The holiday season is upon us again. With Halloween behind us and Thanksgiving looming, may I suggest the practice of Metta Meditation in Life. Touch into yourself, closing your eyes if there is the opportunity, careful not to create disconnection from the person in front of yourself, express Metta to yourself, “May I be peaceful.” Then, looking at the person in front of you, express Metta for them, “May you be peaceful.” Back and forth. This fosters mindfulness of self and mindfulness of others. If you can track how your experience of the other affects you, and how you their experience of you affects them, you will be in attunement to them. When we are attuned, we feel seen, understood, accepted, and loved. When we misattune or are misattuned to, we feel to opposite. Pay attention to who you can attune to in the whirl of the holiday gatherings, so when you need to connect, you know where to go. If no one is available in the flesh, use the phone. This is the time for gathering, so gather and enjoy!!
Exploration!!
The “Exploration!!” classes with Ben Smith at the Red Door in West Hollywood have been going great!! We are focusing on defining what makes life meaningful from a skills perspective. Looking through the attachment lens, there are three main drivers of meaningfulness. The first is having people that you feel safe with, that will make space for you when you feel threatened. The second, is that you have people that you can provide safe haven for, that you can take care of. And the third, is that you have people who will encourage you to explore what is meaningful to you, and who will welcome you back from your explorations with interest to find out what you found out. That opens up the whole “how do I maintain functional relationships” can of worms. (Different from the can of worms you go eat in the corner by yourself.) Then, how do I find a way for me and my group to make our way in the world. The conversation is getting interesting, please come. Reserve your spot here!
We have also started to live stream them on Facebook, so if you are unable to attend in person but would like to keep up with the conversation, please tune in every Monday at 7:30pm PT at facebook.com/mettagrouporg. (Or catch this past week’s class here!)
Mettagroup’s Winter Retreat at Seven Circles is still happening. The horrendous wild fires burning in so many places are thankfully nowhere near the retreat center. I am very excited to return to the wilderness for 10 days of deep practice. We still have some spaces available, please join us. Register here.
New solo sessions, new scheduling coordinator
I would like to introduce you to David Kriegel, who is joining Mettagroup as the Scheduling Coordinator. He will be handling the calendar going forward. If you have mentoring, IPF and/or supervision sessions you need to reschedule, in other words, for all things calendar related, please connect with David at: scheduling@mettagroup.org.
Speaking of scheduling, here's something new!! Mettagroup is now offering single mentoring sessions. If you would like to talk with me about your practice on an as needed basis, you can set up a session by contacting David at scheduling@mettagroup.org or calling the office at 213-378-0489.
Your daily practice
Keep in mind, that if you are unable to maintain a daily practice on your own, support may be the solution. Go live with Mettagroup’s Morning Meditation, 7:30 to 7:55am PT with Vipassana practice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Metta practice on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Read more here.
Or if you are the type that really prefers an ATM to an actual bank teller, then the Brightmind app and your phone is the way to go. If you haven’t already tried Brightmind, the only meditation app based on Shinzen Young’s teaching, with Shin himself guiding meditation, here is a link for that.
However you decide to go, happy practice!!
Mad love to you,
George