Yesterday I walked. An autumn day. Ethereal light. Trees colouring the gap between eye and footfall. No wind. A pause from the season of bright bird call, bees and sunshine. Through the wardrobe into the quiet world, everything offering as a vibrant definition of silence. Welcome grounding. Cherishing the re-stratification of experience. Very different from the week spent with good people on the streets of London during the October adventure of Extinction Rebellion in Westminster. My boundaries being tested, noise, cacophony, discomfort, but always a great deal of warmth in the mix. How is everything in that chaotic situation a vibrant definition of peace and silence? I believe it is possible to be in situations like it, in a way which is deeply grounded and as it happens they are great opportunities to practice this. Not through exorcising the discomfort and noise, but maybe in the same way that we walk through the woods gazing at trees, but with the feet staying firmly present on the leaf bed on the forest floor.
As I am writing this it is Halloween or All-Souls Day. It seems a good time with the long nights closing in to connect afresh with the living narrative that the presence of silence brings. Conceptually rich in so many traditions, silence remains undefined, not empty but simply undisturbed by the ways by which we would like to try to define it. This presence of quietude is rich and thank God, we can’t own it. How do you own something which opens itself but which you cannot grasp?
In the spirit of this I wanted to explore with greater emphasis the practices and conversations that are built on this well pool of silence, which I also consider the infinite reservoir of universal love in inclusive communion with its own Beauty, which includes all of our very human experience. The yoga world has a long history of how settling into the magic of breath has a way of delivering awareness into the rich mystery of silence, and how this resources all movement, physical, emotional, mental and beyond. Pranayama which is the Sanskrit name for this kind of work is best practiced consistently. So next year I will be offeringpranayama classesin six week cycles, probably three times in the year. It is six weeks long, so that there is enough time to learn some basic practices to take home. They won’t be drop in sessions as the practices build from week to week. Each evening will end with meditation as this kind of breath work takes us so easefully into sitting. This is available to everyone. You don’t need to be a yoga practitioner to participate. These sessions will be on a Wednesday evening from 8pm to 9.15pm running from the 22ndOf January to the 26thFebruary. Details andregistrationare all in the side-bar.
It would be lovely to have aKirtancelebration before Xmas, the magic of the voice being another mode of receiving and connecting with the resonance of vibrant silence. Everyone is warmly welcome to come to this. This will be on the evening of the 18thof December. Details andregistrationare again in the sidebar. This is a donation based event. For a broader description of Kirtan you can find some informationhere.
The scheduled yoga classes continue with an emphasis in this period, of movement being a motion resourced from the exploration of stillness. I would put a spotlight on the classes inThree Elements Yogaon a Monday evening at theYoga Venueat 7.45pm where the class starts with breath practice followed by free movement and ending with meditation. Yoga teachers usually give explicit guidance on movement. This class gives the opportunity for people to work with what their own bodies need, without following set instructions. This kind of work helps to inspire a home practice which is something many people don’t find easy. The class is different from most other types of posture practice and has so far proved very rewarding.
Next year I intend to run along with my co-facilitatorAlly Stotta new course inDiscovering Unity.This is an opportunity to dive deep into what it is like to embody a practical perspective of the Oneness of Being. This is not orientated from any particular tradition as it provides an occasion for dropping into the universe of Oneness as the inclusive origin and orientation of all human experience. This will be the 11thtime this course has been run in Oxford, and I am always grateful and amazed at the depth of connection that happens. It is run over seven weeks on consecutive Thursday evenings from January 24thto March 5th. Although we meet once a week it is for a learning that happens over the whole seven week period. The content is based both on meditation and conversation. Although the conversation is facilitated it is not ‘taught’. The opportunity is for everyone to engage with the course and the material in their own way. For more information then please gohere.
I also want to highlight the one-to-one therapy I offer to help restore natural sleep which can be viewedhere.
In the midst of these highly disturbed times I really want to extend the wish that I and everyone else is resourced with the plenitude of peace and silence that really does inhabit all the broad reaches of our daily lives.
With love
Derek