Dear Ones,
I really feel the sense right now, that everyone is a dear one. It's hard to talk about that without sounding saccharine but the main thing that comes of spending a month in silence is that everyone's vulnerability, the immensity of being alive, is foregrounded. It dominates my experience right now.
Additionally dominant: the life-sucking quality of screens, our prevalent addiction to them, they way they connect us to seemingly everything we need, the speed of our lives, the scattered attention we often experience because of all of this. Because I spent an extended period of time with such little stimulation, my nervous system settled in a way it hasn't probably since I was a child. Now my return to more typical days and settings is so vivid, at times painful, and very beautiful. I feel more accepting of myself and others than ever, and there's a lot of pain in witnessing the suffering in how so many of us are living in urban USA.
The feeling of not-enoughness and reaching forward is everywhere. Which makes the moments I'm able to return to being right here so poignant and so full. I saw very deeply into the suffering of 'should'. The moment should be like this, I should be different, others should be different. It's such a bright relief when I'm able to put this down for a moment! I don't have to be exhausting myself with wishing it were different and frantically trying to arrange life. I can breathe! I can let the moment be as it is, which paradoxically gives me a lot more room to change it.
I am wanting to transmit a feeling so much more than sharing any words right now. I want to turn your attention away from the view outward, looking around for what needs to be done or what needs our attention or what needs to change, and feel down and in, to the home of the breath, the mystery of the living body, of aliveness. Following one breath even, from right as it begins all the way through the inhale, to the moment the exhale starts, all the way through until the air is gone. Noticing this phenomenon is overwhelming evidence that we are taken care of by this earth, in spite of everything. And then, when we open our eyes to look outward again, spaciousness and creativity can also arise.
This week the horoscopes are just places to go and get a feeling, that I've loved, that I want to share with you. Each one is special for different reasons, and cultivates a connection to that mundane miracle of existing. And I've paired them with your signs as intuitively makes sense, and to encourage a kind of relationship with media / internet that is about connecting to self, to awareness, as opposed to escaping anything. We can use it to connect, instead of leave, our bodies, perhaps.
Also! I am ready to share astrology readings with you right now. Let's do this. So much is happening in this world and I want to connect with you, to share anything/everything this depth of breathing can offer, to meet you exactly where you are.
ARIES (March 21-April 19)
Question - When do you experience lightness and ease?
Meditation - Lightness! Ease!
Assignment - Permission to experience lightness and ease. Permission to remember that everything is waiting for you.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
Question - What do you notice about dissonance and harmony in your experience?
Meditation - The relationship between dissonance and harmony.
Assignment - How dissonance and harmony co-arise. Listen to this as a way to connect to both.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
Question - What is a discussion?
Meditation - Conversation as life-giving.
Assignment - Read this, all of it or some part, as much as possible this week, and take note of its effects.
CANCER (June 21-July 22)
Question - What is the relationship between sound and memory in your mind?
Meditation - Sound as physicalized feeling.
Assignment - Listen to this and let yourself feel the feelings of it move in and around you.
LEO (July 23-August 22)
Question - When do you let yourself just listen?
Meditation - Listening as a relief.
Assignment - Listen to this by Alice Coltrane, and then read about her life on the internet. A whole life. Someone's whole life!
VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
Question - What does a path with heart look like to you?
Meditation - A path with heart.
Assignment - Read this quote about a path with heart. What is your heart saying right now, where do you look for heart, where do you find it?
LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
Question - What vows have you taken in your life? What vows do you want to take or remember?
Meditation - The power of vows.
Assignment - Read this beautiful version of Buddhist precepts created by Manzanita Village. Contemplate your own vows to life, to yourself.
SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
Question - When do you try to control? When do you release control?
Meditation - The freedom of releasing control.
Assignment - Watch this video of John Cage and Merce Cunningham talking about their work. The feeling of them, of how they stay open to chance. How they release control.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
Question - Who returns you to yourself?
Meditation - Returning each other to each other.
Assignment - Listen to this interview where Gregory Boyle talks about returning to oneself. It's very important.
CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
Question - When do you feel well-being? When do you wish others well-being?
Meditation - Well-being for all beings, including you.
Assignment - Watch this wish for all beings by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel. You are one of all beings.
AQUARIUS (January 20 to February 18)
Question - What do you put off until later, what do you think you will "deserve" more later?
Meditation - Contemplating later.
Assignment - Watch this video by Virgie Tovar, who talks about not waiting until later to live the life you want to live.
PISCES (February 19 to March 20)
Question - When do you relax?
Meditation - Relaxing as getting in touch.
Assignment - Read this. It's so simple. It's right here. In eating, getting in touch with all of life.