| Marin Mindfulness -Nest News -Fall 08 |
| Dear Friends and Community,
The rains began, just after the children finished planting our winter garden at the Marin Mindfulness Cooperative. The new plants are rooting into the soil and vibrant green in their growth. I find myself looking back at our year and the growth of our community. We have expanded this year in many ways. I have been touched by the deepening and embracing quality of the parent's mindfulness & metta (loving-kindness) practice and all that that brings to our children and our days together. I have been moved by members of our community helping a family facing medical challenges and the daily support of the sweet friendly, peaceful, atmosphere. The children are building this year, on what many of them learned last year about mindfulness and hatha yoga and they are truly settled and peaceful when they practice. This is supporting all they are learning about speaking to and playing with one another kindly. They are also full of joyful energy!
Yesterday we had a lovely romp in the grass at Spirit Rock Center. We went to visit and recieve a blessing from a wise woman of the Tibetan tradition of Buddhism, Jetuma Tenzin Palmo a western Buddhist nun, who spent 12 years in spiritual retreat in a cave. She said to us with a smile, as she met our 3 to 6-year old children's mindfulness and Dharma class, "Talk about starting practice young!". Our baby sister/friend came with us, Mirabel 16 months old. She walked over herself to offer the traditional white scarf offering to Tenzin Palmo, to the delight of the Spirit Rock sangha members who were gathered.
When the children practiced yoga & mindfulness the next day they seemed to have been moved by the experience. I like them to meet wise people from various traditions.
This year our children's Dharma & mindfulness class also had a chance to meet and receive a loving-kindness chant transmission from Thai Buddhist master Ajahn Jumnian. We had a katha blessing ceremony, meditation and special interview for the Marin Mindfulness families with Tibetan meditation master Tsok Nyi Rinpoche. We also attended 2 Spirit Rock family days and the children met Wendy Johnson a Western Zen teacher and Howie Cohn a Western vipassana teacher. The children had a chance to meet the Woodacre fire department and recieve a tour of their truck when they happened to arrive for a firefighters' training session during one of our Spirit Rock field trips this year.
We had numerous community potlucks and baby blessing ceremonies for new members of community. The warmth and goodness of heart of all of our families continues to fill me with wonder! One mom described Marin Mindfulness and our children's program Songbird's Nest as "An island of calm and sanity in the frenzy of the world." Another mom, Eileen, who is a psychotherapist commented that the children will have the social emotional learning skills they learn in classes here all their lives."
Here in our nest we have had heart opening music and a chance to try playing the harmonium and rhythm instruments with singer, musican, songwritter Jai Uttal and inspiring classical Indian dance with his wife Nubia. The children loved having their faces painted by Nubia for Indian dance! We have made beautiful braided Challah bread with Liz Levy and she shared with us her dance-like form of yoga. Sienna the owner of Yoga Mountain Studio taught inspiring children's yoga as a journey through various lands. After we went to our local creek and found clay, our local potter Gaby, at Art-A-Bloom, just around the corner from us taught the children how to wedge clay and make and glaze their ceramics work. Richard at Routes Gallery down the street from us has been incredibly generous with us, letting us spend time in his Buddha and Kuan Yin Garden and speaking with us about the art of many countries. We have done Sufi dancing and the children have learned to sing songs in 8 different languages this year!... German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Tibetan, Thai, Hindi, and of course English. Last year we sang in Japanese and the year before that in Mandarin. We have a diverse community of parents sharing their languages with us in song!
Each year we spread the care we give each other, to some people in another part of the world. One year we helped people in Burma to have access to food and medical care after the Tsunami in Indonesia and one year we helped support eye surgery for someone who needed it in the Himalayas, this year we sent support to a Tibetan girl in exhile.
As I think back on the plays and the festivals and all that we have done together, I am so glad to be sharing this journey together with such wonderful families. I look forward to our upcoming December lantern walk with all the children carrying the lanterns the children have made as a symbol of their inner light shining. The tealights shine out into the night and we sing the lantern songs as we walk in the lantern lit winter darkness, holding hands, at 5:30pm Dec. 11th.
Don't forget the open house on Saturday Nov. 22nd 10 am -11 am.
love, Lesley Grant, Director Marin Mindfulness
|
|
| What Children Say About Mindfulness Education
2nd-5th graders in Oakland Schools, say:
"I think if we practice mindfulness everyday we won't fight anymore."
"I like mindfulness, it makes me feel calm"
"Mindfulness makes me feel important."
"I now have a way to help my Dad when he is really mad."
Children in the Marin Mindfulness 3 to 6-year-olds class say:
"It make me feel really really good!"
"Mindfulness helps me not hit my brother when I am mad."
"When the anger fish swims in my mind, I am bigger than he is! When he tries to drink up all the water, he can't ! Really I am a love Buddha!"
|
| Accepting applications now for a couple of openings on 1/09 in our morning program for 3-5 year olds |
|
