Dear fine folks,
I am hope you are all well and enjoying this fine summer. I am at this moment tramping over the hills of Wales. Even though where i live is quiet, this is really quiet and i am loving it! One thing that is truly brilliant is how bird song stands out with such clarity. There is almost space in the quiet for the song to become part of my own physicality. It inspires me to offer a space to gather for a celebration in song in the middle of the summer. The date will be the evening of the 8th of August where we can be together for Kirtan, song and chanting. Everyone is welcome. Details in the sidebar.
There is a person whose works I have read for many years called Ibn’ Arabi. He lived in the 12th century and left behind a large corpus of work which is the most extraordinary rendition of the nature of Being. We know from him that his wife recommended five qualities she felt it important for a human being to embody. These are Trust, Patience, Resolution, Veracity and Certainty. I have a desire to explore these qualities further, so would very much like to be graced with the opportunity to explore them with other people. I am proposing that in the autumn, there will be 5 evening sessions, which will contain some breathing practice, some meditation and a mutually ‘real’ conversation based around these 'embodiments'. The dates are not yet fixed and it will probably happen on a Wednesday evening. It will be open to anyone who is prepared to commit to all five sessions. If you would like to express an interest then please email me.
I would like to draw attention to one-to-one work. This is part of the practice I offer and I want to emphasize how valuable it can be. One-to-one restorative yoga practice is available to everyone as it does not involve movement. People seem to place immense value in what comes to the surface during this deep practice. One-to-one movement practice is something I have valued highly, either for those starting out in yoga asana or for those individuals with an established practice who would really like to fine tune the detail. I seem to have been working with a lot of men recently who have started yoga post-40 onwards. Since this was my own pathway I probably have a good understanding of what it all feels like with a male body. The other one-to-one work is with people who suffer from insomnia and this is an invaluable resource.
I have over recent years correlated various courses to explore how we orientate to the proposition of the Oneness of Being and the ways in which this surfaces in the vital context of our own lives and the life of the world. I recently wrote some material for a course in ‘Deepening Unity’ I hosted along with the lovely Ally Stott. It seems a pity to bury this work in a cupboard. It might be useful to someone and any feedback of any sort is very welcome. There are six short transcripts and I will attach one in each of the newsletters to come. See the first one here
Next week Extinction Rebellion are back in London and I hope to join in at some point. For those who might not be aware of this, it is an ever increasing group of activists, who aim to bring about a much greater focus to the urgent action needed to address the climate crisis. It does this through non-violent disruption. In relation to this I have asked myself a question I would like to share.
'I joined with other climate rebels because there is a threat to our human homeland. I would think then, that the motive was out of fear of what might happen. But I find the predominant response in myself and I think others, is one of inclusion, connection and some occasional joy. That doesn’t seem to be a normal response to threat. So my question is: - what am I responding to? '
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend
With love
Derek