Day 2

Written Monday


Monday blog

I'll begin with my slightly embarassing yoga story...took morning and evening class with a very nice woman and man who I knew simply as Mary and Richard. They taught a very slow and meticulous class with few poses but lots of interesting cues about physical sensations, physical alignment, etc. I didn't have a chance to thank them or speak with them til after the second class and had a nice long chat about this terrific breakthrough I had in their class feeling the connection between my soft palette and my pelvic floor, thanks to their terrific instruction. Finally, upon leaving the studio I read their names posted on the door...Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, very well-known yogis! Whoops! Not that I would have or should have engaged with the class any differently but it's pretty hilarious that i went up afterwards to ask whether they were Ashtangis :)

Have you read Happiness by Mathieu Ricard? If not, shut your computer immediately and go get it! Mathieu Ricard is a Buddhist monk and former professional scientist who led our morning meditation. There was a strong  emphasis on intention-setting and compassion. The guided practice was so beautifully led it was like turning your heart into a millefeuille cake! Acknowledge the suffering of a loved one, feel it deeply, cultivate courage and hope....the layers went on and on. Loved it!

At home I have been reading a terrific book by Sharon Salzberg called Lovingkindness (rubber soul library shout-out!) It was a lovely coincidence then when i found out then that Sharon, along would Roshi Joan Halifax, would lead our thrice daily meditations. The two of them in tandem are quite the pair. I also went to a breakout session today with Sharon, a small group of 15 or so, free to discuss anything we wanted. As we went around introducing ourselves, so many people had research and personal references to the term "mindfulness" that one participant, very knowledgeable about Buddhism brought up the question of why Westerners had attached to this one small facet of the path to liberation. I suggested that as an educator working with public schools, it was simply a matter of using terminology firmly rooted in secular, research-oriented language. Sharon also shared the story about when she and several other prominent practitioner/teachers came back from the east in the 1970s and how that word seemed to be one of the common denominators in the various traditions they had studied. Mindfulness can be seen as a the engine of wisdom. We discussed the differing perspectives of whether ethics must be taught explicitly or whether they would naturally arise out of mindfulness. I'm curious where any of you who might be reading this stand! I teach secular mindfulness à la Jon Kabat-Zinn to my undergraduates but i have not ironed out my own take on the issue if ethics. One final answer from that session that stuck with me (about why only a narrow slice of the path to liberation might be taught) was that the clients/students we work with might not have the GOAL of liberation! They just might have the goal of getting by. This was an aha! moment for me (btw, "aha" is one way to feel spontaneous lift in the soft palette ;) ) This actually made me think about eating habits and how some people might honestly not CARE about being their absolute most healthy self. And in fact, considering that i eat a more diverse diet than a calorically restricted raw vegan diet, I guess I'm even one of them! It struck me as a terrific way to talk oneself out of a fundamentalist perspective, whether dietary, religious, or otherwise. Meet people where they are, I've heard it a million times but sometimes it takes a million and one to click!

Also there were a lot of bio/neuroscience talks that I'm not in a position to summarize here! Questions about the relationship between autopoeisis and neurophenomenology? Spontaneous thought? The neural correlates of mind wandering? I know it's been on your mind...don't be scared to speak up! Haha.

Final thoughts before I hot tub it and sleep for 7 hours :(  The energy here is incredible. So much acceptance and curiosity and willingness to be scientific explorers. As with last year's Mindfulness in Education conference at Omega, it's amazing to really have the immediate sense that you're part of something cutting edge.