#heartbasedmindfulness

Resistance and Surrender

One thing about the new year is that the beginning of 2017 combined with the darkness of the season just naturally invites inner reflection.

I sometimes wonder about how much we miss because we are in the habit of saying “no”. No thats not the way I do it, No, I don’t like it that way, No, I don’t care for that or her or him or them….etc

It can be refreshing to pause for a moment when “No” arises and check it out, not with any expectation of change but just with curiosity. How does “No” feel in the body, notice especially the jaw, the belly, the shoulders, the forehead. Maybe there is tension in the brain. It can be helpful to be aware of how different states of mind feel in the body. Simply gathering information to be able to see and then to choose.

We can use “No” to keep the status quo in place or we can use “No” to give ourselves a sense of safety or boundries. Those boundries can turn into walls and those walls not only keep others out but keep us locked within.

I offer this poem for your reflection…..

The Healing Time

Finally on my way to yes
I bumped into
All the places
Where I said no
To my life
All the untended wounds
The red and purple scars
Those hieroglyphs of pain
Carved into my skin, my bones
Those coded messages
That send me down

The wrong street

Again and again
Where I find them
The old wounds
The old misdirections
And I lift them
One by one
Chose to my heart
And I say holy
Holy
-Peshawar Bertler-

2018 St John Retreat at Concordia Eco-Resort

Took place – January 27th – February 4th 2018: Mindfulness and Yoga Retreat

With retreat leaders Kate Mitcheom and Ellen Saltonstall

Enjoy a nourishing, restorative vacation and mindfulness retreat all rolled into one!

Message about the Retreat from Kate Mitcheom:

This past January, eighteen of us spent a week in Retreat at the Concordia Eco-Resort on the Island of St. John, Virgin Islands. We enjoyed morning yoga that was adapted for any body, followed by breakfast, then a couple hours of Mindfulness and meditation followed by lunch and then an excursion either hiking, snorkeling or just hanging out at the beach or pool. At the end of the week we had connected and made new friends, strengthened our bodies, eased our minds and replenished our spirits. I do hope you can join us this coming year!

All the best, Kate

Last year’s participants had this to say about their experience:

“Thanks for a transformative adventure!!”

“It was really a life altering experience for me on many different levels.”

“A time to breathe, work out the knots and find the joy.”

“To be on an island that is so much National Park was a true privilege.”

Sound good?

Cost of Retreat = $2094.

Price includes lodging/travel/excursions on the island/ yoga workshop… Does not include airfare/ground transportation/ferries or food.

Consider….

Grounding yourself in sustainable eco-lodging, close to the earth, the warmth of the sun and the steady gentle breezes, go to sleep with the lapping of the waves.
Exploring ruins, hiking the national park trails, snorkeling with through colorful coral with rays, sitting by the pool or a moonlit stroll on the beach.
Nourishing yourself with fresh and easy meals from the Cafe Concordia or making your own in the kitchenettes provided.
Bringing along a friend or meeting new friends at the outdoor cafes and dancing into the evening with the locals.

This retreat at Concordia Eco-Resort from Jan. 27th – Feb. 4th 2018, includes daily sessions of yoga, meditation, and Bodymind Ballwork. Afternoon activities will include a range of water sports, with the opportunity to relax and reflect in an unforgettable location where tree frogs and hummingbirds feel as comfortable as you do.

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Explore….

Concordia Eco-Resort’s

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Traveling With Us

Stress free logistics
Amazing community of folks
Time alone whenever it beckons
Opportunities to practice mindfulness on and off the mat
Sense of adventure

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You’ll Love

Well organized travel and itinerary
Stunning destinations/exciting side trips
Deep yoga and mindfulness teachings
Skilled facilitators
Sense of being fully present

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Experience Counts

Over 40 years teaching yoga and meditation
Savvy travel guide
Dynamic community builder

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	Sample Schedule: Daily Classes & Workshops
7:00 – 8:45 am	Yoga

	Breakfast

10:30 – 12:30 pm	Mindfulness Workshop

	Lunch

1:30 – 5:00 pm	Afternoon of swimming, hiking, snorkeling, napping

4:40 – 5:30 pm	BodyMind Ballwork (none on Sunday, Monday or Thursday)

5:30 pm onwards	Dinner

More testimonials from previous participants:

I really loved this retreat!!! I feel so much more centered and calm since coming back. I find myself back in the magic of St. John every morning when I meditate. Every part of that week was so wonderful!! I did so much more than I had expected to do with regards to the yoga and swimming. (I can still see the Eagle Ray in my mind). What a great experience! There were so many interesting people on the retreat and I felt a special connection to many of them. [My roommate] (best roommate ever) and I have already gotten together. What a great match!!

Thanks so much to both you and Ellen for putting this whole thing together! It was really a life altering experience for me on many different levels.

A really wonderful week of spiritual enrichment and growth both for those with some experience with yoga and meditation and those just getting started in an amazing setting. A time to breathe work out the knots and find the joy.

It was great—the morning meditation and ballwork /yoga were really well done, and the opportunity to see such beautiful places, fish, turtles and coral reefs are amazing. I might emphasize that a lot in telling folks why doing this in St. John’s was SO worth the travel, cost, etc. To be on an island that is so much National Park was a true privilege.

I am so calm about my torn up tire from driving to Newark airport and getting the rim repaired and getting the new tire and riding on a donut and I have stopped cursing potholes and have accepted that I am throwing away gelt hard earned and staying mellow and mindful all day at work. Haven’t even put all my clothes away from trip. Thanks for a transformative adventure!!

Partner Gazing

dreamstime_s_12658279 Out beyond our ideas of wrongdoing and right-doing there is a field
I will meet you there
When the soul lies down in that grass
The world is too full to talk about
Ideas, language, even the words each other
Doesn’t make any sense.

Rumi

(Working with a partner, take turns either with a hand on their back or shoulder or gazing at them with their eyes closed, then switch)

Know that this person before you has had the full range of human experience
They have known joy and they have known sorrow
They have known grief

They have known success and they have known failure
They have been praised and they have been blamed
There have been times of gain and times of loss

They have known sickness and they have known health
They have known bodily pain and they have bodily pleasure
They have known agitation and they have known calm

They have known love and they have known hatred
They have known friendship and they have known loneliness
They have known passion and they have known indifference

They have known loyalty and they have known betrayal
They have known kindness and they have known cruelty
They have known beauty and they have known ugliness

There are things that they are proud of and things they are ashamed of
They have known fear and they have known courage

All the experiences that a human being is capable of this person has probably known.
The circumstances may have been different, but the feelings much the same.

(It is helpful to end with awareness of breath or loving kindness meditation)

DOWNLOAD PARTNER GAZING HERE

Uh Huh by Holly Near

I feel so sad…ah ha
I feel so bad…ah ha
I feel so mad…ah ha – Breathe in, breathe out

My mind is here..ah ha
My mind is there…ah ha
Life is unfair….ah ha – Breathe in, breathe out

I feel so blue…ah ha
Too much to do…ah ha
I’m blaming you…ah ha – Breathe in, breathe out

It moves so fast…ah ha
And nothing lasts…ah ha
Just let it pass…ah ha – Breathe in, breathe out

I want to kill..I want to kill
Afraid I will…afraid I will
Try to be still…try to be still – Breathe in, breathe out

Come back to here…ah ha
Let go of fear…ah ha
My mind is clear…ah ha – Breathe in, breathe out

I feel so sad
I feel so bad
I feel so mad – Breathe in, breathe out…AHHHH HAAAA

“With that Moon Language” by Hafiz

Admit something:

Everyone you see, you say to them, “love me”
of course you do not do this out loud,
otherwise someone would call the cops.

Still though, think about this, this great pull in us to connect.
why not become the one who lives with a full moon in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
What every other eye in this world is dying to hear?

DOWNLOAD 3 Poems

“Coconut” by Paul Hostovsky from Bird in the Hand

Bear with me I
want to tell you
something about
happiness
it’s hard to get at
but the thing is
I wasn’t looking
I was looking
somewhere else
when my son found it
in the fruit section
and came running
holding it out
in his small hands
asking me what
it was and could we
keep it, it only
cost 99 cents
hairy and brown
hard as a rock
and something swishing
around inside
and what on earth
and where on earth
and this was happiness
this little ball
of interest beating
inside his chest
this interestedness
beaming out
from his face pleading
happiness
and because I wasn’t
happy I said
to put it back
because I didn’t want it
because we didn’t need it
and because he was happy
he started to cry
right there in aisle
five so when we
got home we
put it in the middle
of the kitchen table
and sat on either
side of it and began
to consider how
to get inside of it