t scott-miller

HEAR HERE [for deep listening]: Opening The Question of Race to the Question of Belonging | On Being with Krista Tippett

And I think being human is about being in the right kind of relationships. I think being human is a process. It’s not something that we just are born with. We actually learn to celebrate our connection, learn to celebrate our love. And the thing about it — if you suffer, it does not imply love. But if you love, it does imply suffering. So part of the thing that I think what being human means to love and to suffer, to suffer with, though, compassion, not to suffer against. So to have a space big enough to suffer with. And if we can hold that space big enough, we also have joy and fun even as we suffer. And suffering will no longer divide us. And to me, that’s sort of the human journey.

~ john a. powell

I was invited to facilitate a dharma discussion for my root sangha to address the wellspring of emotions and concerns members have expressed following the tragedy in Charleston last week. Drawing on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, I entitled the talk “Good Spiritual Friends: Taking Care of Ourselves & One Another in the Face of Racism, Bias, & Injustice” and asked that we actively investigate our own perceptions, intentions and behaviors as we reflect on how to apply and cultivate the dharma in response to such devastation. We expressed our confusion, anger, shame, fear, helplessness, outrage. We cried. We breathed. We sat with our discomfort.

I asked that we continue to find refuge in practices that help to nourish and ground us as well as those that illuminate unskilfulness, awaken clear comprehension, and inspire compassionate actions.

That sweet space of refuge is fleeting: Our hearts burst open with the victory of the Marriage Equality Act last Friday. Then they are crushed once more with every church that goes up in flames at the hands of racist terrorists.

For sanity and nourishment, I am mindful about what I consume–attempting to combat this madness by sharing this dose of sustenance (clear, compassionate understanding) for the mind and soul.

Hear Here: john a powell ~ Opening the Question of Race to the Question of Belonging

embodied practice: tonglen

I have to be real: even after a decade of practice, conjuring compassion or loving-kindness is not always my default response in the face of arising difficulty or suffering.

Anger, irritation, disappointment, fear — primal and deeply-programmed — seep to the surface when peace, stability, safety and simplicity are threatened. They are quelled with time and, most important, my faith, effort, concentration, mindfulness, and discernment (five spiritual faculties). To penetrate and dissolve those strong feelings first takes faith, or conviction, in practices that offer me a deep sense of refuge. I literally need to move through it by going for a walk or run. The effort of exertion generates a physical and energetic heat that helps me burn off tension and generate enough concentration and mindfulness to spark clear-seeing wisdom. As the body cools off, so too does the heart and mind. Emotions, though tempered by mindfulness, are not so easily released. I still have two hands to hold anger or frustration alongside this newly-stoked calm clarity.

The practice of tonglen speaks to me deeply because it allows space for the complexity of our human-ness, where both the suffering and the relief co-exist. It feels more accessible and authentic to me than the Metta Meditation, which seems to require superhuman leaps and bounds toward lovingkindness. Beautiful as it is, I find it reminiscent of the fake-it-til-you-make-it philosophy. It’s a worthy aspiration. Just not one that I can sustain in practice. Tonglen seems to honor the teeny-tiny baby steps and stumbles and the slow, tentative climb out of the pit back onto solid ground. Sometimes that’s all I can muster. I trust it to be enough.

More from Pema Chodron: The Practice of Tonglen [Shambala, 2007]

special event news: conscious + fit clinic on 6/6

Ready to get Active?! Whether you’re just getting started, are rehabbing from injury, or are refreshing your fitness regime — learn the foundations of dynamic + functional movement to keep you ‪#‎CONSCIOUSandFIT‬ this summer. BONUS: Get tips to decompress + relax + sustain physical + mental well-being!

Open to All Levels. Co-taught by Tara Scott, teacher of movement + mindfulness + meditation, + Bianca Guess, certified running coach + group fitness instructor. Cost: 20/person. Location: Heartdance Studio, 1806 E. Michigan Avenue, in Lansing.

REGISTRATION CLOSES 6/1. SIGN UP NOW: Conscious + Fit

the sweetest spot between heaven + earth

What a glorious day to kick off the Broad Art Museum’s second annual summer yoga series! I’m grateful to be a part of this community education program once again.

Bring a friend + a yoga mat and join me in the Sculpture Garden for the next FREE class on Saturday, 6/27, at 11 AM. Advanced Registration is encouraged and will reserve your spot if the class is moved inside the museum due to inclement weather (first 50 registrants): Broad Art Museum Programs & Events.

yoga in the sculpture garden. may 2015

earth day celebration: touching the earth

The practice of Touching the Earth is to return to the Earth, to our roots, to our ancestors, and to recognize that we are not alone but connected to a whole stream of spiritual and blood ancestors. We are their continuation and with them, will continue into the future generations. We touch the earth to let go of the idea that we are separate and to remind us that we are the Earth and part of Life.

~ excerpt from the Plum Village blog.
Read more about practice of Touching The Earth.

Navigating Faith Based Differences

The Navigating Faith discussion continues here! #FromCushionToCommunity

from cushion to community: navigating faith livestream

So a Rabbi, a Buddhist, an Inter-Spirtual teacher, a Hindu, a Christian + an Imam sit down at at table…

Yes, it sounds like a setup to a humorless joke but it was a joy to participate in this interfaith conversation where we planted seeds for building bridges and fostering compassionate understanding among people of various philosophies and faiths.

Livestream for MSU Alumni LENS panel discussion: Navigating Faith-based Differences

Or click to view here: http://livestream.com/msualumni/FAITH

On “The Muddied Meaning of Mindfulness” | NYT.com

“Maybe the word “mindfulness” is like the Prius emblem, a badge of enlightened and self-satisfied consumerism, and of success and achievement…No one word, however shiny, however intriguingly Eastern, however bolstered by science, can ever fix the human condition. And that’s what commercial mindfulness may have lost from the most rigorous Buddhist tenets it replaced: the implication that suffering cannot be escaped but must be faced. Of that shift in meaning — in the Westernization of sati — we should be especially mindful.” ~VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN

Here I am this morning, preparing to share the practices with a group at our local law school, when this New York Times article pops up in my newsfeed!

When introducing mindfulness to the uninitiated, I am always clear about distinguishing its Buddhist origins–as an energy, a skill, a virtue among many others (like compassion, empathetic joy, trust, equanimity and loving-kindness) that we cultivate within our larger spiritual discipline–from its application as a secular/clinical “technique.”

For practitioners, it is not a trendy tool for self-improvement and is more than just a style of meditation. It is a vital foundation for living. How we think, speak, behave, and engage the world is filtered through the gates of mindfulness. It is one of the 5 Spiritual Faculties (or Powers) that we nourish alongside of trust, diligent effort, concentration and wisdom.

One does not have to become a Buddhist to authentically cultivate mindfulness. Yet many are concerned that as it becomes “sanitized” and popularized, it can also be mis-used and cause harm when not framed within the context of offering a deeper understanding of the teachings (i.e. The Foundations of Mindfulness/Satipatthana Sutta) and community-centered practice of Buddhism.

May all who integrate mindfulness benefit from it and may the fruits of their efforts benefit others.

Read the full article here:
The Muddied Meaning of Mindfulness

move like a goddess

the invitation to move like a goddess is to inhabit your body
with full awareness.

to embrace its realities.

to tend to it in sickness and health!

to find physical activities that are meaningful and nourishing.

that don’t feel like drudgery or punishment.

that make you feel strong, healthy, capable, full of joy —
absolutely alive!

it is also an invitation to reflect on how we move through
a room, a situation, a day…our one and only life.

with head held high? with heart wide open?

grounded. centered. connected.

Awakening The Goddess : A Day of Refuge for Radical Self-Care
~ co-hosted by 3 Jewels Yoga + Sybil’s Healthy Way ~

Sunday, 19 July 2015 | 12 – 4 pm

REGISTER NOW at Sybil’s Healthy Way!

touching the earth: spring revival

whipping wind,

conductor and choreographer.

snow-bleached leaves lifted from the composting bed

into a swirling tornado ballet.

brittle and brown — some cracked with lacy veins of decomposition, some waxy-smooth and preserved.

all, frenzied and alive.

reanimated to dance upon the whistling breeze.

~ john a. powell

Awakening The Goddess : A Day of Refuge for Radical Self-Care ~ co-hosted by 3 Jewels Yoga + Sybil’s Healthy Way ~

Sunday, 19 July 2015 | 12 – 4 pm

REGISTER NOW at Sybil’s Healthy Way!

Awakening The Goddess : A Day of Refuge for Radical Self-Care
~ co-hosted by 3 Jewels Yoga + Sybil’s Healthy Way ~