In this sharing, I draw from Shinzen Young’s teachings on equanimity as non-self-interference and a radical permission to feel.  We look at this in very practical ways of what does this mean for a moment of tangled reactivity and how to work in real life with these concepts with some skillfulness.

When feelings are experienced with equanimity, they assume their proper function as motivators and directors of behavior as opposed to driving and distorting behavior.   – Shinzen Young

In this practice, we open to letting thoughts be thoughts, feelings be feelings, body sensations be body sensations without adding to a story about any of them.  This practice is very useful for learning a skillfulness with untangling our reactivity in life.

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters is a much beloved poem from Portia Nelson.  In my years of working with this poem, my understanding of it has radically changed, and that has been so helpful with orientating myself in a useful way with the world as it is:

I

I walk down the street.

II

I walk down the same street.

III

I walk down the same street.

IV

I walk down the same street.

V

I walk down another street.

-Portia Nelson

My additional chapter:

III

I walk down the same street.

Eyes open in the darkness of the hole is often where the deepest learning is possible…

In this meditation, we practice with opening the sense doors– sight, sound, touch, smell, taste and mind– for grounding practice.

This meditation draws from a poem by Mary Oliver, I Have Decided:

I have decided to find myself a home in the mountains, somewhere high up where one learns to live peacefully in the cold and the silence. It’s said that in such a place certain revelations may be discovered. That what the spirit reaches for may be eventually felt, if not exactly understood. Slowly, no doubt. I’m not talking about a vacation.

Of course, at the same time I mean to stay exactly where I am.

Are you following me?

In this podcast episode, I draw from a beautiful book called, Learning To Fall, by Phillip Simmons.  Simmons was diagnosed with ALS at age 35 and given 5 years to live.  He wrote this book at 9 years on the “blessings of an imperfect life.”

In this meditation, we start with standing movements to release tension and connect with breath and body.  This is followed by a short sitting practice.

This week we look deeper at the movement from worry to care– worry, as a fear based reactivity and care, as a wise strong compassionate connected responsiveness.  This movement is a powerful support in challenging times.  I share Joseph Bruchac’s version of The Chenoo, a story of a man-eating ice giant from the far north and a young woman who faced him, as a metaphor for understanding both the reactivity and responsive sides of ourselves and where our deepest strength lies.

When I say it’s you I like, I’m talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see, or hear, or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate. Peace that rises triumphant over war. Injustice that proves more powerful than greed. 

So, in all that you do in all of your life, I wish you the strength and the grace to make those choices which will allow you and your neighbor to become the best whoever you are.

Fred Rogers

In this talk, we explore practices to support ourselves in the midst of a challenging Election.  These include resourcing in the good, intentional planning with media consumption and practicing with “Don’t Know Mind.”  Here are some of resources I would like to share:

In this final week before the Election, grounding and resourcing practice can be an important support to our well-being.  This meditation starts with some gentle stretching and then moves into a sitting practice.

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, and life itself is grace.  – Fredrick Buechner