Thank you for today’s online practice with Liz, Jasmine, and Debbie. Gratitude for yesterday’s practice with Dana, Molly, Joanne, and about 100 people in person at the Huntington Library.
Due to a schedule change, our next online practice will be Tuesday. May 19.
Today we set intentions for the practice. We practice for ourselves and all beings. I heard intentions like spaciousness, slowness, moving from the center, acceptance, genuine security, letting in and out.
What are your intentions for yourself and all beings?
Thank you for today’s online practice with Pati, Debbie, Simone, Jasmine and Aila (sp?), Liz and Wiley, and Simone and the 2 ducks.
Today we practiced circular warm ups to open up the joint spaces and then we practiced a portion of primordial qi gong set that I learned from the late Dr. Hu. Primordial points to emptiness and nothingness. It also connects to what is being and becoming and the unfolding world of form and materiality. Today we practiced what I have been affectionately calling the donut section. We will practice this all week.
Insights about noticing, accompaniment, and transformation came out of the shares/storytelling/reflections. This is my recollection and take it with a grain of salt because brain and body are tired.
I heard that some were able to be still and notice what was happening to remember, to reconnect and see what was unfolding like 2 ducks were accompanying and releasing vs. fighting. I also heard that others were able to feel they were practicing with others and this was the doorway to connect self as one current and then the self in relation to others as another current. I also learned that people were able to see and experience their roles movements and roles differently.
Practice schedule: Tuesday 4/14, Thursday 4/16 then next one will be Tuesday 4/21
Changes for the online schedule — no practice Sunday April 19.
It was nourishing to practice together this morning with Debbie, Simone, Bonnie, and Karin.
Welcome Karin! Glad you joined for the first time!
From this morning, I heard reflections like “it was comforting, soothing, grounding” and connecting to moves in a way that felt “joyful and playful” even as people faced uncertainty.
My journey of healing from the mild traumatic brain injury continues. My brain still gets tired after an hour of reading, writing, and speaking with complex ideas.
Qìgōng continues to be a big part of my rehab and essential as I enter this new mode of healing and working. I am grateful to my teachers the late Dr. Hu and to Paul Li, as well as my practice coach my dad and mom and the wild goose / dayan teaching community. Mindful movement has been good for getting the neural circuits connected and to get the parasympathetic system to be in charge.
I continue with qì gōng and walking mindfulness because it is healing to mindfully move together while in community and drawing from this tradition that is 1000s years old.
We are closing a chaotic March and are starting a new month this week.
Join us!
SOME NEW IN-PERSON OPPORTUNITIES TO PRACTICE!
APRIL 1 and 15: May 6: Pitzer College
PEACE IS EVERY STEP: Mindful Walking in the Thích Nhất Hạnh Tradition
WHAT: A gentle, walking meditation inspired by the teachings of Thích Nhất Hạnh. Slow down, breathe, and walk together in awareness as a community.
BRING: Comfortable shoes, sunblock, sunhat, water, compassion, and cultural humility.
COST: Free
FACILITATED BY Dr. Kathy Yep Full Professor, Asian American Studies, Pitzer College Faculty for ASAM 88: The Social Theory of Thích Nhất Hạnh
BACKGROUND
“Peace work is not a means. Each step we make should be peace. Each step we make should be joy. Each step we make should be happiness. We don’t need the future. Everything we want is right here in the present moment.” — Thích Nhất Hạnh, Creating True Peace
Zen master Thích Nhất Hạnh co-founded Tiep Hien (the Order of Interbeing) during the American War in Vietnam in the 1960s. The Order of Interbeing organized community-led mutual aid amid militarism, forced displacement, human-made starvation, gender-based violence, environmental destruction, and collective grief. Tending to the liminal space between heartbreak and hope, Tiep Hien (the Order of Interbeing) rooted their peace-making in the concepts of mindfulness and interconnectedness.
Thích Nhất Hạnh’s root temple is in Huế, Vietnam —the same city where Pitzer hosts one of our summer programs.
Dr. Kathy Yep 