Ongoing Cooperative Program for Children! Registering Now!

For more information or to register, please visit the website.  Day and time TBD.  Learn more at the Fall Mindfulness Forum happening Wednesday, September 4th at Sophia's Garden.

Hope to see you there!

With metta,
Chelsea

The Whole Earth as Nourishment

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

A Visit to Sophia's Garden

We had a wonderful time at Sophia's Garden this week.  This is the biodynamic farm hosting our July 31st Summer Mindfulness Workshop and the home of the Sebastopol Mindfulness Cooperative beginning this fall.  Chamomile and poppies are in bloom and fruit is hanging heavy on the trees.  There's still time to register.  Be sure to visit our website for more information.... or download the flyer here.

With metta,
Chelsea

Postcards from Impermanence

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 Children's Program at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center: Metta in July

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