Working With Our Practice Challenges
This week we explore inquiries around the challenges that arise in practice and what skillful ways we might be learning to work with them.
Sitting Meditation- Openings and Closings: Greeting it All
Your hand opens and closes, and opens and closes. If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralyzed. Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding, the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds’ wings. -Rumi
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The Chenoo
Chenoos are Native American mythological angry monsters. Looking at a Chenoo story from Joseph Bruchac is a beautiful lesson in how we might use mindfulness to meet both our anger and fear.
Sitting Meditation- Hard and Easy Complete Each Other
From the Tao Te Ching, translated by Ursula LeGuin: …Hard and easy complete each other long and short shape each other high and low depend on each other note invoice make the music together before and after follow each other… The things of this world exist, they are; you can’t refuse them.
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Mindfulness, Spirituality, and Prayer [1.31.24]
Today was an opportunity for an inquiry exercise to explore the intersection of mindfulness practice, spirituality and prayer. This includes how Thich Nhat Hanh’s poem, Call Me By My True Name, might be considered as a prayer.
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Sitting Mediation- Body Scan with Wisdom and Kindness [1.31.24]
Today’s sitting practice includes a body scan Informed deeply by wisdom and kindness for what’s here.
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Meeting Place of Mindfulness and Prayer [1.24.24]
We continue our exploration“connection with spirit,” which Polyvagal Theory names of as one of the 4 foundational connections needed for human well-being. Today we look at this through the lens of prayer. Where might these words, prayer, devotion, sacred get hung up for you? Where might they be useful in pointing to an aspect of … Continue reading Meeting Place of Mindfulness and Prayer [1.24.24]
Sitting Meditation- Acknowledging the Whole Moment [1.24.24]
This practice is about greeting what is here, not trying to force ourselves into what we think should be here instead. What does that look like for you?
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Living with the 10,000 Joys and the 10,000 Sorrows
Drawing from Suleika Jaouad, Jon Batiste and Rumi, we look at how we can be wise and compassionate with the challenges that arise.
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Sitting Meditation- What’s Here?
Bringing curiosity to whatever happens: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, … Continue reading Sitting Meditation- What’s Here?