Yoga is a perfect vehicle for practicing two profound aspects of Buddhism: mindfulness and compassion. In this workshop, Cyndi will lead you through a series of simple movements drawn from yoga practice to help wake you up to your own body, the space around you and to each other. We will discover dots of awareness in the sensation of feet on the floor, the breeze of swinging arms and the sound of breath.
From this ground of mindful action, we will explore the yogic practices of pranayama and restorative postures as the path toward cultivating compassion. We all know that in order for us to be compassionate and caring toward others, we need to start by taking care of ourselves. That isn't always so easy!
Cyndi will guide you through simple, effective breathing exercises, moving into working with the parasympathetic nervous system to quiet the mind and calm the nervous system. We'll finish with relaxing and rejuvenating restorative yoga, allowing the body and mind to unwind into a deeply supported experience of healing rest. ** This workshop is open to everyone - no yoga experience necessary. Even if you are an absolute beginner you will be able to do it! Wear comfortable clothing -- pants are better than skirts. If you can, bring along yoga mat (or towel) and two small blankets.
Cyndi Lee Photo credit: Raquel Reis Cyndi Lee is the founder of OM yoga. A practitioner of both hatha yoga and Tibetan Buddhism, Cyndi is known as a nurturing and compassionate teacher with an offbeat and playful style. Cyndi is the author of Yoga Body, Buddha Mind, OM Yoga in a Box, OM Yoga: A Guide to Daily Practice, and the recently released OM Yoga & Meditation Workshop DVD (with her husband, David Nichtern). Cyndi's frequent appearances in the media include The Early Show, Good Morning America, the New York Times, Newsweek, and Vogue. She has been a columnist for Yoga Journal and Shambhala Sun for many years.
"When you adopt practices such as tai chi with a focused intent to move forward in your life, it can lead you to a higher state of balance with the world and with your inner self" ( Mayo Clinic Special Report Oct. 2009). Tai chi is a moving meditation that activates our internal energy (qi). The tai chi practitioner cultivates stillness (serenity) through relaxation and focused execution of movements. Tai chi is a wonderful companion to sitting meditation.
In this workshop you will learn a short set to experience the flowing, gentle movement of tai chi and your qi. "Be as still as a mountain; move like a great river."
Renee Gatsis has played tai chi for over 30 years and taught for over 10. In the last couple of years, she has specialized in tai chi for older adults and people with arthritis using a form designed by Dr. Paul Lam MD. She enjoys teaching all ages and abilities. Renee is a certified instructor of the Arthritis Foundation as well as Dr. Lam's group, Tai Chi for Health. She is also a member of Ancient Dragon Zen Gate.
In Indian Buddhism, the public assessed the virtue of monks by outward signs, including their physical appearance and the performance of certain actions, including the care of their robes and their comportment. The moral status of people was judged by their physical comeliness and other signs coded onto the body or enacted by it.
This workshop concerns the challenges these notions of virtue pose for contemporary Buddhist women.
Based on an ethnographic study of Tibetan nuns in north India, the workshop focuses first on how contemporary monastic women struggle against traditional views to embody new concepts of virtue in their moral behavior and physical comportment. The nuns increasingly understand public performance and social action -- from social work to political resistance, from leadership development to theological debate -- as skillful action conducive to moral attainment.
Monastic women in north India may prove inspiring for western women who (even into their middle and senior years) struggle with body image issues exacerbated by a largely unfettered corporate capitalism. Even the western sangha can become ensnared in a commodification of physical and moral attractiveness. Corporate media can steer unwary practitioners into lifestyle choices or social lethargies that work against meditative mind and bodhisattva action. Our monastic sisters in north India model practices that may be useful to us on our own spiritual paths.
Carol L. Winkelmann, Ph.D., is a professor of English at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she teaches linguistics and other language courses. She is particularly interested in the intersection of gender, language, and religion. In 2005, she won the "Outstanding Book of the Year Award" for The Language of Battered Women: A Rhetorical Analysis of Personal Theologies, awarded by The Organization for the Study of Communication, Language, and Gender. For several years, she's been engaged in ethnographic research of monasteries for women in north India and is teaching a graduate level course about gender and the sacred in Tibetan women's language. She co-sponsors the Cincinnati Karma Kagyu Study Group.
Centuries ago in Japan, archery was regarded as the highest discipline of the Samurai warrior. Then, as the bow lost its significance as a weapon of war, and under the influence of Buddhism, Shinto, Daoism and Confucianism, Japanese archery evolved into Kyudo, the "Way of the Bow," a powerful and highly refined contemplative practice.
Our way of kyudo is not competitive but contemplative. According to Shibata Sensei, a master of the Heki Ryu Bishu Chikurin-ha school of Kyudo, the ultimate goal of Kyudo is to polish the mind - the same as in sitting meditation.
Working with the precision of the form, a natural process gradually unfolds through which the practitioner has the opportunity to see the mind more clearly. The target becomes a mirror that reflects the qualities of heart and mind at the moment of the arrow's release.
The Kyudo path is one of self-discovery and ultimately, self-realization. It all begins with the first shot.We will do an introductory talk about Kyudo and a demonstration of several forms, followed by a question and answer period.
Vada Woods, Pat Benjamin, and Nancy Keiser will present this workshop. Vada Woods is an assistant instructor for Fuko Kyudo, she and Pat Benjamin have been practicing kyudo for 10 years. Nancy Keiser has been practicing for 1 1/2 years. All presenters are from Fuko Kyudo (Windy Tiger) based in Chicago, IL. Fuko Kyudo is a part of a Kyudo organization called Zenko International, established and taught by Kanjuro Shibata XX Sensei.
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