My sweet friends,
As you snuggle in with this month's newsie (as we loving call it at Heart), I offer first the brilliance of Buddhist teacher Thich Naht Hanh to shed light on this month's wisdom set: In the One is the All. In the One is the All is another way of saying that all is interconnected, deeply unified. Thich Naht Hanh himself coined a new word for this universal truth: "interbeing". Enjoy his poetry below.
If you are a poet, you will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in a sheet of paper. Without a cloud, there will be no rain; without rain, the trees cannot grow; and without trees, we cannot make paper. The cloud is essential for the paper to exist. If the cloud is not here, the sheet of paper cannot be here either. So we can say that the cloud and the paper inter-are.
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"Interbeing" is a word that is not in the dictionary yet, but if we combine the prefix "inter" with the verb "to be" we have a new verb, inter-be. Without a cloud, we cannot have paper, so we can say that the cloud and the sheet of paper inter-are. If we look into this sheet of paper even more deeply, we can see the sunshine in it. If the sunshine is not there, the forest cannot grow. In fact nothing can grow. Even we cannot grow without sunshine. And so, we know that that sunshine is also in the sheet of paper. The paper and the sunshine inter-are. And if we continue to look we can see the logger who cut the tree and brought it to the mill to be transformed into paper. And we see the wheat. We know that the logger cannot exist without his daily bread, and therefore the wheat that became his bread is also in the sheet of paper. And the logger's father and mother are in it too. When we look in this way we see that without all of these things, the sheet of paper cannot exist.
One of the most powerful transmissions or learnings of inter-being that I had experienced was during my time at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. Our retreat included lay people, monks and nuns intermixed and practicing together. Yes, there was sitting and chanting as one might expect, but there was also deep sharing, listening and gazing. We forget how profound it is to really connect with another human being. We forget how profoundly we can sink into inter-being, inter-feeling, inter-knowing, inter-human-ing, together just by offering time and space. When was the last time that you simply sat and listened to someone with your whole being, without a single interruption? When was the last time someone gifted this to you? When was the last time you looked so deeply into someone's eyes that you could relax your whole being into that familiar and loving space? Perhaps some of you cannot answer any of those questions (and I would invite you to Heart). By the end of my time there I had sat with every single person for a sincere length of time and I left feeling whole, present, and deeply held. No matter the walk of life, the choices, the seeming same or difference, we were each other, every last one of us. There was one person there that my heart struggled with and as I sat one quiet day in the library, with my hand on my heart, tears formed and I soon saw that the "cloud is in the paper". During these times, slow down and really look. Slow down and feel. Place your hand on your heart and remember your belonging to every last person that you should meet. Spend more time in the places and spaces that create friction in your body, your breath, your heart. Spend more time in the places and spaces that easily breathe you into remembering that you are the sun, the moon, the stars, the universe and beyond. Breathe and be.
We practice all month long, together.
With all the heart,
Meg and Team Heart
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Full transparency... We need your help! As we began 2020 we felt confident in our ability to provide meaningful space and programming for our community. Insert pandemic. While your support has been incredible these many months, we are struggling to cover the basic expenses required to keep our building. As we seek to offer another year of Heart-centered goodness, we need your feedback to understand how to both best serve all of you and keep our beloved space. There are many of you that we have not seen since the onset of pandemic, your insight is so vital. Click HERE to take a survey or send us an email directly. We love you and hope to support you for another year+!
Special thank you to those of you who have already filled out the survey!
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Full Online & In-Person Class Schedule in November
Class descriptions are available via MindBodyOnline. When you register, note whether class is online or in-person. In-person no shows will be checked-in regardless due to extreme capacity limit. TY!
MONDAY
6am Online Classical Vinyasa with Meg
5:30pm Online Kundalini Flow with Jenny
7pm Online Community Meditation with Meg (Jerry fills in on 11/16!) Donation
TUESDAY
NEW 6am Online Mindful Vinyasa with Ally
NEW 5:30pm Online Classical Vinyasa with Gino &
5:30pm Classical Vinyasa with Gino @ Heart
WEDNESDAY
6am Online Peaceful Sunrise Flow with Michelle &
6am Peaceful Sunrise Flow with Michelle @ Heart
5:30pm Online Mindful Vinyasa with Ally &
5:30pm Mindful Vinyasa with Ally @ Heart
THURSDAY
4pm Online Gentle Vinyasa with Michelle &
4pm Gentle Vinyasa with Michelle @ Heart
(No Classes on Thanksgiving)
6pm Spiritual Life Coaching Group Session with Heidi (11/12) Donation
FRIDAY
6am Online Classical Vinyasa with Meg
SATURDAY
7am Online Yin & Meditation Bliss with Missy &
7am Yin & Meditation Bliss with Missy @ Heart
9am Online Awakening Energy Flow with Gino &
9am Awakening Energy Flow with Gino @ Heart
1pm Gratitude Hike at Scuppernong (11/21) Donation
SUNDAY
NEW 4pm Online Meditation for Beginners with Kelly Johnson (11/22) Donation
NEW 7:30pm Online Asana & Yoga Nidra with Michelle (11/1, 29) &
7:30pm Asana & Yoga Nidra with Michelle @ Heart (11/1, 15, 29)
Virtual Workshop: New Moon + Somatic Movement Circle for Womxn
with Michelle Warren | Sunday 11/15, 6:30-8pm
www.theheartrevival.com/yoga
In-person student capacity is now 6 people. Masks are required the entire practice. If you are feeling at all crumby, we ask that you stay home and tune in via LiveStream! All our in-person classes can be accessed via Zoom. New and improved sound and more! Keep connected for updates as we continue to flow amidst pandemic.
We love you, stay safe and healthy.
$90 unlimited auto-pay is back! Enjoy unlimited online and in-person yoga classes! This is a rolling 12 month contract. We ask that you commit to a minimum of 3 months and allow 30 days to cancel. We love you!