Weather Systems of the Mind
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: The Year in Review, How to Cultivate Compassion in Difficult Times... and More
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
We certainly live in interesting times.
Many years ago a swami came to the ashram I lived in and said, "The more you've got going on in your life, the more you need to be on retreat."
With all the churning and burning going on in our culture it's more and more important to find calm and clarity in order to chart your path and find your way.
Later this month Tara and I head north to do a silent retreat at the Forest Refuge in Barre, MA.
I'm immensely grateful for this opportunity to pause and I hope you too can find time, whether it be on retreat or in your daily life, to slow down, breathe, reflect and be.
Upcoming Event
Awakening from the Trance of Fear
Friday, January 27 to Sunday, January 29, 2017 (commuters welcome)
Tara Brach and Jonathan Foust Garrison Institute, Garrison, NY
For many of us, the greatest challenge each day is managing the anxiety, worries and fear that can so easily take over and run our life. When we are caught in the trance of fear, we are fixated on protecting and defending ourselves. We are living in a prison that separates us from our natural intelligence and our love for the world around us.
This weekend workshop explores a sequence of mindfulness and compassion-based teachings and practices that can help you step out of the trance of fear. In a safe and caring space, you will explore how to release the limiting beliefs that fuel insecurity, judgment and self-doubt; and how to awaken your fearless heart - the heart-space that has room for fear and full aliveness, creativity and limitless love.
The program will include didactic presentations, guided meditations, interpersonal meditations, journaling and time for questions and sharing.
To learn more, click the banner below:
The Year in Review: My Annual Report
When you head out on a long journey it’s a good idea to have a roadmap.
You’ve got a wide selection of guides available. Each spiritual tradition offers a map that suggests you avoid certain roads and stick to others. It’s important to find one that resonates for you.
Along the way it’s also helpful to pause, look around and make sure you’re still heading toward your destination. You want to check your engine, kick the tires and make sure you’ve got enough in your tank to keep going.
For a few years now I’ve been doing an annual review. Based on a format from James Clear (jamesclear.com), this is an opportunity to stop and ask three simple questions:
1. What worked? 2. What didn’t work? 3. What am I focused on now?
If you’d like to take a look at mine you can peruse it here: 2016 Annual Report
A Year of Living Mindfully starts in April.
Much of your success comes from sustaining attention on what is most important in your life.
In March of 2017 I’ll be offering The Year of Living Mindfully again for those living in the DC Metro area.
If you’d like to learn more you can follow this link. You’ll learn about the program, read some Frequently Asked Questions and can download an application.
This is the ninth year of the program. Please follow the link below: http://jonathanfoust.com/year-of-living-mindfully
May this year be one of unexpected pleasures for you.
Fresh Photos From This Month
There has been a lot of activity on the river as more birds settle in for the winter.
Breaking the ice on a particularly chilly morning.
One in the nest and one on watch. The eagles appear to be settling in and will hopefully lay eggs in February.
Nice beaver. A chance encounter in the middle of the river.
One of a clutch of turkeys roosting on an island.
A Bald Eagle enjoying breakfast sushi.
Full moonset.
If you look in the upper right third quandrant, you'll see I was being closely monitored as I paddled by.
There's a comedian in every crowd.
Coot yoga. You'll notice that Coots don't have webbed feet, which makes them look particularly silly when they take off.
A Year of Living Mindfully, 2017
Learn more about this year's program.
How to Cultivate Compassion in Difficult Times
Like many, I’m troubled by the acrimony and fear in our culture right now.
It’s easy to fall into one of the classic reactive states. For many, it’s a semi-permanent state of anger, judgement and ill will. For others, distractibility, disassociation and not wanting to feel. Others report feeling frozen in fear and anxiety.
How do you break free?
The antidote seems to have something to do with cultivating the heart.
Compassion is a practice. It can help thaw the pain and open to new possibilities.
I recently offered a talk on compassion. It’s full of stories that demonstrate what can happen when you turn directly to suffering with an open heart.
To listen to this talk, Compassion and the Outer Life, follow this link for iTunes and this link for youtube.
Latest from the Blog
Compassion and the Outer Life
There Is Always One
Compassion and the Inner Life
Happiness and Your True Nature
Meditation: Meditation Retreat Vipassana Instructions
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
There Is Always One
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Transforming Your Relationship with Fear, Upcoming Events... Fresh Photos and More
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
Fear brings out the worst in all of us.
It's helpful to remember that your heart, when not afraid, is naturally at ease, collected, clear and luminous.
When we are not afraid, we experience life through a different lens. Empathy and compassion flow. We see ourselves in others and others in ourselves.
In this time of such social turmoil I think it's more important than ever to reflect on how each person, without exception, has inside them this fearless, collected and luminous heart.
It's helpful to imagine - if just for a few moments - a world with each person living without fear, safe from inner and outer harm, free from suffering and it's causes.
Upcoming Events
December 5:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
December 10:
YLM8 Half-Day Retreat Learn More
December 12:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
December 14:
YLM8 Evening Session Learn More
December 19:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
December 26:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
December 28:
IMCW New Year's Retreat (5 Days) Learn More
Transforming Your Relationship with Fear
Last month I offered a talk entitled "How to Keep Your Heart Open during the Election."
I left town right after and was on the road for several weeks leading a retreat and then on to a teacher training at Kripalu Center.
I had no idea how prescient my next talk would be when I arrive back in DC: "Transforming Your Relationship with Fear."
Our IMCW Fall retreat spanned the election and as we knew the news would get out, we felt it better to address what was going on directly. We took half a day to break silence and create space for the community to process the news.
I was moved by the depth of raw emotion among many on the retreat. What touched me even more was how, as we named what was happening and listened to each other without judgment, a certain quality of spaciousness and resiliency begin to emerge.
These are the two wings of the practice: wisdom, which is the capacity to see clearly what is true and compassion, the capacity to be with and hold what is here.
When you are overcome with fear, you automatically move into "threat mode" and lose access to wisdom and compassion. In this state, you lose access to the prefrontal cortex and you find yourself shutting down in self-protection and reactivity. The survival response is flight, flight or freeze.
The trick seems to be how quickly you can move from "threat mode" to "opportunity mode." In the latter mode, you have access again to the prefrontal cortex and you can think long-term, with more clarity, intuition and resiliency. You can respond to what is happening in your life with creativity.
Transforming Your Relationship with Fear, Part 1
Transforming Your Relationship with Fear, Part 2
Fresh Photos From This Month
I have daily visits with our local Bald Eagles eagles and the nest is a bit bigger. They've disappeared from time to time, but I hope they stick around to lay their eggs in a few months.
I'm getting to know my neighbors. One of our local fox posing for a shot.
Another neighbor. A hawk hunting in the woods.
The frozen edges of the Stockbridge Bowl in Western Massachussets.
A few more migrating birds are sticking around and easily spooked.
Great Blue Heron launches from a tree top against the sunrise.
Video: 3 Minute Meditation on the Witness
Meditating on 'Witness Consciousness' with a Bald Eagle.
High Tech Meditation
Meditation has been around for a long time but it's only in the last decades that science has been able to quantify and clarify specific benefits that arise from these practices of paying attention.
There is a lot of high-tech gadgetry out there but I thought I would share with you two products that might be helpful. One is tried-and-true and the other is just coming on the market via kickstarter.
The App: BrainWave: 32 Binaural Programs
Many years ago I bought a sound/light machine to help me understand more fully the subjective experience of brainwave states. That was an expensive item.
The same programming, if not better, is now available for a $3.99 app. When I want to get really focused and not distracted I'll dial in a beta program. Sometimes I use it for taking a power nap, using a theta and delta program, and I use it for meditation as well at times.
Dual binaural beat technology has been around for many years. You listen to different frequencies in each ear, which forces the brain to function as a whole. The difference in frequencies can entrain the brain into specific brainwave states.
You can customize your experience with different soundtracks, the length of time and the binaural beats. From what I can tell, this is the best app out there.
Latest from the Blog
Transforming Your Relationship with Fear, Part 2
Retreat Instructions and Q&A: Working with Physical Pain and Boredom
Open Focus and Loving Kindness: Short Talk and Guided Meditation
Forgiveness: Short Talk and Guided Meditation
The Weather Systems of the Mind (Fall Retreat Talk)
Transforming Your Relationship with Fear, Part 1
Watching
Lief: A Smart Patch That Gives You Direct Feedback Using Heart-Rate Variability.
There are a number of ways to get neural feedback on your internal experience. Galvanic skin response was popular for awhile, but perhaps the most reliable form of feedback is through heart-rate variability.
This product is just coming on through kick starter and promises to give you clinical grade accuracy and direct feedback from your sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system.
The system was developed in Harvard and Stanford neuroscience labs studying meditations effect on the human brain. To learn more, click here.
Click the pic to visit Lief.
Open Focus and Loving Kindness.
A few decades ago Jean Houston spoke of the discovery of 'ancient future technologies.' I think of this as science corroborating techniques that have been around for eons.
A pioneering brain-wave researcher by the name of Dr. Les Fehmi was exploring techniques that could reliably cultivate a shift in brainwaves. When he explored 'imagining the space between his eyes,' he noticed a discernible shift, and went on to develop "Open Focus" techniques for meditation and working with pain.
I've adapted the Open Focus meditation with a metta (loving kindness) meditation. In the IMCW Fall Retreat I gave a short talk and led an experience that explores not only the ‘space' inside and around the body, but the immeasurable qualities of kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity.
You can listen to it here on my podcast and here on youtube.
You can learn more about Open Focus, here.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Watching
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Are You Suffering from Electile Dysfunction?, Upcoming Events... Fresh Photos and More
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
It was 30 degrees on the river this morning.
I wore wool socks, neoprene booties, two pair of long underwear, splash pants, a wool top, vest and jacket, wool fingerless gloves, a scarf and warm hat.
A week ago it was so warm I wore only enough as to not get arrested.
This reminds me of a month-long meditation retreat I did many years ago. I went in for an interview with my teacher. He asked me, "So, how is your experience of the retreat?"
I contemplated the question for awhile, then blurted out the following, "It keeps changing!"
Robert Frost once said, "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on."
Best wishes to you as you as you ride the waves of change.
Upcoming Events
I'm on the road most of this month at our IMCW Fall Retreat, then immediately on to Kripalu Center for the a Teacher Training called "Guiding Meditation for Transformational Yoga Teaching."
www.imcw.org
When I'm back I'll be leading a retreat that is close to my heart.
This retreat is highly experiential and will give you some powerful tools you can apply in your life.
The Inquiry Intensive: Exploring the Questions that Can Transform Your Life
Saturday, December 3rd
"What is the most important question in your life right now? Discover that, and your journey begins."
The right questions can help you change your perspective, make important decisions, heal wounds, solve problems and most importantly, point your attention toward your true nature.
In this highly experiential and interactive retreat, you'll learn:
* How to use intuitive inquiry as a tool for transformation
* Meditation techniques for calming and clear-seeing
* How to use writing as a tool for insight
* Mindful movement flows and guided relaxations that help shift your brainwave states
Click here for more information and to register.
Are You Suffering from Electile Dysfunction?
Have you been recently feeling exasperated, frustrated, experiencing bouts of hopelessness and depression?
You're not alone. These symptoms tend to return every four years, but this season has been especially debilitating.
Given the despair among so many, I offered a talk called How to Keep Your Heart Open During the Election.
I remember Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the found of Transcendental Meditation, saying "Elected officials are nothing more than a reflection of the consciousness of the culture."
What does this current state say about us?
Deepak Chopra wrote an article about the Shadow in our culture and how, when the shadow arises, we must remember to meet it fully.
When we shift into fear, we make the 'others' different. They become the enemy. When we remember that our lives are driven by ‘unmet needs,' we start to see more clearly what is behind the anger, hatred and judgement in our culture right now.
Sorting through the fear and polarity in our culture is no easy task, but if we can, we will be made more whole.
I spend a little time in this talk exploring what's called, "Looking for the Good." There are many things rising from this election that can be seen as positive.
I can't think of them right now, but they're in the talk at the end! (I can remember them, but you might like to listen anyway.)
To listen to "How to Keep Your Heart Open During the Election," click here.
Fresh Photos
Some mornings it's variations on grey. Some mornings it's like this.
From darkness to light. Geese head into the sunrise
A Bald Eagle ferries in nest-building material.
Our new neighbors set up camp in a big Sycamore.
My morning paddle takes me right under their nest. You can see that its still pretty small and a work in progress.
A diving Osprey.
Mahatma Ghandi said that we should act as if we might die tomorrow and as if we might live forever. Frosted spider web.
Video: A One Minute Meditation on a Mob of Grackles
By chance I recently found myself surrounded by a Mob of Grackles. Here’s a short little video of their visit. A brief meditation on impermanence.
Three Ways You Can Train Your Ability to Pay Attention
My cousin Alan is a competitive pistol shooter. I asked him his advice on how to be the best marksman possible.
His response sounds a lot like Zen meditation instruction.
This talk explores three elements of Awareness training. Each cultivates a particular quality of attention and together they comprise what it means to be fully present and awake.
1. The power of concentration, developing your capacity to pay attention on purpose.
2. The power of watching, developing your capacity for non-judging, 'open monitoring' awareness.
3. The power of letting go and letting be.
To listen to "Three Ways You Can Train Your Ability to Pay Attention," click here.
Latest from the Blog
How to Keep Your Heart Open During the Election
Could You Benefit From A Day Of Intensive Practice?
Eagle Nesting
Three Ways You Can Train Your Ability to Pay Attention
A Bald Eagle Makes a Home
Right Place! Right Time!
Inspiration, Aspiration and Effort
Awaken Your Heart, Creativity and Wisdom, with Tara Brach
My wife, Tara Brach, has just created a new online, on-demand course called Awaken Your Heart, Creativity, & Wisdom.
She's offering a a limited-time ultra-discounted link to access this course at a special price of only $15 that expires on November 2nd.
The following two links will take you directly to segments of the course for a free preview:
* Unlived Life: What Is It, Really?
* Practice Exercise: The R.A.I.N. of Embodiment
Click here for more information and to register.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Home
Eagle Nesting
A Bald Eagle Makes a Home
Right Place! Right Time!
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: One Observation / One Restraint, Upcoming Events... Meditation on Letting Be and More
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
This month Tara and I spent much of the month on a working sabbatical at the ancestral Brach home on Cape Cod.
Tara is working on a book proposal. I was grinding on some writing projects and taking a deep dive into photography projects.
Unstructured space has advantages and disadvantages. I love being able to wake up naturally and spontaneously go for walks and swim when it "feels right."
I struggled, though, when it came time to strap myself in for serious writing. You may be familiar with the term, 'monkey mind', which describes the essential scattered quality of the mind. I had monkey mind on caffeine. With all excuses removed, I had to churn and burn in the creative process.
I finally hit my stride and got more comfortable locking myself in for the grunt work but making sure I had time to play. I realized eventually it all comes down to balance, as in all things. Not too tight, not too loose.
I'm excited about the creative process and what is coming forth.
I hope your life is both in balance and in full expression.
Upcoming Events
October 3:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
October 8:
YLM8 Daylong Retreat Learn More
October 10:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
October 12:
YLM8 Evening Session Learn More
October 17:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
October 24:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
October 29:
Daylong Retreat Learn More
October 31:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
November 4:
IMCW Fall Retreat (7 days) Learn More
One Observation / One Restraint
It’s time to cycle off coffee again.
I’m hooked. It’s among the first things I think of when I wake up. I look forward to the upsurge in clarity and pay a price for it later in the day. I don’t like being that dependent on a substance.
To counter balance something I want to let go of, I’ve got something I want to do. I have rehab exercises for some damage I did to my foot I know they are good for me. But I never seem to get to them. I’m perpetually feeling guilty about that.
It’s perfect timing for One Observation / One Restraint!
If you're looking to reboot, kickstart a new habit or make a change, this is a great practice. Perhaps you’d like to join me this month.
The rules for One Observation / One Restraint are simple: 1. Choose one activity you intend to do every day for thirty days.
2. Choose one activity you intend to refrain from every day for thirty days.
3. Get a calendar and mark each day you complete. Your goal is to keep the visual chain going.
Fall is a perfect time to refresh your focus. If you’d like to join me, you can listen to the Podcast here, and you can download a Handout here and a Calendar here.
Here’s what I’m committing to: My observation: 20 minutes of these rehab exercises each day. My restraint: No coffee. Tea is OK, but no java for 30 days.
Some additional tips:
1. Keep it simple. One observation / One restraint
2. Try the Seinfeld Method. Put a calendar in a visible location and mark each day when you complete it. You keep the visual chain going. (Link to a calendar below.)
3. Get a practice partner. Very important! You’ll have ups and downs and you’ll receive incalculable benefits from someone there who is not only your cheerleader, but holds you accountable.
I will be offering a talk at the beginning of the month on my podcast (link) if you’d like some inspiration. And if you’re coming to Monday night at UUCA, we’ll have some support groups after class.
What’s one thing you could commit to this month?
What’s one thing from which you’d benefit from restraint?
Blogpost here. Podcast here. Handout here. Calendar here.
Fresh Photos
Water. Heat. Bugs.
Sometimes sunsets are drab, sometimes they are like this.
"They are not sunsets," my uncle used to say. "They are earth-turns."
Cormorants stop by on migration.
A full moon set.
The next day. A super-low tide.
An untouched photo with real-life color.
The Zen of sunset.
Video: Meditation on Letting Be
I’ve been sittin’ on the dock on the bay. OK, not a dock, but on the bay. I love the feeling of sitting under a big sky with an uninterrupted horizon. When perception gets so big, a natural sense of effortlessness arises. I put together a little meditation with some video clips you might enjoy. This is a meditation that emphasizes your capacity to let it be.
Events with Jonathan and the Insight Meditation Community of Washington
I’ve got a few daylong retreats coming up in the near future.
A Meditative Journey: Dynamic Meditation
Saturday, October 29 Bethesda, MD
Created in 1970 by the teacher, Osho, Dynamic Meditation is a powerful method of releasing deep-seated tensions and cultivating a state prime for meditation. I offer a variation of the technique consisting of five phases:
Phase 1: Energetic movement
Phase 2: Free flow movement
Phase 3: Chanting
Phase 4: Sitting meditation
Phase 5: Deep relaxation
Dynamic Meditation is safe, fun and deeply engaging. No prior experience in yoga or meditation required. The afternoon session is more classical, with both seated and lying down meditations.
Click the Banner to Learn More
The Inquiry Intensive: Exploring the Questions that Can Transform Your Life
Saturday, December 3
Bethesda, MD
"What is the most important question in your life right now? Discover that, and your journey begins."
The right questions can help you change your perspective, make important decisions and solve problems and most importantly, point your attention toward your true nature.
Click the Banner to Learn More
Latest from the Blog
Generosity as a Path to Liberation
The Stirring
Everything Changes
Hunting Time
Grounded Women, with Lise Metzger
Right livelihood is when what you do aligns with your core values. Lise Metzger has a passion for photography, writing and agriculture. She does beautiful profiles of ‘grounded women’ who feel called to the farming lifestyle. I highly recommend you check out her images and prose.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
What You’re Looking For
The Stirring
Everything Changes
Hunting Time
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: When Things Don't Go Our Way, The Energy Intensive... Five Breaths and More
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
Welcome!
To be reminded of change all I have to do is wander around outside.
Larger flocks of geese just started moving through. It’s been hot and the water is quite warm now, supporting moss, mold, algae and everything that feeds on them.
Mornings are filled with clouds of bugs that ramp up their activity this time of year as if they know their time is limited. Spiders are weaving more and more webs.
A fisherman I often see at sunrise told me he hung out with some baby river otters last week.
I hope, in the midst of all that is changing around you, you are finding some peace and presence.
Upcoming Events
September 14:
YLM8 Evening Session Learn More
September 26:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
September 29:
The Energy Intensive: Yoga, Meditation and Breathwork at Kripalu Center Learn More
October 3:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
October 8:
YLM8 Daylong Retreat Learn More
When Things Don’t Go Our Way
The damn hood on my Honda Element wouldn't close.
I had just inflated my Paddleboard with a 12-volt pump. I hook up the cables to the battery terminals for power.
I usually just drop the open hood and it clicks into place. But this time it was different.
I dropped it again. No familiar click.
I dropped it and pushed down. No luck.
Irritated now, I dropped it and put some weight behind it. No way.
Angry now, I tried again. I smashed the hood down. Nothing.
Hmm. Maybe something was in the way?
I found the culprit. My iPhone!
Dread turned to relief as the iPhone case saved it from being destroyed.
When things don’t go our way, we have some pretty predictable reactions. They usually fall into these categories:
* Aversion: Anger, judgement and blame * Craving: Planning, Fantasy and mental disassociation * Worry: Anxiety, Restlessness * Sloth and Torpor: Losing energy * Doubt: Self-Judgement and the ruthless critic
In this case, I defaulted to anger.
All of this could have been averted with a little more awareness.
When something challenging arises, the RAIN acronym comes in handy.
(R) Recognize what’s happening (A) Allow it if you can (I) Investigate and be intimate with what’s happening (N) Nourish what is there with awareness and compassion
This month I’ve given a bunch of talks on "Strategies." While the RAIN acronym lies at the heart of working with challenges, I’ve got other tips there as well.
Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Physical Pain
Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anger
Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Addiction
I hope you find these helpful. Itunes podcast: Listen Here Youtube: Watch Here
Fresh Photos
Water. Heat. Bugs.
A gang of cormorants at morning meditation.
Swallows take a short break from feasting on clouds of bugs.
The Stockbridge Bowl, pre-morning swim.
A storm brewing on the Potomac.
Summer foliage on the river.
Geese on the move.
One of thousands of webs in the meadow.
Video: Five Breaths: August on the River
This short video invites you into slow, full deep breathing with images from the Potomac from this last month.
The Energy Intensive: Meditation, Yoga and Breathwork at Kripalu Centers
September 29 - October 2
If youre looking for a three-day weekend intensive dedicated to slowing down, de-stressing and enlivening your practice, you might like to join me and my co-leader Shobhan Richard Faulds at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA.
This weekend is highly experiential, mostly in silence and designed to raise and stabilize energy and awareness.
The program culminates with a morning session of powerful breathwork using a technique that for many, provides deep release and insights. For more information and to register.
Latest from the Blog
Two-Minute Meditation: Move from Thought to Sensation
Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anxiety
In All Directions
Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Anger
Strategies for Transforming Your Relationship with Physical Pain
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Recent Dharma Talks, The Energy Intensive... Fresh Photos and More.
Two-Minute Meditation: Move from Thought to Sensation
In a recent talk on Strategies for Changing Your Relationship with Anxiety, I shared a quick technique for moving from obsessing thinking to the here and now.
It only takes a few minutes and can be quite dramatic.
To listen, check this out: Itunes podcast: Listen Here Youtube: Watch here The technique:
1. Take in a long slow deep breath and for a moment, hold the breath. Exhale slowly.
2. Again, take a long slow deep breath and for a moment, hold the breath and exhale slowly.
3. Let your eyes open and take in the three distinct separate images. Notice the color, shape, quality of light and texture.
4. Close your eyes.
5. Open your attention to sounds. Notice three distinct separate sources of sound.
6. Turn your attention to feeling. Notice three distinct separate sources of sensation.
7. Notice what may have shifted in this exercise.
I find this practice to be deceptively simple. Consciously shifting awareness away from thought to direct experience can sometimes dramatically help you move out of strong, pervasive and challenging mental states.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.
Looking Ahead
In All Directions
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Recent Dharma Talks, The Energy Intensive... Fresh Photos and More.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
Welcome!
Here in the mid-Atlantic it’s been hot.
Beyond hot.
With the heat index over 100 for much of this month, I get out on the river as early as I can and still come back soaked in sweat. It's a bit disconcerting to be paddling in water that feels not just tepid, but alarmingly hot.
Our ecosystems and environment feel so fragile right now. It seems more than ever, given the drama of heat, weather and the upheavals in our society, it's on us to pause, find our center and respond from presence.
Best wishes to you in your practice and in your life.
Upcoming Events
August 1:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
August 7:
The Still, Small Voice Within: Meditation, Focusing and Intuition Training at Kripalu Center (5 days) Learn More
August 8:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Guest Teacher Learn More
August 15:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
August 17:
YLM8 Evening Session Learn More
August 20:
Daylong Retreat: A Meditative Journey Learn More
August 22:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
August 29:
Evening Class at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington Learn More
Some Recent Dharma Talks
I sent out a survey awhile back asking for topics I might explore in an evening talk on Monday night in Arlington. If you're in the mood to listen to a talk, you might find one of these three recent ones of interest. On Non-Attachment to Non-Attachment Who doesn't want to feel free, spacious and at peace? Its a most worthy goal. We have all experienced moments when we are deeply at peace, aware of the vastness of it all and the mystery of this life. Spiritual practice gets tricky, though, when you get attached to that state of freedom and bliss. This talk explores the states that get in the way of presence and how to recognize them. You will also explore the importance of tracing back your desires to ensure they are in alignment with your deepest intentions. How to Embrace Challenge as a Spiritual Practice Recent studies indicate that stress is not necessarily what kills you. Its your attitude toward the stress. If you think the stress is good for, it will be good for you. This talk explores not just the power of clarifying what you really want, but looking closely at how you can change your attitude toward your challenges. You will also explore some strategies that can help you embrace the obstacles that make you more resilient. How to Stay Focused on What is Most Important Have you noticed how hard it is stay focused with so much information coming at you all the time? This talk explores the transformative power of a concentrated mind. It also explores how and why you lose focus. When you really want something and you are committed to it, you are setting yourself up for both challenges and breakthroughs. Having a map and a sense of best practices can make the difference between staying stuck and opening to entirely new possibilities. You can subscribe to my iTunes podcast here, check out talks on youtube here. If you have suggestions for a talk, please do let me know. And if you have time or interest, please offer a review of the podcast on iTunes. Thanks!
Fresh Photos
Cormorants and herons dominate the river this time of year. A few perspectives:
A cormorant heads up river at sunrise.
An annoyed heron leaves its perch.
Another annoyed heron. Something itches.
Me flying at 3,000 feet. Banking toward Provincetown just above the clouds.
A rock-solid vriksasanaa (tree pose).
Four cormorants decide its time to roll.
Stealth bomber cormorant.
Ta-daaaa!
Video: My Paddleboard Set Up for Photography and Video
Here’s a quick and dirty video as to what I use and carry on my paddleboard. I love the paddleboard as it’s so light and quite stable with a tripod. I love the zazen position that affords good power but great posture for meditation. I have a list of the items I use on my site. Geek Alert: All video was shot with the iPhone 6s Plus with an 18mm Moment lens. (I gave up trying to edit the video on my iPad and put it together in Final Cut Pro.)
The Energy Intensive: Meditation, Yoga and Breathwork at Kripalu Centers
September 29 - October 2
For the past fifteen years or so Shobhan Richard Faulds and I offer up a highly experiential and frankly, a pretty intense retreat at Kripalu Center.
Some call it ‘classic Kripalu,’ in that much of what we do is highly experiential and draws on the core Kripalu teachings that explore how to develop greater awareness of the play of energy (prana) and awareness (chitta).
Though you don’t have to have extensive experience in yoga, the three-day retreat is intensive in nature and includes social silence. You’ll explore in-depth Kripalu Yoga with it’s roots in tantra and raja yoga.
You’ll learn how to open body, heart and mind through carefully sequenced guided experiences that take you deep inside as well as in relationship with fellow retreatants. Many participants take this retreat again and again and you’re welcome to join us.
To learn more and to register:
Click Here
Latest from the Blog
My Paddleboard Set Up for Photography and Video
How to Stay Focused on What is Most Important
Falling
How to Embrace Challenge as a Spiritual Practice
Humiliation
That Book You Gave Me?
Greetings from Jonathan Foust: Intuition and Mindfulness, Conscious Relationships, The Still, Small Voice Within... Fresh Photos and More
Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program
My wife, Tara Brach, and Jack Kornfield will be offering a Mindfulness Meditation Certification Training in 2017. This program has been years in the making, and promises to be a gold standard in secular programs for teaching awareness and compassion-based practices. The two year professional training will include three 5-day residential retreats, a monthly mentoring session, monthly live q/a phone sessions, and a teaching practicum. One of the prerequisites for this program is their 7-week online Power of Awareness training, next offered starting November 7, 2016 (you can register now). Enrollment for the Teacher Certification Program is opening now. More information is available at: www.MindfulnessMeditationCertification.com. If meditation has transformed your life, you may feel drawn to deepening your own practice and bringing these practices and teachings into the world.
To receive a monthly newsletter,
please signup here.
iTunes podcast here, online listening here, stitcher here, and Jonathan’s YouTube channel here.