- Insights Into Practices
- What I’m Reading
- My Favorite Quote This Week
- Weekend Retreat
Insights Into Practices
I once led a day-long meditation retreat for a group of twelve Google engineers. We did several 30-minute periods of meditation in the morning and afternoon, interspersed with indoor and outdoor walking meditation. At the end of the day they each expressed great surprise and appreciation of the experience. They felt the depth of rest, quiet, and insight as significantly different than what they had experienced from meditating each morning for twenty or thirty minutes. Several participants asked, “Do we need to go to a monastery in order to have this depth of practice?”
I responded that monastic practice is great, but probably not practical for most of them. Instead, I suggested they explore making a corner of their homes into a monastery. That is, have a place where you can have a regular meditation practice, a place where you can step out of the river of daily activity, of cell phones and screens, and just sit, study, or write in your journal. For real wellbeing, find a regular time and place to return to the well.
I recently returned from spending six days at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, for a work-study retreat with the Mill Valley Zen community. We followed the early morning meditation schedule, worked in the mornings, and spent time studying together each afternoon. One morning was a half-day of quietly sitting and walking. I got to bake bread several times. (I made about 30 loaves of cornmeal millet bread and 15 loaves of onion dill.) For me, being at Tassajara, sitting, working, and baking are forms of returning to the well of practice.
Wellbeing can mean many things. Classically, it is defined as a combination of spiritual, physical, psychological, social, economic, and environmental health:
Spiritual Health – Life satisfaction and appreciation; a sense of meaning and purpose
Physical Health – Diet, exercise, and sleep; a healthy body and mind
Psychological Health – Safety, security, a healthy attitude and practices for navigating stress and anxiety
Social Health – Good friends, established networks,
and strong sense of belonging
Economic Health – Financial stability
Environmental Health – Clean air and water, access to nature
Wellbeing Practices
Assess: Which of these wellbeing practices are in good shape, and which could use more attention?
Deepen, Sustain, and Integrate
Deepen: Look for ways to deepen your practice through extended retreats or ways of stepping away from screens and the daily demands.
Sustain: Find ways to sustain practice with a daily meditation or journaling practice.
Integrate: Bring your aspiration to be more aware and help others into your work, relationships, and all parts of daily life.
Find regular ways to return to the well, in whatever ways that means to you. Create a “sacred space” in your home for meditation and journal writing. Participate in extended meditation retreats. Exploring making reading, work, and all activities a form of returning to the well.
What I’m Reading
Mind Magic, The Neuroscience of Manifestation and How It Changes Everything, by James Doty – Part autobiography, part inspiration, and part program for aligning your state of mind with your deepest aspirations.
My Favorite Quote This Week
Right now my life is one learning
experience after another, by the
end of the week
I should be a genius.
Weekend Retreat at Green Gulch Farm
November 1 – 3
Come spend the weekend at Green Gulch Farm, located on the coast, just north of San Francisco. Wake up hearing the sound of the ocean, enjoy the simple but amazing vegetarian food, and explore the garden, farm, and coastal trails.
In our world of busyness, of more, faster, better, this retreat offers time to stop, reflect, and renew – a time to step fully into the richness of your life. Together we’ll follow a gentle schedule of sitting and walking meditation, interspersed with talks and discussions from the wisdom of Zen teaching as we explore how these stories and dialogues may be utilized in our relationships, our work, and our lives.
This retreat is open to all people interested in stopping, exploring, and bringing more awareness and mindfulness to daily life.