So I sat. And after months and then years, I found that the samskaras started to get quieter. They weren’t so urgent. And when I was able to watch them without being pulled into their content and without dropping down their rabbit hole, they had less hold on me. When they had less hold on me, it was easier to know what to do. Noticing the transience of the samskara made the simple day-to-day reality more rich and available.
The act of celebration is a type of moving meditation. It doesn’t have to look like a dance party – that’s just the way that I like to do it. There are all sorts of personal celebration activities. It can be a walk by yourself, spending time in nature, an intimate dinner with friends – whatever the activity that helps to pull you out of your mind habits into the larger world of interconnection.
For me, embodiment involves the incorporation of our thinking, feeling, and willing capacities. A two-way path of communication between mind and body. This communication channel wasn’t something that had been developed or exercised for the better part of my life. I’m learning that our bodies speak a different language than our penthouse dwelling hamsters.
I would not have thought that a rigid monastic schedule would feel freeing – but it does. I’m free of my desperate need to make everything exactly the way I think I want it to be. I’m free of caring if my clothes are attractive. I’m free of needing to rely on willpower. I’m free of endless choices that don’t actually serve me. my own life, the more powerfully I can help my communities. It’s unexpected, and it’s life-changing.
Back to school this September was ripe with excitement. In Toronto, students hadn’t set foot in public schools for at least 6 months, for many it had been 18 months. Emotions were running high for everyone: kids, parents and teachers alike. My personal goal this year was to reconnect to that loving approach, and make my class community a safe haven of inspired learning once again. Then the gears of a mass public education system began to squeeze and grind…