March Meditation Mini-Retreat

March 1-10, 20186-7amYoga Center of ChicoThis mini-retreat is designed for all meditators, with or without experience, and is appropriate for anyone wishing to deepen their own meditation practice, learn new techniques or practice with a group.  There will be a combination of seated and walking meditation, and study of Buddhist philosophy. This course is modeled after the Vipassana 10-day silent meditation retreat and will give beginners a solid foundation upon which to build a sustainable self-practice. 

Meditation Mini-Retreat, September 1-10

September mornings are my favorite mornings of the year.  Still warm enough to be comfortable, and just starting to get cool.  Please join me for 10 days in a row of sitting and walking meditation, Buddhist psychology and meditation technique, Taoist principles and Yogic breathing (pranayama). No experience necessary.  Appropriate for total beginners, anyone looking to boost their daily practice, or to experience the powerful energy of group meditation.Pre-register online at http://yogacenterofchico.com/

Spring Cleaning Workshop

As the ground starts to warm up, and the earthworms start to wriggle beneath the soil, we too are feeling the pull to stretch our limbs. We are being coaxed out of our little refuges, and back out into the world. Are you feeling ready?Join me Sunday, March 12 from 12-3 to prepare your body, mind and spirit for the blossoming energy of spring. We will have a short talk about fasting and cleansing, clearing out old energy, and sweeping out the proverbial cobwebs or Winter. How can we best use the energy of the full moon and the Spring equinox to help bring us to a place of clarity and connection?We will mirror the seasonal transition through our Asana practice- moving from the quiet, introverted energy of the Winter to the more expansive, expressive, and detoxifying energy of Spring.

Please pre-register at clients.mindbodyonline.com

High Noon Power Flow

Super fun way to end the week!  Join me for a quick paced, powerful vinyasa flow class set to my favorite tunes. Each week, I feature a different artist, album or genre. Comment your music requests below!

Navigating Heartbreak and Loss

I don’t write very often. I don’t write because everything has already been said, and at least one person has said it better than I ever could. But despite the lack of original ideas and original words, and despite the fact that this particular topic has already been cooked until soggy, I am writing you today, dear readers, to talk about heartbreak. But first, let’s talk about meditation.I have a daily practice. I wake up, go to my little puja table, set my timer, sit down and say my daily meditation prayer*. Usually, the dreams from the night before will be the first morsel of distraction after having a seat, followed by a laundry list of to-do's for the day, and finally, in the last minute or two of the session, I find that my mind is obedient, still and quiet. Some days feel more successful than others, but even one or two minutes of stillness helps to set the tone for my day. And although seeing “progress” on the day to day is less obvious, all the good teachers say to be patient and the results will come. I know that it is a practice, not a destination, so I persist.Recently, I experienced a loss. Like salt on a slug, we all know this shriveling, crushing, slow-death feeling, so there’s no need to elaborate. But since meditating with some regularity in the last few years, the practice seems to have prepared my heart, mind and body in an unexpected way-- in a way that brings a new clarity to this all-too-familiar experience of loss. When I sit down in the morning and the overwhelm of sadness hits me like a wave, I can see myself grasping for reassurance, attention, or something to fill the void. I can feel the hot bile of anger rising in my throat.  I can feel the teakettle of tears under pressure behind my eyes. I can feel the bass drum of dread thumping in my chest. I can feel my tender heart contracting against the reality of the moment. I can see all the ways in which I am attached, and all the ways in which I am avoiding. But instead of following through with an habitual exit strategy or distraction tactic, I'm finding that I can sit with the pain a little more easily.  I'm facing my loss head on and with a sense of objectivity. Whereas, in the past, the combination of the loss itself and a lack of practiced mindfulness had absolutely obliterated my ability to see past the pain of my own experience. I used to ignorantly think that I wouldn’t be able to endure yet another heartbreak. What a delusion! What is happening now, through meditation, is what feels like a fortification of my heart.  I am able to yield into the pain, rather than resist the experience of grief. Shitty little fact: It takes practice to get good at grieving.When we suffer-- from loss, trauma, heartbreak, and deep grief, it can shatter our hearts.  But rather than resist and shut down, maybe we can see the pain as an opportunity to expand the capacity of our hearts. Can we use our vulnerability as an opportunity to grow? Can we learn to feel what's  beneath the pain of our own experience in a way that allows us to tap into the vastness of our compassion?   Can we use our grief as a way to connect more deeply to ourselves, our family, our friends, our lovers, our enemies, and our global brothers and sisters, knowing that they too are suffering?  When we are able to sit with our pain, we start to open up to the possibility of healing past wounds.  We are actually sitting with the pain of a million heartbreaks, endless loss, and infinite grief. Meditation during a period of loss, heartache and pain can allow us to feel more directly into our humanity, if we are willing.There seems to be a widespread misconception that meditation is an escape route, or a spiritual bypass to feeling pain. It is not. It is a way to for us to honestly see, feel, and experience the ebb and flow of life in its’ unadulterated truth. If we have the courage to look deeply enough at our own suffering, it will show us a doorway to transform pain into potential. Fear into growth, vulnerability into strength, hatred into compassion, disdain into forgiveness and grief into love. The world is suffering. Can we be wise enough to use our own experience of pain as a catalyst for peace?*Daily MeditationMay I be truly grateful for this day before me.May I use it well and be mindful in all my thoughts, words and actions.May I gracefully accept and learn from all that I encounter.May I be compassionate and release all judgment in the face of that which does not meet my ideals.May I be still and attentive enough to receive and recognize divine guidance.       

Time for Renewal

“The beautiful Spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.”-Harriet Ann JacobsSpring is a time for renewal and regeneration. As we see the trees leaf out, the grass turn green and the wildflowers pop up we cant help but feel a little lighter of heart as we see the great potential of transformation. Life is one big transition from Birth to Death, and as bleak as that may seem, Nature reminds up that change and growth can be a beautiful thing.Just as a bear hibernates for the Winter, we may have also found ourselves to be more reflective, introspective and quiet, perhaps even isolated or reclusive. We may have felt stagnant or low at times. This is a natural way of being. In the process, we may have learned new things about ourselves, and are at a point of making change. The light exuberance of Spring can help inspire us to transform; to put into practice the wisdom we have accumulated in our darker days.Our bodies are also in need of support during this transition. Storing fats to keep us warm, perhaps being more sedentary has added to the feeling of sluggishness. We imbibe and indulge over the holidays, and as the weather cools and the days seem shorter, we typically aren’t as active as we might be in nicer weather. All of which is a natural cycle of behavior, and nothing to feel badly about.Spring is the perfect time to address our heath-- physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. There are lots of things we can do to support our bodies and minds at this time, including fasting, deep tissue/organ cleansing, massage, meditation, medicinal herbs and plant spirit medicine, skin brushing, steam/sauna/sweat lodge, salt/mineral baths and of course, yoga.Please join me to learn more about ways we can support ourselves as we emerge from our cocoons, our caves, our dark dens and enter into our brightest phase of the year. A short discussion will be followed by a long, warm, detoxifying yoga practice for all levels.Spring Healing Workshopby Cheri NealYoga Center of ChicoSunday 3/20/16Vernal Equinox11:30 am – 2:30 pm“For within your flesh, deep within the center of your being, is the undaunted, waiting, longing, all-knowing. Is the ready, able, perfect. Within you, waiting its turn to emerge, piece by piece, with the dawn of every former test of trial and blackness, is the next unfolding, the great unfurling of wings, the re-forged backbone of a true Child of Light.”― Jennifer DeLucy

The Next 10 Days

The Next 10 Days...10 days of silence.10 days of no eye contact.10 days of watching breath.10 days of 4am wake up.10 days of concrete bed.10 days of wooden pillow.10 days of mosquito shroud.10 days of breakfast gruel.10 days of hot spring baths.10 days of cold bucket showers.10 days of jungle symphony.10 days of no technology.10 days of candlelight.10 days of disconnect.10 days of reconnect.10 days of meditation.10 days of insight.10 day Vipassana Meditation retreat in Thailand.

Intuition

When you act from intuition, you are acting from a place of clear connection to self. When you are in clear connection to self, you are in absolute connection to the Source. Therefore when you act from intuition, you are fully supported by the Source in your actions. You cannot fail.When you act from the thinking/judging mind, you are more connected to the outcome of your actions. You are worried about what others may say or think. You are relying on external support, that you may or may not receive. You will always be wondering what the outcome would be if you had acted differently.Listen to your intuition. Act accordingly.

The Guru Myth

Gurunoun-(in Hinduism and Buddhism) a spiritual teacher, especially one who imparts initiation.-an influential teacher or popular expert.If you're reading this blog on my website, you have no doubt seen the "Globetrotting Guru" alliteration, which is meant to be a clever description of what I have been up to. It's not my favorite title, but it's catchy. I'm highly suspicious of anyone who claims to be a guru, and if you too have had an unpleasant emotional response to reading this headline, I commend you. Clearly, you're a thinker.The first definition "a spiritual teacher, especially one who imparts initiation" sounds a touch creepy to me. Just the word initiation, meaning "the action of admitting someone into a secret or obscure society or group, typically with a ritual", could make one think of some character in a hooded robe and perhaps a bizarre blood-letting scenario involving candles and baby animals. Of course, it goes without saying that if someone is calling themselves a guru, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are involved in any snake-oil, waco-level cult activity, this imagery is just to illustrate a point. But even in a more innocuous sense, the first definition of guru brings to mind an outdated dogmatic relationship where two parties are mutually participating in the delusion that one of them has obtained some secret to life, and the other is existing behind a veil of ignorance and illusion. One is an act of exploitation, the other is an act of acquiescence.The second one is probably a more appropriate definition for how the majority of people are using the word guru today. And in that sense, I have had many teachers that I would consider to be gurus. I have been strongly influenced and inspired by my instructors in the past, to the point that I would idolize them, worship them, and even fall in love with them. If you've ever had the experience of hearing the feelings and ideas that have been rattling around inside your heart come to life effortlessly and eloquently from a guru's lips, then you know how incredible that can be, and what a feeling of awe and connection you may start to have for that person. I have had several teachers and mentors in my life that I would sit, obediently and awe-struck in front of, basking in their wisdom. I would also secretly hope that they would notice what a good student I was, I would want them to see that I really understood what they were saying, and I would wish that I could gain some sort of recognition from my beloved guru. I wanted acknowledgment from the ones that I idolized that I was indeed something special. What we sometimes fail to recognize is that the reason why some things resonate so clearly in our hearts, although expressed by our gurus in a way that perhaps seems larger than ourselves, is because these gems of wisdom have actually been within us all the time.We humans have the tendency to get wrapped up in the longing for approval by the ones that we respect or even idolize. Our tendency is to become attached to that with which we connect. And that attachment is what perpetuates the illusion that we are somehow not capable of the same greatness as our idols. The attachment is what holds us in our position as students, disciples, followers.  Conversely, it is just as easy (and dangerous) to become accustomed to being in the Guru's role. When you know that people are listening intently to what you say, respecting you, loving and idolizing you, you are apt to become inflated and afflicted with the same illusion that may have brought your students to your very feet. They haven't yet discovered that you are just as trapped in the illusion as anyone else... but it's only a matter of time before Dorothy and the gang discover what's behind the curtain.Not all gurus are trying to "trick" their disciples, in fact very few are. Most are genuinely interested in being at service to their students and would balk at being described as a Guru. It has been said that the aim of a good instructor is for their students to outgrow them and in a sense, to surpass them. At a certain point, it seems inevitable that the student become disillusioned by their teacher. This sort of detachment has happened for me not only as a student but also as an instructor. But, in my opinion, it is a necessary stage of advancement and evolution for both parties, but one that can be very disappointing and scary for anyone participating in the student/teacher, disciple/guru relationship. The level of disappointment is proportional to the degree of attachment within the relationship. Since the titles of teacher/student or guru/disciple define one another, once the disillusionment occurs, the student is then left responsible for his/her own advancement, and the teacher can be left questioning his/her own path.Even though we may be inspired by our teachers, mentors, elders, and gurus, it may benefit us to be aware of how much authority we give these people in our lives. Having said that, perhaps it's important to enter into these relationships not so much with a sense of skepticism or suspicion, but with an attitude of understanding that our gurus are human too, so that when the inevitable man behind the curtain is revealed, we can shake his hand, offer our deepest graditude, and move confidently forward in the next phase of our journey.Me and my Guru, Duncan Trussell

The Big Questions

"How's it going? What's your name? WHAT DO YOU DO?"As you might imagine, I've had different versions of this conversation probably a hundred times since I've been traveling. It's your run of the mill getting-to-know-you quiz, with the intention of pegging a person down in but a few short words. I have to admit, I've probably been guilty of springing this anxiety inducing, judgement trap on people at times, in lieu of having something thoughtful to say. You might be thinking, "Well, it's an innocent enough question. What's the big deal?" In my opinion, the big deal is that it is a question we have been CONDITIONED to ask so that we can silently and most times, unconsciously, make assumptions and snap judgements about ones' beliefs, income, social status, morals and personal character just to name a few.Normally, I would answer this question by saying that I am a Yoga Instructor and a Massage Therapist. Which is true, but I find that what comes to most peoples' minds with this response is that I must be a pious hippy vegetarian or something even more perverted. This assumption is a matter of lack of eduction, but still, it's an assumption that is only half true (I'll let you guess the part that is true).As time goes by and I am getting further away from my life in the states, both in proximity and otherwise, I am feeling more and more challenged and perplexed by this question. It has literally been months since I taught a yoga class and even longer since I gave a massage. To answer in my usual way is starting to feel disingenuous. As a person who values authenticity in my life and relationships, this seemingly innocuous conversation starter is begging an even deeper question: Who AM I when the roles that I've clung to stop defining me?So, I've stopped answering in my usual way and am thinking more about who I am and what I am doing in this present moment. Right now, I'm a traveler. Right now I'm a hedonistic book store keeper with a penchant for raki fueled philosophical discussion and a gnarly smoking habit.*Many of us cling to the roles we have been given, either self-imposed or otherwise, because we are afraid that without them, we might just disappear. But you won't disappear. You will just continue being you. You might even slip in to a more authentic version of yourself when you choose to let go of what may have defined you in the past.It's so easy to say and do the things we have always done out of habit. Or even worse, because it's what our "character" would do. Clinging to a character is an especially easy way to avoid the big questions, like- Who am I? What am I doing? But I encourage you to take the time this week to ponder if the roles in your life still fit, still feel comfortable, and still look good on you. You don't have to throw the old ones out completely, but it might be time to trade in for something that fits who you are in this moment. By letting go of outdated roles, we make room for a broader definition of who we really are. A definition that supports our incredible complexities so that we can maintain our authenticity while we grow and evolve.*Living in Greece will do such things to a person.