Preparations continued today for the Summer Mindfulness Workshop happening next week -- Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at Sophia's Garden in Sebastopol.
Our theme for the day is "the whole earth as nourishment."
We'll be held by a beautiful, biodynamic farm filled with healing herbs
and organic fruit trees; learn three, foundational mindfulness
practices; and notice how the whole world offers itself to us for our
health and wholeness.
This is so evident and
observable time of year --- gardens are abundant, fruit is heavy on the
trees, herbs are flowering, and poppy seeds are, well, popping!
When we take the time for stopping and
noticing, we can see that the whole world is healing medicine. I hope you'll join us next week.
You can learn more and register here.
With metta,
Chelsea
We've had a rough week here. Our local feed store, Frizelle Enos -- the longest, continuous running business here in our little town -- was destroyed in a fire. The store was a local landmark and we've spent many happy afternoons there -- visiting baby chicks and stocking up on supplies for our animals. We are deeply saddened by this terrible loss.
The fire has my heart/mind turned towards impermanence -- how one thing is always changing into another... that the nature of things is that they're always in flux. This is a classical wisdom teaching and reflection upon it is believed to increase our sense of well-being. Zen teacher and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh writes, "Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible!"
How does it work? By letting go of attachment to things as fixed or unchanging we begin to relate with the world as an interdependent evolutionary process. We see that we are an inseparable part of a great story unfolding. We fall in love with the flow.
How can we share this wisdom with our children? One way is by keeping a seasonal nature table. This hallmark of Waldorf education invites children to pay close attention to seasonal rhythms -- and perhaps even notice their own ever-changing inner-seasons.
By noticing the natural world, we might also see that we're constantly receiving little postcards from impermanence...
Here are some postcards we've recently received:
- irises in the compost pile
- the startling sight of our molting chickens
- clouds shaped like elephants and fire-breathing bunnies
- threads of gray in mama's hair
- green tomatoes ripening to purple in our garden
- our first sunflowers opening
- the waxing moon beginning to bulge gibbous
- the fire at our beloved feed store
When we open to receiving these little postcards, we allow a deeper meaning to unfold within our lives. Each moment becomes sacred because we see that it will never come again. Each experience becomes sweet because we see it arising in relationship with everything else.
What postcards from impermanence have you recently received? I'd love to hear about them.
With metta,
Chelsea
The first Sunday of every month is a time for children at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center. Families file slowly into the zendo for the first part of the Children's Program. Little ones wiggle and giggle on zafus. Energy buzzes through the meditation hall before the teacher's talk begins.
Last Sunday, in a short talk geared especially for the kids, Korin Charlie Pokorny told how each of us has a hidden jewel we can share with the world. Asked what that jewel might be, children responded: our happiness, our love, our joy.
The second part of the Children's Program takes place on the farm among organic vegetable fields, fruit trees, and flower gardens. This part of the program includes a kid-friendly mindfulness practice or seasonal project. Earlier this year we planted corn, beans, and squash -- The Three Sisters -- in the children's garden. Last autumn we enjoyed contemplative handwork by making floating acorn cap candles. Another all-time favorite project is launching compost-seed balls into the hillsides.
Last week, after bowing in and offering incense, nearly fifty children and many parents practiced metta or loving-kindness meditation together in the peace-garden. Then we crafted metta prayer flags to hang on the children's play structure.
Children sewed wishes for the world into colorful cloth panels. Some wishes included, "may all be free," "may all animals be safe and healthy," "sharing," "less pollution," and "may you see rainbows."
After giving focused attention to their sewing, the children were ready for the out-breath of play. With the wind carrying their metta-wishes to all beings, children climbed, slid, swung, and laughed together. As always, organic apple juice and muffins from the Green Gulch kitchen were enjoyed by all.
Our next program is coming up on Sunday, August 4, 2013. We meet on the lawn at 10:00 a.m. near the southwest side entrance of the zendo. For more information about the Children's Program, please be sure to visit the Green Gulch website. For the full text of the loving-kindness meditation click here.
Hope to see you next month!
With metta,
Chelsea
It's the 4th of July and with everyone's attention turned towards freedom, flags, and independence, I'm thinking about freedom, prayer flags, and interdependence... and sending these wishes out to all beings.
This is the classical mindfulness practice of loving-kindness or metta meditation. Susan Kaiser Greenland calls it, "sending friendly wishes." You can see kids practicing in this short viedo.
We begin by picturing someone who loves us and feeling their love flowing into us. Stay with this feeling for a moment. Then repeat short verses such as:
May I be peaceful.
May I be safe.
May I be free.
Now that we are filled up with this warm, safe feeling, we're ready to share it. Imagine sending out this feeling -- from your heart to someone you love. Picture the person or animal you've selected and repeat the verses for them. May Prudence be peaceful, safe, and free...
But we can't stop there! Because my freedom, safety, and peace is inextricably tied to yours, next we send loving-kindness to all beings: May all beings be peaceful, safe, and free...
One way to bring this practice into your home is by making metta prayer flags. We're using this fun, kid-friendly tutorial from Future Craft Collective:
We're writing short words and phrases on the white panels: kindness, peace, love, homes, clean air, fresh water, joy. Then repeating our wishes/verses as we stitch them to to the colorful panels:
May all beings have clean air.
May all beings have fresh water...
We'll hang them in the garden and let the wind carry our wishes out into the world. I hope to share this project with the Children's Program at Green Gulch Farm and Zen Center this Sunday... and hope to see you and your family there. In the meantime, may you and all beings enjoy peace, safety, and freedom this 4th of July.
With metta,
Chelsea
I've
been getting feedback that a ONE day summer workshop would be more
accessible to families this late in summer.
Look for a revised flyer
coming soon with the date changed to JULY 31. No one will be turned away for
lack of funds. Please -- just come and join us on the farm for a day of summer
mindfulness.
This fun one-day workshop introduces children to mindfulness practice in the lush gardens of a working, biodynamic farm. Enjoy storytelling, movement, connection with nature, and other kid-friendly contemplative practices. Bring lunch and something to share for a communal picnic among organic apple trees and fragrant herbs. Ages 5-11. Open for registration now.
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 2013
TIME: 10:00 am - 1:00 pm
PLACE: Sophia's Garden
4038 Green Valley School Road
Sebastopol, CA 95472
Cost: $40 - $80
Remember, all programs are sliding scale and no one will be turned away for a lack of funds. Request information and register here.
Looking forward to practicing with you!
With metta,
Chelsea
One of my favorite mindfulness practices to share with kids is touching the sky. Behind our thoughts, fears, frustrations, and rough places, there is a soft spot. Pema Chodron writes, "if you touch that soft spot, you find the vast blue sky. You find
that which is ineffable, ungraspable, and unbiased, that which can
support and awaken us at any time."
How do we help kids touch the vast sky that is our inner-nature? One way is to get outside. By the sea, in a field, on a farm -- in these open places we notice the openness inside us. Another way is with Cloud Practice.
We've all done this at some point in our lives. Laying on the grass, settling into our body, gazing at the sky -- we watch cloud shapes emerge and dissolve above us. Kids are naturally drawn to this -- so catching their interest shouldn't be difficult. Adding a mindfulness twist to it, we can mention how thoughts and feelings are like this too -- coming and going and changing shape.
I first learned of this practice from Betsy Rose. (If you don't know her music or her work with children, be sure to investigate.) Betsy writes, "I use this... as a way of teaching and discussing how to name emotions, and how feelings come and go like clouds; the clear blue sky of inner calm and quiet happiness is always available to us." She even has a song to go with it.
Another way we can touch the clear, blue sky within us is with our breath. Just one breath is often a starting place for clearing our mind and increasing our calm. Encourage children to sit up tall and solid and let the sky fill them with their breath. Thich Nhat Hanh offers children this verse for practicing with the sky:
"Breathing in, I see myself as the big blue sky. Breathing out, I feel free and at ease."
I hope you enjoy practicing with the sky today.
With metta,
Chelsea
