Photography

August 25th: Increasing Your Capacity for Joy Retreat

 

I read somewhere that we spend most of our energy suppressing bliss.  I'm not sure that's true, but it does bring up the question as to the nature of our true nature.  Are we sinners at the core or is it true that our fundamental essence is, as yoga says, "Satchitananda." or "Truth + Knowledge + Bliss?"  (Or the bliss that arises in recognizing what is true.)

Saturday, August 25th I'll be leading a daylong retreat (9:30 - 3:30) in Fredericksburg, VA called Increasing Your Capacity for Joy.

We'll explore this questions not just intellectually, but through engaging into practice.

A few decades ago we designed a weeklong retreat called "The Joy of Artful Living."  It was crammed with movement, dance, meditation, writing and art.  We anticipated lively, 'go for it' participants for the week.  In retrospect, it wasn't a shock that who showed up were folks who felt anything but joy in their lives and desperately wanted to tap in to the juice.

When we focus on joy, inevitably we experience, in great detail, that which is between us and that state.

That's where meditation and inquiry come in.  Once we really see the patterns that create that sense of separation, new possibilities emerge.

It's a bit of a haul from DC, but a beautiful area.  Click here for more information and to register.

 

 

 

 

August 11th: Conscious Relationships Retreat

 

Thanks to the wonders of technology, I always remember our wedding anniversary and must confess that I always make a point to mention it before Tara realizes it's coming.

Our wedding was on the hottest day of the year that summer.   In the midst of the summer heat and the reminder of bringing attention and compassion to our relationships, it's always nice to reinforce our commitment by co-leading a daylong retreat on Conscious Relationships.

It's this Saturday, the 11th.  This is for couples and singles.

 

If a Tree Falls on a House

A few years ago, while I was walking the California hills barefoot on a silent month-long retreat, Tara was snowed in for eight days, melting snow over the fireplace.  As I was in silence, I had no idea until later. This last week, I did know that DC got whacked in intense winds, shutting down power to over a million people.  Tara was without power for almost a week and contending with some pretty massive damage.

Thanks for a wonderful adjuster and some great contractor friends, we are digging out and starting reconstruction.

My current life theme this year has been, "Whole-hearted cooperation with reality."

It's come in handy.

 

Fortunately, everyone was awake and in a relatively safe place when this came down.  It crushed the lower room, the guest room and took out part of the roof in my office

 

 

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Hiking, with Soundtrack

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Kripalu Center is in the heart of the Berkshires, situated on a lake and with property adjoining Tanglewood the summer home of the Boston Symphony.

One of the highlights of this last retreat was doing a silent hike down through Gould Meadows, along the Stockbridge Bowl and then up to Tanglewood during a James Taylor concert.

As we turned from the lake up the long hill to Tanglewood, James Taylor broke into "Sweet Baby James."  At that point a few folks broke silence to sing along.

Late evening, sun setting, birds chasing bugs in the meadow, bunnies at play, a group of meditating hikers breaking into song.

One of Those Moments.

 

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Water Break

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I'm up in New England, leading two back-to-back retreats. I missed all the wild storms in Virginia and some pretty extensive damage to our house. Here in the land of sunshine and flowing electricity, In between retreats I managed to catch a quick kayak adventure in the Stockbridge bowl.

Tonight in this five day retreat, The Still Small Voice Within, I will be leading a silent hike down through the meadow and the woods by the lake and cycling back by Tanglewood. James Taylor plays three nights over the 4th of July and last year they opened the gates halfway through the concert.

We'll see if they do the same tonight.

If not, it's a good thing we are practicing equanimity.

Faith

In our retreat this last Saturday we had a great conversation around Doubt and Faith.  (Well, actually, it was pretty much just me talking about Doubt and Faith.) Buddhism speaks of "verified faith."  You may hear a teaching about, say, how life is imbued with impermanence.  Rather than take this on blind faith, you might actually explore and examine your inner experience to see if this is so.  If this is verified in your experience, a sense of faith in this teaching becomes stronger.

All of this comes from your own investigation and experience, not solely from outside you.

 

Here are some great images you might enjoy that can shore up a sense of faith in our essential goodness.

 

Meditation. In nature.

We had a full day out of the woods here at Riverbend Park on Saturday. Sitting meditation, walking meditation, open-eyed meditation, and lots of other forms of meditation were shared among our group of 20.

Many people commented on how easy it was to open awareness into space when that space is filled with such sound and beauty.

Even though it was almost 90°, we settled ourselves on top of a hill deep in the woods and any little breeze that came through cooled us off under shade from high trees. A wonderful (re)treat.

If you can find a day to "wander like a happy dog," schedule it soon!

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Buddha and the Body

Back at Kripalu Center for a Memorial Day retreat called "Buddha and the Body," an immersion into 'first foundation' training, culminating with some transformational breathwork. Deeply inspiring folks and a wonderful co-teaching staff.  Ben leads a mindful 'group hike,' celebrating the end of the retreat and  some challenging practices.

Sorting Through History

I'm newly inspired to simplify. Between leading retreats I zipped up to Maine to the family homestead to vista with family.  Since my mother's passing last April and my father now in an Alzheimer's unit since last summer, we're left with the task of sorting through decades and decades of stuff.  My parents were not renowned for their capacity to let go of things, so the siblings been chipping away at the attic, closets and a a few outbuildings.

My main contribution will be to digitize slides.  My grandfather was an engineer and was heavily into photography back in the days of cameras with separate light meters.  I've found some amazing images, many of which are great blackmail material.

If you are interested in scanning photography to high quality digital archiving, I'll post more later.

One thing's for sure.  I'm paying someone to torch my journals right after I die.

 

 

 

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Yoga, Breathing and Meditation

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Last month I went back to my roots.   I spent ten days with Larissa Carlson directing a ten-day training called "Exploring the Energy Body:  Teaching Pranayama and Meditation."

This professional training program is designed for certified yoga teachers working toward their 500-hour professional degree.  I felt right at home with these 55 dedicated and time-tested yogis and yoginis.

I've always felt that sincerity in practice is one of the highest attributes we can cultivate, and these folks brought not only authenticity, but deep dedication to their practice.

We weren't easy on them. Each day started early and ended late, with hours of pranayama, kriyas, bandhas, asanas and meditation of various forms.

 

As meditation has taken more of a front seat in my own practice, I'd moved away from formal asana and breathing practices and I felt renewed and reinspired to kick back into the willful breathing techniques.

We'll be offering this again next year and I look forward to the adventure.  If you're working toward your 500-hour degree and want an immersion into practice as the core foundation of your teaching, this is a great event.

 

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Back from Retreat

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Seven days of sustained, intensive practice.   A meditation retreat is a Transformation Zone.  

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Such depth and deep change over the course of days of continuous practice.

For me, the retreat is full: I lead two movement classes a day, each day is filled with interviews with practitioners and an evening talk to prepare and share keeps things lively and amazing.

There's nothing like a week of dedicated, sincere practice with like-minded people.

Do catch one if you can. The next one is in the fall.

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