On Growing Your Damn Comfort Zone

The quote that is currently on the Yoga Loft’s website, which I refer to in the title above, is from a statement Van Jones made to the Pachamama Facilitators Global Gathering in June 2007. While I am going to replace that blurb on the website with something that might be a little more accessible, especially for those who haven’t yet heard of Van Jones (impossible as that seems to me!), and for those who might get triggered by the notion of growing their comfort zones, that statement resonates deeply for me. The speech Van Jones gave is one of the most powerful and painful talks I have ever heard, even though I watched it on DVD. In essence, he is addressing our shadow — those parts of ourselves that we don’t even realize we’re not acknowledging, that we’ve stuffed into the ‘long black bag we drag behind us’, as Robert Bly put it.

Confession: It most certainly is one of my intentions to grow your ‘damn comfort zone’ (as well as my own) in The Yoga That Reconnects. I like to think of my boundaries as fluid, but very real, and it is in the practice of moving from the center to the edge, riding that edge, and coming back to the center that we can become more comfortable with the full range of our embodied human experience. I am working on experiencing all feelings, emotions and states as ‘positive’ in the sense that they are really happening, and I want to deepen my experience of them rather than trying to subvert, transcend, distract, or immediately transform them, whether my initial habitual response is that these states are ‘good’ or ‘bad’. We have been given all our capacities as gifts, and even our capacity for pain is a great gift. Without feeling pain, we would not be able to function in this world — there’s a great book called The Gift of Pain by Dr. Paul Brand (and don’t let the fact that he’s a Christian throw you off, yogis!). Read it if you are intrigued and report back to me and your community — would love to know what your response was to the stories and teachings Brand shares.

How News Gets Made

This might be rather obvious to most of you, but I had a simple lesson in new-making over the past two days. I showed up a once-in-a-generation event to bless the sun on Wednesday morning, and spoke to a reporter from the SF Chronicle for a few minutes about why I was there.  I told him a bit about what I was doing (which was pretty similar to what I put in my bi0 here), and why I woke up early to attend the event.

While I felt the first part of my quote was taken a little out of context, it was accurate. What was more interesting to me was that based on our conversation, the reporter chose the label ‘environmental activist’ to describe me. There’s nothing wrong with environmental activism, and I have the utmost respect for many activists of many different stripes, but I find it a huge stretch to call myself an environmental activist. Still, for the ten or eleven people that actually read this article, they will have the ‘fact’ in their consciousness that I am an environmental activist — and what is the ‘truth’ of that? So often, for better and worse, the truth is the stories we tell ourselves. What I realize is that I need a better story to tell so that I can define myself in a way that feels more resonant with my purpose and action in the world. More to come on this as well…

Working With Our Personal Weather

A bit of an unfinished thought: I was listening to my friend Scot Nichol’s internet radio broadcast about how our brains and bodies have evolved, and one of his analogies really struck me, and seems resonant for our times: If we use our brains to ‘think’ ourselves out of what’s happening in our bodies (or in our embodied Selves), it is a lot like trying to work against the cycles of nature or against the weather in our bioregion. We could try to do that, but why would we want to? Why not acknowledge what is happening and feel more deeply into it, rather than resisting or immediately trying to transcend or obliterate the feeling?

This is similar to contrasting ‘power-over’ with ‘power-with’. (Forgive the awkwardness of that construction.) When you in a ‘power-over’ paradigm, you must necessarily develop armor to protect yourself and prevent a breach in the walls you have built. In constructing this armor, we blind ourselves to a deeper layer of what’s ‘really’ happening in the world, and constrict ourselves even further in limiting our ideas about what’s possible not only in our own lives, but also for the human community on this planet. ‘Power-with’ is synergistic, and more resilient. There is no one locus of control, and intelligence is spread throughout the organism. More on this to come…

Focus for Friday, April 10th: Gratitude

We’ll be formally starting the Yoga That Reconnects 8-week curriculum with practices and poses focused on Gratitude. This the first element of the spiral of The Work That Reconnects, and is the foundation of all the practices that follow. After all, if you can’t cultivate true gratitude for your presence right here and right now in this mysterious and awe-inspiring universe, how are you going to face the challenging journey into the despair and darkness?

Back from the Sweet Darkness

I don’t have words for what transpired and got evoked over the past week during the Sweet Darkness intensive with Bill Plotkin…but here’s a poem (by Antonio Machado) that might give you a taste. Oh, and don’t worry — we’ll be focusing on cultivating gratitude this Friday at 5pm…the shadow work will have to wait for when we have a lot more time to go deep together…into the darkness:

And he was the demon of my dreams, the most handsome
of all angels. His victorious eyes
blazed like steel,
and the flames that fell
from his torch like drops
lit up the deep dungeon of the soul.

“Will you go with me?” “No, never! Tombs
and dead bodies frighten me.”
But his iron hand
took mine.

“You will go with me.” …And in my dream I walked
blinded by his red torch.
In the dungeon I heard the sound of chains
and the stirrings of beasts that were in cages.

I’ll be away until Sunday evening…

Just in case you happen to visit and comment and/or ask a question, I won’t be able to respond until Sunday eve (March 5) — more likely on Monday. I’ll be blissfully out of electronic communication mode for the next five days at Vajrapani in the Santa Cruz mountains exploring the Sweet Darkness with Bill Plotkin and sixteen or so other intrepid souls. Will definitely share stories upon my return. Until then, be well.

Wisdom for The Great Turning

(this comes from Joanna’s website)

Come from Gratitude
To be alive in this beautiful, self-organizing universe–to participate in the dance of life with senses to perceive it, lungs that breathe it, organs that draw nourishment from it–is a wonder beyond words. Gratitude for the gift of life is the primary wellspring of all religions, the hallmark of the mystic, the source of all true art. Furthermore, it is a privilege to be alive in this time when we can choose to take part in the self-healing of our world.

Don’t be Afraid of the Dark
This is a dark time, filled with suffering and uncertainty. Like living cells in a larger body, it is natural that we feel the trauma of our world. So don’t be afraid of the anguish you feel, or the anger or fear, for these responses arise from the depth of your caring and the truth of your interconnectedness with all beings. To suffer with is the literal meaning of compassion.

Dare to Vision
Out of this darkness a new world can arise, not to be constructed by our minds so much as to emerge from our dreams. Even though we cannot see clearly how it’s going to turn out, we are still called to let the future into our imagination. We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts..

Roll up your Sleeves
Many people don’t get involved in the Great Turning because there are so many different issues, which seem to compete with each other. Shall I save the whales or help battered children? The truth is that all aspects of the current crisis reflect the same mistake, setting ourselves apart and using others for our gain. So to heal one aspect helps the others to heal as well. Just find what you love to work on and take joy in that. Never try to do it alone. Link up with others; you’ll spark each others’ ideas and sustain each others’ energy..

Act your Age
Since every particle in your body goes back to the first flaring forth of space and time, you’re really as old as the universe. So when you are lobbying at your congressperson’s office, or visiting your local utility, or testifying at a hearing on nuclear waste, or standing up to protect an old grove of redwoods, you are doing that not out of some personal whim, but in the full authority of your 15 billion years.

What It Might Be…

I would write “What It Is”, but the truth is I don’t know what this practice will be, as we will co-create it together over these next several months. But here’s basic description for the flyer, and I will include links to appropriate websites here if you’re curious to learn more about the foundations for the Work.

The Yoga That Reconnects

Do you ever wonder why you’re here? Getting on the mat to do yet another down-dog? Or, more broadly: Why are you on this planet, in this particular time and place, with all the massive challenges we face as well as unprecedented opportunities for transformation?

In this class you will learn to utilize the resources you have developed through your yoga practice to connect more deeply with yourself, others, and our Mother Earth. Together we will do the Yoga — and the Work — that we can not do alone, for the welfare of all beings — including ourselves.

Join us.

Visit this blog right here (!) for more information, readings, resources, and discussions.

In this class we will explore an ever-evolving mix of practices, including, but not limited to:
•    asana and pranayama (on the mat, drawn from diverse yogic traditions)
•    other breathwork and movement explorations (on & off the mat)
•    floor work (off the mat)
•    partner/interpersonal work (both on and off the mat, incorporating movement and sharing)
•    large group and small group shares
•    visualizations
•    longer meditations
•    guided imagery work
•    journaling (bring a journal and pen/pencil to every class)
•    creative expression

Bio:

Tal is currently a leader for What’s Your Tree and Off the Mat, Into the World, which create small group circles for sustainable social change as sectors of the Engage Network. Over the past year, Tal’s most significant and intensive study has been with esteemed eco-philosopher, engaged Buddhist, poet, activist, and scholar Joanna Macy, founder of The Work That Reconnects (and yes, this class is named in homage to Joanna and the Work). Tal seeks to bring this much-needed Work for healing, community-building, and transformation to the yoga world through The Yoga That Reconnects and by leading Yoga In Action circles.

Through his work with Off the Mat and What’s Your Tree, Tal has had the good fortune to study with Seane Corn, Julia Butterfly Hill, Hala Khouri, and Suzanne Sterling. Other influential teachers and practices over the past several years include Gabrielle Roth (5 Rhythms), Anna Halprin, Andrew Harvey, and Emilie Conrad (Continuum Movement). Tal has practiced Somatic Awareness, qigong and tae kwon do, and is passionate about exploring all embodied practices which can help us to tap into our innate ability to heal ourselves and others.

In June 2002, after almost a decade of studying yoga, Tal co-founded Kula Yoga Project with Schuyler Grant. Though the studio has received many accolades, including being named “Best Of” by New York magazine in 2005, Tal is most proud to have helped co-create a vibrant yoga community only a few blocks from the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.

Tal has completed several teacher trainings with John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga, and first trained with master teacher Alison West in NYC. His teachers outside the world of asana include Douglas Brooks and Scot Nichols, and Tal is inspired by the work of Julia Butterfly Hill, Van Jones, Paul Hawken, Paul Shepard, Ted Roszak, David Abrams, Andy Fisher, Mary Oliver, David Whyte, and Rumi, among dozens of others (see the blog for more!).

A portion of proceeds from this class will go towards the 2009 Seva Challenge to support health and healing for the people of Northern Uganda.

Why we need to Reconnect

As brilliant as Freud was in many respects, he was also a creature of his time. The following is especially telling:

“Nature,” Freud dismally concluded, “is eternally remote. She destroys us–coldly, cruelly, relentlessly.” Whatever else has been revised and rejected in Freud’s theories, this tragic sense of estrangement from nature continues to haunt psychology, making the natural world seem remote and hostile.

Which is why we need so desperately not only to get out — to go outside, to places where concrete does not reign nor are cars the liveliest feature of the landscape — but also to go inside, to get in touch with the very real and very present nature inside each and every one of us, in each and every one of our watery cells, a connection back to those first life forms which bumped up against each other in the primordial seas billions of years ago.

Writing Descriptions

I’ve spent the past few hours working on the description of The Yoga That Reconnects (TYTR) for a flyer, and I’ve found it incredibly difficult to summarize my vision in just a few paragraphs. That’s why I created this blog! I realize that many of us don’t have time in this fast-paced culture, with our busy lives and packed days, to delve into our non-work, non-family and friends practices more deeply, but I hope this class provides an opporuntity to at least feel more deeply into what it is you are here for, what you are called to do, what is your soul’s calling…I am so excited to co-create this space with you and stand alongside you as we uncover and discover hidden gems that have been there all along, waiting for us to reach beyond what we previously thought possible.