafted this poem – this prayer – in the hopes that children are able to “develop a spiritual nature, and become concerned with higher values.” This poem has the quality of an incantation. The Latin word incantare, means “enchant.” In School Prayer, there is magic in the words. It’s an invitation to honor and pledge to protect life.

We drew inspiration about this season of change from author and dream worker Toko-pa Turner.  Toko-pa’s work explores our relationship to our dream time, our ancestors and all our more than human relations.

Several years ago meditation teacher and writer, Tara Brach, gave a beautiful talk in which she used the metaphor of the Darkness of the Womb to describe how new life might be growing in the dark. I was deeply moved by Tara’s insights.  I drew on her talk to craft a series of reflections on how we are relating to each other in the tumultuous days leading up to the election.  Tara offers a four step process of working with difficult emotions and divisive thoughts that naturally arise in conflict. You can find Tara’s full discourse and guided meditation at her web-site.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. I am so grateful to have this light.  Yes – grateful for the screen through which I can see caring faces.  Your faces help me to experience the goodness in human being.  Our faces are blessings we offer each other.  Thank you.

We shared a thanksgiving inspired by Kailea Frederick of Earth is Ohana.  The thanksgiving was expressed by the poem, Remember, gifted by  American poet laureate, Joy Harjo.  If Joy’s work speaks to you check out her recent interview with the Chief Seattle Club at The Joy Harjo Bookclub on YouTube.

We contemplated the inner and outer resources we can draw on in these hard times.  These same resources help us to be present with our difficulties while keeping our hearts open.

We also drew on the meditation teachings on equanimity as interpreted by Roshi Joan Halifax and Sharon Salzberg.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning. I am so grateful to have the circles of mindfulness to come to every Sunday.  It’s truly a gift to be among caring others who have the courage and generosity of spirt to come together.  We are living through such turmoil.   We can turn to embodied mindfulness practices as a way of getting grounded.  We can find a place of inner peace to rest our minds and connect with our deepest truths.

Today we explored our relationship to our bodies in a variety of ways:

Contemplating the body  – exploring its nature
Developing a sense of wonder and appreciation for the body – considering the body’s many gifts
Examining our relationship to the body – how we care for it, how we listen to it, how we understand it
Befriending the body – accepting whatever we can without judgment
Learning how to meet discomfort and pain with balance and patience – finding a place that doesn’t hurt – a place we can return to when feeling overwhelmed

We have the inner resources that we can nurture and grow to help calm and heal ourselves.

We drew on the work of Oren Jay Sofer.  Oren teaches mindfulness, meditation and Nonviolent Communication.  You can find “Resources for Hard Times” on his web-site along with many excellent articles, audio and video teachings.  Oren’s brings his personal experience and professional training in Somatic Experiencing to helping students on their healing journey.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  I am drawn to our meditation circles like a moth to the light.  We are living through so much darkness even the smallest glimmers of hope mean so much.  We bring our lights together and hope grows stronger.  In the “brave” space we create the long view emerges.  The view which helps us appreciate the change and transformation that continues despite the darkness.  If we know how and where to look it’s easy to find the many, many whole-hearted – brave people working to make the world a better place.

We heard an “Invitation to Brave Space” from poet and justice doula, Mickey Scottbey Jones. 

In her book, The Wisdom of No Escape, meditation teacher and author, Pema Chodron, described how meditation can illuminate our well-being and suffering as two sides of our human condition.  She encourages us to meet our own minds with honesty and wholeheartedly – meeting everything – thoughts, emotions and sensations.  This includes “the smelly, rich, fertile mess of stuff” and the “creative energy of life.”

In his book, Becoming Animal, ecologist and philosopher, David Abram talks about the magic of seeing all beings – humans and more than humans – as having perspectives, feelings and longings just like we do.  This relational awareness is one of the inner resources we can tap into to experience our inter-relatedness and our wholeness.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  Thank you for coming to practice today. It’s so easy to get swept away by the dramatic events unfolding in our world.  The pull of events doesn’t stop – and we can easily exhaust ourselves trying to cope with one fear after the next.  We are creaturely beings and our instincts are humming under the noise – our instincts toward wellness brings us to stillness.  

We explored our animal nature  through our senses – especially the sense of touch.  Hands can be a place to anchor and ground your awareness at any time.  You can hold your own hand  in the midst of life’s turbulence. In his book, My Grandmother’s Hands, author and trauma therapist, Resmaa Menakem describes the importance of having a settled body in our relations.

We drew on the work of David Abram, Director of the Alliance for Wild Ethics.  David is a cultural ecologist and geo-philosopher whose books include Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology and The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. His point of view inspired our exploration of the ways our animal nature and sensory perception exist in a “field of relationship” between the human body and the breathing earth.  If you want to explore David’s work I highly recommend this audio essay, Creaturely Migrations on a Breathing Planet. It’s is an awe inspiring account of the magical migrations of salmon, sandhill cranes and monarch butterflies that takes you deep into  mystery.

Finally poet Mary Oliver gifted us her very human, down to earth poem, Begin With, The Sweetgrass.

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The Yogabliss, Two Rivers/River Tree Yoga on-line Moving into Meditation classes met this morning.  Thank you for coming to practice today.  We explored ways of experiencing gratitude in our hearts – receiving it like a gift.  It’s an emotion that feels good like holding a sleeping baby or stroking the silky back of your cat or your dog’s ears.  Ordinary things that nourish us quietly without a lot of effort.  It’s the solace that’s present beneath the noise of disheartening news.  I guess you could say it’s an inner and outer resource.

I learned our guided meditation from Oren Jay Sofer.  Oren brings so much heart and empathy to the way he teaches.  You can find his guided meditations at his web-site.

Naomi Shihab Nye’s beautiful poem, Small Basket of Happiness, is a delicate reminder of what is available to us when we can slow down, open and receive life’s blessings.

Sharon Olds’ poem, Ode to the Dirt, is a love letter to the earth beneath our feet.  The living blanket that holds carbon and microorganisms on which/who our very survival depends. We humans arose from her and will ultimately return to her.  You can learn more about the science of this perennial truth at Kiss the Ground Soil Science page.

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The Yogabliss on-line Moving into Meditation class met this morning. Thanks to every one of you who bring your presence and feel the truth of what’s happening in ourselves, our community and our society.  So many of us are heavy hearted – literally breathing in smoke – and also witnessing the destruction of the many kinds of fire burning in our communities.  Today we explored how to cultivate equanimity and compassion. – Meditation teacher Gil Fronsdal describes equanimity as being centered in the middle of change, to see with patience and understanding.  Equanimity is the protector of compassion and love.

We drew on the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, often referred to as Thay or teacher,  and his student Cheri Maples.  Thay is sometimes called the “father of mindfulness.”   Martin Luther King nominated the Vietnamese Zen Master for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1967.  You can read more about his life’s work as a peace activist in the 2019 Time article, The Monk Who Taught the World Mindfulness Awaits the End of This Life.

Cheri served in the criminal justice system for over 25 years.  After meeting Thay, she became a meditation teacher and together they introduced mindfulness to the police officers of Madison, Wisconsin.   After listening to her 2015 talk on social engagement I got some practical insight into how to cultivate equanimity in my daily life.  Days after hearing her caring voice, I learned of her 2017 passing from complications of injuries sustained in a traumatic cycling accident.  I didn’t know Cheri personally and I feel her loss deeply.  We need caring, practical, loving voices like hers now more than ever.

We were also inspired by the transformational poems of Naomi Shihab Nye.  Naomi was born to a Palestinian father and American mother.  She grew up in Missouri, Jerusalem and Texas.  Her poems, Cross That Line and Two Countries invite our creative imagination and empathy to reach past differences and to go to places larger than ourselves.

Cross That Line was inspired by singer, actor, athlete, scholar and political activist, Paul Robeson.   On May 18, 1952 he performed an outdoor concert for more than 25,000 people (estimates range as high as 45,000) gathered on both sides of the United States/Canadian border at Peace Arch Park in Blaine.  He sang from a platform on the back of a truck.  His passport had been confiscated by the State Department after he refused to sign an affidavit stating he was a communist.  He sang in English, songs of peace in Russian and Chinese, songs of liberty in a tongue of the African villages. Despite the racially and politically charged struggle in which Robeson was engaged at the time of this concert, the event was unmarred by violence.

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