Fall, 2008
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Vol 1, Issue 4
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Explorations in
Kindness
Meditation in the Mainstream
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Dear friends and colleagues, |
 Time has passed so quickly since my last newsletter. Summer has come and gone and we are now deep into Fall. The cooler days of the season invariably pull me outdoors after the long retreat into air conditioned spaces during the high heat of Virginia summers. Even now as I type this letter in my second story office where two large windows open out into the tops of the trees, I am pulled into a reflective, meditative space by the sound of birds, the rustle of colored foliage, and the patter of rain on the leaves. In this issue, I share how meditation came into my life and how it helped me many years ago work with anger during a stressful time. I also share some of the comments of former students from my courses taught at the University of Virginia on the problem of racism and other forms of violence. In this issue, I also launch my healing arts business, MettaArtWorks. Meditation and other contemplative practices, such as doing art or working mindfully on our relationships with horses can be powerfully transformative and can bring greater peace into our lives. In shamanic practices, we draw upon the materials of the natural world such as stones and fire to reflect on our lives and to source ourselves. I invite you to join me on this journey by reading on about all of these wonderful practices!
Yours warmly,
Rachel E. Mann
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Why Meditation is Coming into the Mainstream
| Meditation and other contemplative practices have begun to move into
the mainstream and out of the realm of only those spiritually seeking.
Most notably, in the late 80s and early 90s, Jon Kabat-Zinn, M.D.
singlehandedly brought mindfulness meditation into mainstream medicine
with the founding of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society
at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. His emphasis is on
how patients can control pain, stress, and illness with meditation. And
while we see more research being done on the effects of meditation on
physical and psychological health, there is a rising movement to apply
the use these tools on everything from politics to education.
Meditation and contemplative practices can have a direct application on
some of the most thorny challenges encountered outside the walls of
churches, mosques, temples, and monasteries, including and especially
violence. For more, click here.
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| Loving Kindness Meditation
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To do the loving kindness meditation, find a quiet place to sit upright in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and bring your attention to the heart. Bring to mind your own self--as you are in the present day or as a child. Imagine the breath going gently in and out of the heart center and silently say these words:
"May I be filled with loving kindness.
May I be safe and protected,
Loved and respected,
Peaceful and at ease."
Repeat these phrases several times as you imagine love coming into the heart and going out of the heart towards yourself. Imagine as you pull energy into the heart that you are also taking in whatever suffering is in you.
Repeat this process for the following people and beings:
A loved one.
A benefactor or mentor.
A neutral person (like the postman or salesclerk at the grocery store whom you do not know).
A difficult person/enemy (you don't need to choose the most difficult one).
All men.
All women.
All beings on Earth.
The Earth herself.
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MettaArtWorks Launched!
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 I have always been artistic and creative, dabbling in dance, painting, drawing, and writing. But for many years after I left for college lo these many years ago, I did not pursue a craft or art other than writing. Eventually, I felt like something was missing and so, in the 90s, I began to create rattles, feather smudge fans, and other healing tools from the beautiful materials that abounded in the woods and fields of the Blue Ridge Mountains where I lived for 15 years. My home was surrounded by thousands of acres of unsettled forest, so I frequently hiked and walked old CCC trails and deer paths. On these excursions, I often found the feathers of turkey, woodpecker, and crow and found small and large pieces of smokey quartz. Occasionally, I was lucky enough to happen upon a gaggle of wild turkey before they vanished into the forest where they were normally so effectively camouflaged by their bronze, black, and white finery. Eventually, I was drawn to use these offerings in some way. I also wanted to use my hands to get out of the dominantly cerebral space I lived in most of the time as a professor, administrator and writer. I began to make feather smudge fans out of wild turkey and rattles out of gourds. Feathers and smudge fans have been used by the indigenous peoples of the Americas for eons to spread the smoke of sweet herbs or to help move energy in healing work and ceremony. I gave these creations as gifts to friends. When I left the mountains in 2004 and moved to the less wild suburbs, time for my craft fell away. Finally this year, inspired by my study of the healing arts of the Q'ero tribe of the Peruvian Andes who rely on the feathers of the condor in their healing work, I returned to this ancient craft. I now sell the smudge fans I have made in hopes that they will inspire all of us to turn to art and craft as one way to access the beta brainwave state that is also characteristic of states of meditation. In so doing, we join the men and women who were our ancestors who used to weave, sew, knit, and do other work of the hands as a regular part of daily life. To see my fans, go to the web site for MettaArtWorks. |
A great teacher can be an image, a story, a book, a film, or a person. Animals, objects, works of art, and the natural world can be teachers. Every tiny thing, whether it breathes or not, reflects and holds within itself the greater reality of which it is a part. Our own mind, body, emotions, sensations are also teachers. Teaching and learning at their best tap into all realms of experiencing and welcome all things as holding the potential for insight. From my Teaching Portfolio that can be found on line by clicking here. Peace, Rachel
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