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Join me each week starting January 31 2021, for conversations and meditations on navigating the messy stuff that makes us human.
In the first 10-week session of the year, we will be discussing various topics related to mindfulness, heart, creativity, and coming home to yourself. Drop-in for the weeks that are interesting to you, or come hang out every week for a deeper dive and to connect with others - it’s up to you!
Each week will be structured as a brief talk on a topic, followed by a 20 - 30 minute meditation, and then Q+A. The class will run from 60-90 minutes depending on class size.
No experience with meditation is required.
This is an all-levels, donation-based class.
Come as you are, with whatever you’re carrying.
You are very welcome here.
Session 1 : 2021
Beginnings
Below is a general schedule for the weekly sessions - it is subject to change based on what is coming up for the group and what is going on in the world.
Please note that there will be NO SESSION on February 14 and March 7.
January 31
What is it like to start something new? A new project, a new year, a new way of seeing the world?
This week we look at the tarot card The Fool as an avatar for the meditator or student as they start off on their journey home. What does it mean to be on the razor’s edge of the present moment, where everything is possible, yet nothing is promised?
How can we begin our journey like The Fool - walking off into the depths of uncertainty and infinite possibility with childlike wonder?
February 7
What is concentration? How do we cultivate it?
How can we stay focused when things feel scattered?
One of the key building blocks to getting the immediate feel-good benefits of meditation is in building strong concentration skills. Being able to concentrate not only serves your meditation practice - but also serves you out in the world as you go about your life
February 21
We are conditioned to not know how to sit still with things we find neutral - but what if you could see even the dullest experience as one filled with wonder and intricate beauty?
This week we talk about Clarity - the skill of seeing things as they are - and the magical world that opens up when you do.
February 28
Equanimity, the third key skill of mindfulness, can be seen as a process of radical allowance and acceptance of your inner landscape just as it is. How do we develop the skill to greet all our thoughts and emotions just as they are - no matter how unpleasant they might be? How do we greet even destructive thoughts with compassion, while also acting in the world in an ethical way? How can this skill help us to greet inner and outer difficulties with greater self compassion and kindness?
This week we get into the weeds on how to both love deeply, and act effectively.
March 14
There is a common misconception that in order to meditate or be mindful we need to rid ourselves of thinking. However, the truth is that in mindfulness we are always working with what is here right now, no matter what it is.
So how do we handle thinking in meditation? What are some strategies to deal with an overactive mind? How do we come to our practice no matter what is going on in our heads?
March 21
What do we mean when we talk about spaciousness in meditation?
How can we experience more of it both on the cushion and in our everyday lives?
When we move from constrictive experiences and into expansive experiences, we open the door to release much of the baggage we’ve been carrying with us.
Practicing with spaciousness and unfixated mind states promotes some of the deepest realizations of the meditative path -
shockingly easy to do, surprisingly hard to master.
March 28
Where do your ideas, thoughts, emotions, and impulses come from? How does your body just know how to move, how does your mind just know how to think or your hand to create?
Where does creative insight and inspiration come from?
Spontaneity is the bounce that injects everything with life and energy - and we operate from it often without our conscious awareness. Mindfully working with and honoring the spontaneous quality of thought is the key to bringing your creativity to life!
Bring a creative project or talent of your choice this week, and we’ll explore how to create from a place of spontaneous flow
April 4
People generally associate the imagination with creating art, telling stories, or performing - but what if it served a far more practical function to human psychology?
We can use the power of the imagination to do everything from reprogramming old conditioning to exploring our inner landscapes. This week we’ll explore the ideas of play, wonder, and the everyday uses of the imaginal + the fantastical worlds.
April 11
Everyone wants to feel warm fuzzy feelings - but how do we actually work with them intentionally? This week we’ll discuss the many ways we actually hold ourselves back from really sinking into the positive aspects of life, and how we can begin to retrain ourselves to spontaneously experience joy more often, and with more depth.
April 18
The idea of “letting go” has become a meme at this point - but what does it actually mean, and how do we do it?
What is grief? How do we move on? How do we rest in the un-doingness and un-certainty of letting go, and allow the kindness of nature to hold us gently? Letting go is a trust-fall into the boundless space of the universe - frightening and freeing - which paves the way for greater growth into who we are and what is possible for us in any one moment