Special PODCAST:
This talk explores how you can skillfully shift your relationship to emotions.
You’ll learn about the anatomy of an emotion, how to untangle challenging and sticky emotions and the secret to being happy - no matter what.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
We are into our final full day of our weeklong silent retreat. This photo over the dorms sums things up well.
The more we pause the more we recognize that the moment is a weather system passing through.
Sometimes clear, sometimes intense storms pass through. Over time we recognize that we are not the weather. We have little control over the weather but rich resources to explore how we relate to it.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special PODCAST:
This talk explores the transformative power of seeing into the reality of interconnectedness.
You’ll learn how to overcome fear and contraction through a powerful meditation practice that can dramatically help you access compassion for yourself and others.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
It’s the fall and inevitably this is the time of year when we start to refocus. I’ve been inspired to pay closer attention to how I pay attention. To that end, I’ve taken on a few new practices and others have as well. Some are recommitting to a meditation practice, some to taking better care through yoga and exercise. Part of practice is also deciding what you’re not going to do. Some folks have elected to cut out sugar, others to be more mindful by not talking about someone unless they are present, others are committed to more frequently substituting kindness for self-criticism.
My coffee grinder is packed away. My beloved aeropress sits next to it, not to see the light of day for at least thirty days. One month without coffee. I'm not looking forward to this, but I know it will be good for me. In the Year of Living Mindfully and the Monday Night Meditation class we're exploring "Thirty Days of Practice: One Observance and One Restraint." View the program here.
An observance is a practice to which you consciously commit, paying attention to it’s effects. You select a discipline you know will increase your vitality or will help bring you into greater balance.
A restraint is something from which you consciously refrain, paying careful attention to what happens. You might select a habit or activity you know is depleting or distracting.
Restraints are common in spiritual practice. On a meditation retreat you refrain from speaking, eye contact, recreational reading and writing. Holding back on habitual activity you become more aware of what is happening and how you relating to it.
My 'observance?'
I've been struggling with some neck pain and headache issues and decided my practice will be a yoga and exercise routine that lengthens chronic muscles but also builds strength.
I'd fallen out of the habit of these routines. When I started this week I was chagrined at how weak I felt in the wall sits, how hard the pushups were and how creaky I was doing lunges.
I know, though, that within the month the wall sits will feel effortless, the pushups will get me pumped up and the lunges will help me stay aligned through the day.
As for the coffee? You may note that I didn’t say 'no caffeine.' I've discovered matcha tea, which feels more steady and without the jangle. I don't crash like I tend to with a strong cup of coffee and this week I've been inspired to cut back even more on the caffeine, just to see what happens.
One week in and I’m feeling pretty good.
But taking on practice is easy. Keeping your momentum going for thirty days is another challenge.
More on that below.
If you’d like to listen to a talk on this topic. Click the image below.
If you’d like to read a post on this topic. Click the image below.
Look below for a handout and calendar you can download.
30 Day Calendar
30 Days Handout
Keynote at the US Trager Association Conference Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
IMCW Fall Retreat
Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
IMCW Half-day Retreat for Meditation Mentors Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
I was blessed to spend so much time outside and near the water this month. As you may know the 'magic hour' in photography is the time just before and after sunrise and sunset.
Sunset over the bay, Cape Cod.
Sunset fading to dusk. Cape Cod.
An exposed sandbar at low tide just after sunset. Cape Cod.
Seals hanging and conversing before sunrise. Off Provincetown, MA.
A bird zips by with a morning delicacy.
The last signs of color. Sunset on Cape Cod.
Look closely and you can see clouds of swallows feasting at sunrise. Potomac River, Great Falls.
Geese on the early morning move. Potomac River, Great Falls.
October 14th, 9:30-4:40 Bethesda, MD In the early 70's seekers were flocking to Puna, India to study with Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh, a charismatic and somewhat controversial teacher. He noticed many westerners were unable to quiet their minds enough to experience subtler states of awareness he was describing. Rajneesh created a process which closely follows the stages of Raja Yoga, but in a dramatically different way. On this retreat we’ll practice these stages and explore what happens when you move from the gross to the subtle through movement, sounding and finally, surrender into stillness and deep relaxation. The stages: 1. Energizing, energetic movement 2. Free-flow movement 3. Conscious breathing with sounding 4. Seated meditation 5. Lying down meditation 6. Seated meditation and journaling The afternoon will offer more traditional practices including mindful movement, a lying down guided body scan and sitting meditation. I've been practicing and leading Dynamic Meditation for about 30 years and can testify to it's potency. Please do come if you'd like to explore a non-traditional approach to stilling the mind. No prior experience in yoga or meditation required. Just an open mind and heart.
(Note this is on my old youtube channel.)
For more information and to register, click here.
The Seinfeld Method
Jerry Seinfeld, when he was starting out, knew the key to his success was to write his own original material. That meant writing every day. No. Matter. What.
He developed a way to keep himself going that is quite genius. No apps required. It’s pure analog.
Get a monthly calendar (you can download one here.) Get a big red marker and when you complete your practice for the day, but a huge "X" on the day. Place the calendar where you see it. Your goal is to keep the visual chain going.
Be Accountable to a Friend
Another practice that can dramatically help you when taking on a new discipline is to find a friend who is willing to support you. Here’s what I recommend and have found helpful:
Send a daily email and in the subject line, share what you accomplished (or failed to accomplish.)
Your partner is not obligated to respond.
But they will notice and that can make a huge difference.
Download the 30 Day Calendar Here
Download the 30 Days Handout Here
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special PODCAST:
The talk is about how you can use your body as a vehicle for seeing clearly into the nature of reality.
You’ll learn about what the Buddha actually said about contemplation of the body, different ways to practice and what to expect when you sustain attention the direct experience of your body.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Heading south tomorrow morning …..
I’ve had the great fortune to sit on the edge of the continent this last week.
It’s been a gift to have this time to watch the weather and light in flux, as well as the internal weather systems.
It’s curious as how, when we relax, we become more aware of the horizon and what lies above and beyond it.
I’m looking forward to the fall, diving back into the richness of my life, though as always after time away, it’s hard to imagine protecting this spaciousness.
I’ve got a few ideas, though.
I’ll be proposing a way to build in a little more awareness into each day.
If you live in the DC area, feel called to volunteer in a way that has huge impact and develop your chops as a teacher, this is a beautiful way to serve. You would be joining a community of inspired and inspiring teachers and guides.
Volunteer Teaching with Insight on the Inside Insight on the Inside is a volunteer program that teaches meditation and mindfulness to incarcerated men and women in the DC area. Volunteers: * are interested in sharing the benefits of mindfulness * understand the importance of a generosity practice * have some time to dedicate every month (between 6-10 hours a month) * feel passionate about ever-deepening their practice * are interested in training to facilitate and teach classes If you are interested in volunteering, you will be interviewed about your sitting and retreat practice and your availability to participate in IOI's monthly meetings, quarterly 1/2 day trainings and on-line trainings such as Fleet Maulls' Path of Freedom. An example of a recent 1/2 day training that IOI volunteers found very beneficial is Ruth King's seminar on the Dynamics of Oppression. In our monthly meetings IOI volunteers are encouraged to share their insights, questions, and concerns that have arisen from on-site experiences and the intersection of those experiences with our meditation practice. In this way we all learn, grow, and support each other. Please contact Carolyn Stachowski carolynstachowski@gmail.com
"The more you’ve got going on in your life," a Rishi once said, "the more you need to be on retreat."
If you’re juggling a lot and want to be more effective, schedule some down-time!
With lots of responsibility, your task is to amp up your executive functioning - your capacity to decide what is going to get done and what is not.
You also need to stay sensitive to what is just over the horizon. Your intuition needs to be active. In order to do that you need to be relaxed and alert.
A retreat, whether a daylong, a weeklong or a month, gives you not only the opportunity to step back from your routines, habits and ruts, but the chance to drop into some new practices that inevitably will inform and inspire you.
A dyad practice on a recent retreat.
September 24-25: The Energy Intensive at Kripalu Center https://kripalu.org/presenter/V0000107/ October 9- 16: The IMCW Fall Retreat https://imcw.org/Calendar/EventId/161/e/fall-weeklong-2015-9-oct-2015 November 4: A Meditative Journey: Dynamic Meditation https://imcw.org/Calendar/EventId/289/e/daylong-a-meditative-journey-14-nov-2015 December 4 - 6: "Releasing the Barriers to Love" - Relationships Retreat at Garrison Retreat Center (with Tara Brach) http://www.garrisoninstitute.org/component/civicrm/?task=civicrm/event/info&reset=1&id=642&Itemid=534 December 27 - January 1: IMCW New Year’s Retreat https://imcw.org/Calendar/EventId/314/e/new-years-retreat-2015-27-dec-2015 Check out www.imcw.org for a retreat that might be a match.
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how you can dramatically enhance your capacity to see clearly.
You’ll learn about the nature of sustaining attention on non-judging awareness and the liberating practice of recognizing and naming the weather patterns of the mind.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how you can cultivate your relationship with the mystery.
You’ll learn how a rigorous, reality-based practice of non-judging awareness reveals the truth of things, the mental states that kill your relationship with mystery and the key awareness that can unlock the boundaries between you and Presence.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
I’m savoring these mornings on the Potomac. Later sunrise means I now launch my paddle board before the light hits the water.
I start off with a windbreaker over a wool shirt and by the time I get up-river a half mile or so and the sun breaks out I can strip down.
Leaves are turning. The geese are forming back into gangs and the herons move a little slower in the cool weather.
I ordered a snow blower.
May your transition to the new season be filled with ease.
I had been in West Africa about four months and still sounded like a drunken three year old.
I'd studied Latin and French in high school and French in college. I had immersed myself in a three-month language immersion in the Peace Corps. I avoided other Americans and only listened to French on my radio. One month into my new position teaching phonetics at the University of Niamey, though, I still felt self-conscious speaking French.
I lived next to the Sureté Nationale, an office where travelers crossing the Sahara Desert had to check in when they came into the capitol city. I'd meet weary globetrotters and invite them to take a shower, camp out for the night and tell me stories of their adventures.
It was easy to invite folks to freely come and go as I had a spacious house and all I owned of any value were my hiking boots, a well-used typewriter and my beloved boom box which provided music and a radio.
One day I got home from teaching and the door to the house was wide open. All my things had been stolen. A few hours later two local fellows came by and offered to sell it all back to me.
The audacity of these jerks! I felt heat course through my body. My vision narrowed and and I almost became blind with rage.
It felt like a cork popped out of a champagne bottle and shaking, I launched into a abusive tirade.
I ripped into them. I swore. I spewed. All en français.
At some point in my venting I had a thought: "You're speaking the best French you've ever spoken in your life!"
I actually laughed out loud (then tried to cover it up by putting a cold stare back in my eyes).
But the jig was up. The storm of anger had passed.
There is a difference between being angry and being with your anger and that makes all the difference.
Emotions are like weather systems. Awareness, like the sky, is not angry, sad, anxious or depressed.
Mindfulness allows us to cultivate a capacity for self-awareness that can lead not only to more balance and creativity, but freedom itself.
You might enjoy these two talks from this last month:
Transforming Your Relationship with Anger
Transforming Your Relationship with Anxiety
I never saw my stuff again, but I got a good story out of it.
Three-day Meditation Retreat with Jonathan Foust, Tara Brach and Ruth King Learn More
Labor Day - No Class
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
The Energy Intensive at Kripalu Center Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
Morning glow at sunrise.
Prehistoric moment #1.
Prehistoric moment #2.
Early morning at the Stockbridge Bowl below Kripalu Center.
A sure sign of summer ending: The bugs are winning.
Another sign of summer ending: Last gasp of the morning moths.
Sometimes I paddle, sometimes I sit and think and sometimes I just sit.
This one is way cool. I happened to catch an amazing scene of the last swarm of moths on the Potomac with the rising sun behind. Enjoy!
September 24-27
I’m back at Kripalu Center for a long weekend for the Energy Intensive: Yoga, Meditation and Breathwork with my pal Shobhan Richard Faulds.
This is an immersion into techniques designed to raise both energy and awareness with some dramatic opportunities to let go of what’s between you and feeling free.
Shobhan and I go back to the early days of Kripalu. We’ve been offering this program for about 15 years and it’s a classic.
Way back in ‘00
For more information and to register:
A few years ago I was speaking at the end of a weeklong silent meditation retreat about transitioning from intensive practice back into the busyness of life. I’d been leading yoga throughout the week.
"I have a confession to make," I told the group. "I hate yoga."
Here’s a 90-second video on the topic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qP8tL6E7xTM
Here's a two minute audio clip from the retreat:
http://imcw.org/Talks/TalkDetail/TalkID/329
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
A friend used to refer to Meditation Retreats as “Meditation Treats.”
We had a full house (sorry for those on the wait list) taking a deep dive into “A Meditative Journey,” including movement, deep relaxations and meditation techniques. I was both touched and inspired by the shared sparkle by the end of the day.
Transformative traditions speak of three elements that support an alive and vibrant life:
Practicing a technique called “Meditation OutLoud"
Cultivate a daily practice. Do you have a practice or some ritual that helps you slow down? It’s important to be realistic about what you can commit to. Even a few minutes can make a difference. Personally, I think it’s better to take five minutes per day to pause than it is to meditate on Sunday morning for half an hour.
Find like-minded people. This is difficult to create if you don’t have it, but quite important. Attend a weekly class, join a “spiritual friends” group or start one if you don’t have one local. Fine someone you know is interested in this and share your journey and insights.
Take time out for intensive practice. You may find that an intensive retreat may inform or inspire your daily practice. Having another retreat on the schedule can be enormously helpful. It’s like knowing you’ve got a life raft out there waiting for you.
:
A theme of our retreat was ‘restraint with awareness.” Our suggested restraints:
* Refrain from speaking. Watch the conversation inside.
* Refrain from eye contact. How intimately can you be with yourself?
* Refrain from electronic media. Is it possible to pull your attention to the moment-to-moment experience of here and now?
An intensive retreat not only helps pull you away from habitual activity, but it allows you to acquaint yourself intimately with what is present and cultivate your capacity to recognize what is actually happening in your life and perhaps find new ways to be with what is unfolding.
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores the relationship between meditation and intuition.
You’ll learn about the nature of the linear and non-linear mind, the most reliable form of intuition, steps you can take when intuition feels closed off and a guided meditation for decision-making.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
If you are called to drop in and explore new boundaries in relaxed awareness, this is the retreat for you.
August 29th
9:30 - 4:00
Bethesda, MD
You’ll explore practice in the context of Raja Yoga.
Mindful movement helps you contact and release deep-seated tension.
Breathing practices help you shift your internal state as well as induce calm and balance.
Guided relaxation open you more and more to a sense of effortless awareness.
Guided meditations help you gather your attention, let go into the here and now and open to presence.
Most of the day will be in silence and will include practices to help you turn within. There will be short periods of mindful sharing and time for questions and discussion.
This is one of my most favorite retreats to lead.
For more information and to register:
https://imcw.org/Calendar/EventId/85/e/daylong-a-meditative-journey-29-aug-2015
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how to work with anxiety.
You'll learn about different forms and signs of anxiety, the roots of chronic worry and some strategies for shifting your relationship with this pervasive state.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Special AUDIO:
This talk explores how to work with strong emotions, especially anger.
You’ll learn how anger happens, the cause of anger, some techniques for releasing anger and the practices and path that leads to increasing your capacity for freedom and happiness.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
The World is One Family
After a lifetime dedicated to spiritual practice including being in silence for 19 years and 10 hours a day of meditation, Swami Kripalu summed it up his ultimate realization as the experience of "Sanatana Dharma."
Sanatana Dharma translates as 'eternal truth.' This is the truth we share regardless of our culture, language, race, gender, sexual identity or age.
"The world is one family," he said.
Despite this fundamental truth, our culture is struggling to find our commonality. In this month's missive you'll find some resources that may help you heal the divide.
May we find peace within and with each other.
In light of the recent events in Charleston, the controversy concerning the confederate flag and the surfacing of deeply entrenched discrimination, a request was made for dharma teachers to speak on the topic of healing racism. There are some powerful talks out there. If you are interested, here is a talk from Tara Brach Listen Here and heres a talk from Ruth King Listen Here, a dharma teacher who speaks and leads trainings on the need for healing in this area. I was reticent to speak as Im not that conversant in the latest approaches to white awareness and am not sure where one even begins when it comes to healing racism. The more I thought about my personal experience, though, as privileged as its been, the more sensitized I've become. I went to a Quaker high school. My sophomore year we got to choose our roommate. Gil and I were great friends and from different cultures. I was a white kid who grew up on a farm in Pennsylvania and he was African-American from South Philly by way of South Carolina. But our easy friendship made being roommates a simple choice. The bubble in which we lived, a culturally-diverse boarding school, fostered acceptance and ease. That bubble burst one day when Gil came back to the family farm with me for a weekend. We were handing around town on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Gil was in a store and while I was waiting for him outside I saw a friend walking down the street with whom I went to public school a few years earlier. He and I chatted for a bit, catching up. Gil came out of the store and walked up to us with a big smile. I started to introduce Gil. Before I could speak, my old classmates eyes narrowed. He glared at Gil, glared at me, turned and walked away without saying a word. I was stunned, hurt, embarrassed and angry. Gil shrugged it off and we went on, but something shifted in me that day. What stunned me was that I knew these guys could be friends. I knew both of them and liked them both. But that wasnt possible. My old classmate saw Gil as the enemy and by friendship and association, I was now an enemy as well. I have come to realize that Gil didnt just shrug it off. Just as untreated hatred poisons the heart of those who hate, those on the receiving end internalize that vitriol. Healing this division is our shared work. Follow this link to listen to the talk, "The World is One Family: Healing Racism and Discrimination."
Conscious Relationships (with Tara Brach) Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
The Still, Small Voice: Meditation, Focusing and Intuition Training Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
A Meditative Journey: Mindful Movement, Meditation and Deep Relaxation Learn More
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
The will to live. A tree clings to the side of a small island on the Potomac River.
Flying into Provincetown. (It happened to be Bear Week.) www.ptownbears.org
Bouys and Gulls. A distant storm churns the Atlantic.
Speaking of buoys and gulls, we celebrated a bay-side marriage proposal (and acceptance).
Morning shoot.
Low low low low tide.
Hauling off a snack.
The first signs of Fall. Back on the river, grasses begin to turn.
Here’s another "Five Breaths / Five Scenes" video for you, this time featuring Low Tide.
August 29
Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW)
A daylong retreat in the DC Metro area.
Why did the Buddha emphasize mindfulness of the body as the primary foundation of practice?
The body lives only in the here and now. As you train your attention to rest in your senses you learn how to be present to whatever arises.
You can’t make a state of inner quiet happen, but you can create an optimal environment through conscious movement and breathing.
Through the day you’ll learn movement sequences that help to release deep-seated tension and help to draw your awareness inward. Two deep guided body scan experiences help to cultivate a sense of ease and integration.
No prior experience of yoga or meditation is required. If you do have extensive experience, you’ll find the guidance spacious and inviting.
Come and explore relaxation as a doorway to presence.
Visit: https://imcw.org/Calendar/EventId/85/e/daylong-a-meditative-journey-29-aug-2015
Swami Satchitananda on what it was like to be a Hindu..."I don’t think I’m a Hindu," he said. "I think I'm an Undo." I don't think of myself as a Buddhist, but simply as someone seeking freedom. While these links refer to those who identify as Buddhist, nonetheless, you may find them helpful as you look for resources that may help you bring more awareness to the issue of healing racism and discrimination. An Open Letter to Dharma Teachers http://buddhistsforracialjustice.org/an-open-letter/ An Call to White Buddhists http://buddhistsforracialjustice.org/call-to-white-buddhists/ A Call to People of Color Buddhists http://buddhistsforracialjustice.org/call-to-poc-buddhists/ Shared Resources http://buddhistsforracialjustice.org/shared-resources/
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
