Category Archives: toward wholeness
race, faith, sexuality + gender matters
On “Revolutionary Mothering” | The Laura Flanders Show
Celebrating the transformative power of compassionate parenting and mentoring! Bowing to mothers and all others who honor the humanity of the little ones in our lives.
In this, my 6th year of motherhood, I am celebrating my power to radically design a life for my child that does not conform to anyone else’s standards or conventions. I am crafting a life that resists the call to pass on legacies of unexamined dysfunction and empty rituals embedded in played-out cultural traditions shaped and sullied by the whims of industry, technology, politics and religion. Shrugged off and unquestioned… because, well, it’s always been done that way.
Long before I imagined myself a parent, I stood in line at a roti shop on Washington Avenue in Brooklyn and chewed on the island wisdom I overheard from an elder:
Yuh doh raise chil’run. Yuh raise cattle and corn. Yuh teach chil’run an lead ’em…
I recall nothing else about that moment — what sparked his statement, who he was speaking to (if anyone at all…because in my experience with my…
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Spring Series: Body As Nature
we inherited nature the moment we were born.
the moment we came into existence,
we entered the landscape of nature.
in fact, we are nature.
nature is form.
body is form.
body is nature.
nature is body.
~Zenju Earthlyn Manuel
Inspired by our Winter Immersion reading of The Way of Tenderness in which Zenju Earthlyn Manuel offers a rich contemplation on the body as nature, 3 Jewels Yoga Sangha will look deeply into practices that support understanding, healing, and renewing our relationship with the Body.
Join us for this 3-week series:
APRIL 3, APRIL 10, APRIL 17
11 – 12:30 PM
Heartdance Studio | 1806 E. Michigan Avenue in #LoveLansing
RECOMMENDED STUDY RESOURCES
Check back for updates to this list!
On The Five Remembrances
I am of the nature to grow old; there is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill health; there is no way to escape ill health.
I am of the nature to die; there is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change; there is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings; I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
- Access To Insight | Upajjhatthana Sutta: Subjects for Contemplation
- Mindfulness Bell | Reflections on the 5 Remembrances
On Impermanence
- Insight Meditation Center | Impermanence – Gil Fronsdal
- Lion’s Roar | The Practice of Looking Deeply – Thich Nhat Hanh
On Nourishment
- Annie Mahon | Things I Did When I Was Hangry
- Jan Chozen Bay | Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food
- Nourish Life | Food Justice
- Paste Magazine | Breaking Vegetarian: The Privilege of Ethical Eating
- Tara Scott | On The 4 Nutriments + “8 Reasons Why I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Diet” | Everyday Feminism
- The Color of Food | Stories of Race, Resilience + Farming
- Thich Nhat Hanh + Dr. Lilian Cheung | Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life
- Woman’s Health | Why Eating Healthy Remains a Privilege Many People Cannot Afford
On The Realities of The Body
- Joy Colangelo | Embodied Wisdom
- Lewis Richmond | Aging as a Spiritual Practice
- On Being with Krista Tippett
- Rick Hanson | Buddha’s Brain
- Tara Scott | Moving In the Spirit of Self-Love
- The Body Is Not Apology
- Articles on Aging
- Articles on Disability
- Articles on Weight + Size
#MarchMindfulness2016: Shine Bright
Shine Bright! has been my personal mantra and my sideline cheer for others. But, oh, has this been a hard-won lesson to live into!
I’ve learned to honor my gifts and skills, and the contributions I make within my circle of loved ones and within my community. Still it continues to be a practice around “enoughness”– giving enough, learning enough, being compassionate, understanding, open, patient, skillful enough.
Doubt knocks on the door. Yeah, that’s right — Doubt has finally gotten some manners and no longer shuffles in uninvited while I scramble to push it back over the threshold. Now, I choose when to answer and welcome it in for deep inquiry where I skillfully sit with the questions it has delivered. What is this? Is this true? What can you see clearly?
Turning toward the aspiration to “shine bright,” I realized through several recent experiences (either as witness or participant) that we fear shining brightly means we’ll cast a shadow over others. We worry that expressing our full selves with unapologetic radiance, confidence, and vision is an act of vanity, ego, or arrogance. We’ve been taught that humility is a virtue, so we play small to make others feel less insecure.
At the same time, we receive a million messages about the importance of self-esteem and self-love. This is the crazy-making cycle our culture perpetuates that gives rise to lingering Doubt, which breaks in, refuses to leave, and becomes an indignant squatter in our hearts and minds.
So I appreciated reading an article years ago in which the writer reframed “humility” as being grounded and connected. To him, being low to the ground (as the eytmology defines it) in no way suggested self-deprecating acts of meekness or inferiority.
Rather, he embraced an understanding of humility that drew upon a sense of strength and stability from the Earth in the very same way that worshippers of various faiths will offer their full body in prostration during prayer. Bringing our body close to the ground is an expression of gratitude and wonder for the Power that makes life possible. It is empowering and energizing — a reminder to stay connected in body, heart, and mind to our capacity to love, create, inspire, teach, lead, serve, empower, heal, and thrive. And to thrive requires fertile soil…and light!
embodied practice: alice walker quote
Celebrating the power of sangha and all who commit to the practice of:
Showing up for ourselves so that we may be present and available in heart and mind to show up for others.
Speaking our truth.
Listening with open hearts.
To be in the presence of such companions is fuel + balm for the soul!
May we seek and be blessed with the gift of wise companions!
May we learn to be a good spiritual friend to others!
March Mindfulness 2016
It’s my fourth annual “call-to-action” to promote the practice of bringing skillful and compassionate awareness to how we engage, are impacted by, and then respond to the world around us.
March heralds the coming of Spring and, with it, a sense of renewal! Let us take a few moments to refresh our commitment to self-inquiry and spiritual self-care by tending to ourselves with loving awareness so that we may notice what moves, blooms, dissolves, transforms and even becomes reconciled within body, heart, mind, and relationships.
WHEN + WHERE:
MARCH 1st – 31st | RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE!
HOW:
PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!
What can you do each day to foster
compassion, skillful understanding, authentic connection, inclusion, freedom, belonging?
No action is too small!
RSVP TO SHOW YOUR COMMITMENT ~
3 JEWELS YOGA | MARCH MINDFULNESS 2016
SHARE THE CREATIVE + THOUGHTFUL WAYS
THAT YOU ARE GENERATING COMPASSION
FOR YOURSELF + OTHERS ~
Submit stories + images to be featured on 3 Jewels Yoga’s site. Email: tara@3jewelsyoga.com
Post them to 3 Jewels Yoga’s Facebook page with the hashtag #MarchMindfulness2016
SPREAD THE LOVE + INVITE OTHERS!
for clear-seeing: “I Am Light”| India.Arie (Lyric Video)
I am grateful to my friend + fellow teacher Ann Lapo for reminding me of this beautiful song on Saturday! It was a timely meditation and perfect accompaniment to the first dharma discussion of our Toward Wholeness series on Inclusion, Freedom + Belonging, so we had to share it with Sangha the following day. (We actually played it twice!)
May We Love Ourselves Whole,
Embracing Sacred Shadow + Blessed Light.
May We Learn to See the Holy in the Darkness.
May We Feel Free to Shine Bright.
HEAR HERE [for deep listening]: The Resilient World We’re Building Now | On Being with Krista Tippett
“In the last year and a half, from the black community in and of itself, as we say “black lives matter,”
you see the light that comes inside of people to other communities that are like, I’m going to stand on the side of black lives.
You see people literally transforming. And that’s a different type of work. And for me, that is a spiritual work.
It’s a healing work and we don’t have it codified. There’s no science to it. Really, it’s — we are social creatures.
Human to human, if you take a moment to be with somebody, to understand the pains they’re going through, you get to transform yourself.”
~ Patrisse Cullors, #BlackLivesMatter Co-Founder
Listen to the podcast: The Resilient World We’re Building Now
for us + spirit
under a dark moon
we gave ourselves the gifts of Time and Space
— an immersion in the experience of self
from the nothingness arose storm and shadow
with steadied hearts and swords unsheathed
we eased forward
pulled away the veil of disappointments,
longing, fear and peered into sorrow
until pinholes of hope pricked tears from our eyes
on the other side of this pilgrimage
into being and unknowing
a
soundless
luminous
expanse
we broke free
❤ to my sis-in-spirit
{through her eyes: moon.flower.medicine.}
for clear-seeing: On The 4 Nutriments + “8 Reasons Why I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Diet” | Everyday Feminism
“Regardless of my health status, I deserve respect at this size, which includes the right to make my own decisions about my body…
I’ve learned that the consequences of that weight cycling include greater risks for eating disorders, health problems, depression, lower self-esteem, and weight gain. So, when you keep talking about your diet, I’m just no longer interested.” ~ Judith Matz
SHINING THE LIGHT
I had a similar conversation a few days ago upon observing the pattern of an individual in my circle who is trapped in this very same cycle of dieting despair and weight loss triumphs. And on any given occasion, we will be subjected to the litany of foods they are abstaining from and the fitness program du jour they are “trialing” through in an effort to get their high school body back. I empathize with the struggle and am saddened and exhausted by the virulent self-loathing that fuels some folks’ mission to “improve” their health. So I was AUMing + AMENing when a dear friend, who is a registered dietitian, posted this article from Everyday Feminism.
In 8 Reasons Why I Don’t Want to Hear About Your Diet, Judith Matz , LCSW, breaks down the top frustrations of clients who are tired (like me) of being subjected to the mindless and harmful chatter about food, weight, and dieting that holds no regard for the deeply private struggles of others. More important, Matz offers ways to reframe these triggering conversations and to cultivate compassion and understanding for the multitude of experiences we have with our bodies.
The Buddhist Perspective
The 5th Mindfulness Training – Nourishment + Healing – reminds us to be aware of the suffering that arises from our unskillful consumption of the 4 Nutriments*: not just of Food but of Sense Impressions, Volitional Thought/Intentions, and Consciousness.
So how does it serve us to participate in conversations about the body that breed contempt, anxiety, frustration, and shame?!
What are skillful ways to discuss health and wellness?
_____
*Note: In the Pali canon, the four nutriments are outlined in the Puttamansa Sutta, which I must warn, is a gruesome tale.
updated 7 april 2016
tscottmiller 