kirtan Fri, daylong Sat, Fall schedule of Dharma & yoga
sean feit
Friends on the Path,
As I get ready for the school year (returning to grad school after 15 years away), even though I haven’t been a formal student for a long time, I feel a familiar and deeply satisfying feeling I call “start again”. (Goenka folks will recognize his gravelly voice here!) In our meditation practice, the heart of our discipline is in patiently returning, again and again, to what’s Here and Now. Presence isn’t a state that we arrive at, but a process that we engage in – and in the process see our hearts and habits more clearly. So each time the calendar turns to “start again”, I feel a burst of hope. No matter how lost I feel, Here and Now is as close as the next breath. The next sound. The next moment of remembering what I love. And as soon as I remember, I’m back. Start Again.
This fall, though my schedule is changing – less yoga, more meditation classes – there are lots of ways to come practice with me, including a delicious week-long retreat at Spirit Rock, and a few spots open for individual counseling sessions. I look forward to seeing you each soon.
Namaste, sean.
Contents:
1. Kirtan this Friday at Yoga Mandala
2. East Bay Sangha-palooza this Saturday at First Congregational, Berkeley
3. Ongoing yoga classes at Yoga Mandala
4. Meditation class at SF Insight
5. Meditation for yoga practitioners & teachers at Yoga Garden, SF
6. October Retreat at Spirit Rock
7. Counseling & Somatic Experiencing sessions
Special events this week
Kirtan this Friday (9/10) at Yoga Mandala, with Aharon Wheels Bolsta on tabla.
6:30 meditation, 7:15 chai, 7:30 kirtan
Come sing into the evening, celebrating our sweet “Indian” Summer, fog-free days, and the coming equinox – days of delicious and subtle balance. As school starts again, whether we’re in it or not, there’s the settling down into fall, and the possibility of rededicating ourselves to our Path. Come in from the desert, sit down, and open again to your prayer and your life.
[Fri 9/10 is the last of our “Second Friday” kirtans at Yoga Mandala. As of Oct 1, we’ll be on First Fridays.]
East Bay Sangha-Palooza: Community Meditation Gathering Sat, Sept 11, 11:30am - 4:30pm
A beautiful and historic gathering of dozens of the meditation and Dharma groups in the East Bay for a day of community (Sangha) and connection. Meditation, music, teachings and sharing from diverse traditions and teachers. I’ll be there representing the East Bay Healing Collective and offering kirtan at the end of the day.
First Congregational Church of Berkeley 2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=151290064882376&ref=ts
Fall 2010 offerings
Yoga
Yoga classes with Sean build strength and flexibility in an energetic vinyasa flow, cultivating concentration, alignment, and mindfulness. Sean’s teaching is precise, warm and supportive, weaving in wisdom from Classical, Tantric, Bhakti and Buddhist yoga traditions. All levels welcome.
Friday mornings: 8:30 meditation, 9 hatha flow. Yoga Mandala.
(come at 8:30 for the whole practice, or 9 for just the flow class, same price.) 2807 Telegraph, Berkeley.
Kirtan
First Fridays at Yoga Mandala. (Fall 2010 kirtan dates: Sep 10, Oct 1, Nov 5, Dec 3)
6:30 meditation
7:15 chai
7:30 kirtan (chanting) & Dharma teachings
Songs and stories to open the heart, focus the mind, and sustain us on the Path. No experience needed, and all chants will be taught. Kirtan is offered in the ancient tradition of dana, by donation. Kirtan also after the Yoga Garden class (see below).
Meditation
Intermediate Mindfulness & Meditation class. SF Insight.
Deepening in Buddhist practice, exploring the ancient and powerful teaching of the Wheel of Life: Dependent Origination, the Six Realms, and the Three Poisons. Co-taught with Meg Levie of Green Gulch Zen Center.
5 Mondays, 7-9pm (Oct 18-Nov 15) with a daylong retreat (Nov 1). Unitarian Church, SF. Info & registration at SFInsight.org.
Meditation training for yoga practitioners & teachers. Yoga Garden.
A practice-centered exploration of meditation and the Path of yoga, studying teachings and methods from the major yoga traditions. The class is part of the Yoga Garden’s Advanced Studies & Teacher Training program, but can be taken independently. The meditation class will be followed by a community kirtan, by donation.
5 Sundays: 4pm class, 5pm kirtan. (Oct 24, 31, Nov 14, 21, Dec 5) 286 Divisadero, SF. YogaGardenSF.com.
Weeklong retreat, “Cultivating clear seeing, opening the heart.” Spirit Rock.
I’ll be assisting Donald Rothberg at this week-long residential retreat. Insight Meditation and mindfulness, focusing on heart practices (brahma-viharas). Daily yoga and chanting with Sean. A great retreat for beginners, especially yoga practitioners wanting to establish a personal meditation practice.
Oct 12-19. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Woodacre. SpiritRock.org.
Counsel
Individual counseling rooted in Dharma and Somatic Experiencing. Kind, spacious guidance on the Path. Support for deep healing & integration as we seek the Sure Heart’s Release. Sessions on a wide sliding scale as I finish my SE training this fall. More info at nadalila.org/counsel.html
Sean’s teaching is dedicated to the integration of yoga and meditation, and draws on 17 years of practice in both. He was a monk in Burma in 2002, and has studied with many wonderful teachers including Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Boorstein and Eugene Cash (Dharma/meditation), David Moreno and Alice Joanou (yoga), and Steve Hoskinson (Somatic Experiencing). Sean is recording a CD of Buddhist devotional chants.
(ryokan)