| A note from Carl
Greetings friends, First, I just want to say, we love you! Thank you for being a part of our lives. We are so grateful for community in these challenging times. For those of us living in Salt Lake City, Utah, today, we woke up to the rumbling shakiness of a 5.7 earthquake. Several hours and aftershocks later, our sweet kitty, Freya, is still on high alert, scanning around for danger. I imagine Freya is not the only one. I wanted to offer a list of resources that Erin shared on social media earlier today: * Exhale all the way to the end of the breath and gently pause (repeat, repeat, repeat). * Place a hand on your heart center and send love to any fear in there. “Sweetheart, I care about you!” “I’m with you.” What does your inner life need to hear? We can meet the fears with love, breath by breath. * Feel the ground… still there. Let yourself receive the support, right at this moment. * See if it might feel good to soften your belly, unclench your jaw, and soften your gaze so your eyes are less tight and have more of a soft focus. * In the Tibetan tradition, fire, water and wind are known as the mobile elements. Earth and space are the stable elements. Between those two, space is the most stable. (I’ve been teaching on this for years.) See if you can find stability in the openness; in the skylike nature of awareness. Finding groundedness in spaciousness is a powerful skill and so helpful just now. * It’s workable. One breath at a time. I’m sending BIG love to all of you.
There has never been a time in my life where my practice has been more important. As several meditation teachers have recently reflected, “these are the times we have been practicing for.” The practices that are essential for us in the midst of earthquake and pandemic are the same ones we were practicing and teaching two weeks ago, and also for the last twenty-five years! Having a sense of ground, having a sense of presence in the lower belly, having the skills of self-regulation for the (very) nervous system; having ways of greeting all of the thoughts, fears, and anxieties that arise with care and kindness; learning to move with more ease and grace; having ways of taking in the good and beauty in life; having ways of taking in and metabolizing the grief in our lives… Erin and I both feel deeply called to offer these profound resources in whatever ways can be of benefit in these times.
Last Saturday, Erin taught a beautiful online class on Embodied Practices for Trying Times to a wonderful gathering of 60+ people. This Saturday morning, March 21st, Erin and I will be offering a 2-hour online class on Embodiment Matters: Essential Practices for Challenging Times. The class will have 90 minutes of invitations and instruction in soothing our nervous systems, in gentle movement and meditation practices, with an optional 30 minutes at the end for community sharing and questions. Please join us! You are most welcome. No experience is necessary. Details are posted below. We’re offering this class for free or by donation. No contribution is necessary, but if you’re able and inspired to make a donation, they are most gratefully accepted.
Tonight, at 7pm MST, Erin is hosting a Poetry Party! Here is what she wrote about the gathering last week: I’ve been leaning on the wise voices of the poets as long as I’ve been teaching – more than 25 years now – and wow, we are so rich in excellent poets! Please come to this online gathering and if you have a favorite poem to share, bring it. Bring several if you like. If you just want to come to listen and be showered in beauty, wonderful! You’re most welcome. One of the great boons that comes from reading poetry, I find, is that in crazy times as well as in lovely times, these gorgeous wise lines float through my mind. How nice to have wise counsel to pay attention to rather than the neurotic thought patterns that might arise in a time like this. Here’s an example. Yesterday I was sitting and remembered that Rumi says, “Inside the chaos, build a temple of love.” We can do that!!! We really can. Right now, we can meet this very moment with as much love as possible.
As David Whyte writes: “This is not This is not Forget the news, This is the time People are hungry Let’s gather to break the bread of good words. Physical distance doesn’t have to mean social distance. _______________________________________________________________________ Topic: Poetry Party! Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 235 721 588 One tap mobile Dial by your location Topic: Embodiment Matters: Essential Practices For Challenging Times Join Zoom Meeting Meeting ID: 204 184 926 One tap mobile Dial by your location _______________________________________________________________________________ With gratitude and love,
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