Only two weeks from today on 3/8: jam session in The Work 1:30-5:30 pm, Seattle. Start from wherever you are. You’ll take a look at something that seems to not be working well, someone you’ve been troubled by, an ongoing problem.
I love that people show up, and go for it.
At least that’s what I love about questioning my thoughts, my feelings, situations that bother me.
In that moment that I take a seat, sit with other inquirers, pull out a pen and paper….I’m going for it.
Being able to be totally and completely honest, with all the anxious, mean, vicious, nasty, terrified, distressed thoughts….even from the distant past….and look at them head on like they are worthy of being addressed is a remarkable feeling.
These are the feelings I used to avoid.
These are the thoughts I used to shove under the rug, or try to distract myself from.
I should just be happy and doing something productive and not thinking negative thoughts and being a good citizen!!
My old mantra when I felt anger, sadness, or fear was “Quick! Look over there instead! Danger Danger! Do Something Else!”
I used binge-eating, running, movies, alcohol, and to-do lists to keep very, very busy.
Last night, I noticed a funny little evening thought.
Outside was a full moon, quiet night air. A friend had come over and she, my husband and I had tea. We ate some chocolate hearts with fortune messages inside. We all wrote letters together.
After hugs and goodbyes, and putting our letters in envelopes, with stamps, she left, and I thought about several other tasks I needed to accomplish for upcoming events.
I could work on them for an hour or so, before going to bed.
But then…seconds later….the thought “let’s watch the next episode of Dexter”.
(Yes, my second television show series in over a decade. It started with getting Six Feet Under from the library two years ago).
Two episodes later it’s almost midnight.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
But I’m reminded how the urge to escape and think about nothing that has anything to do with ME; my interests, worries, success, fears, goals, pain, suffering, tasks, thinking, uncomfortable feelings….
….is incredibly appealing.
ESCAPE!!
And so, something moved to watch the story of what happens next in that story, and now on Saturday morning there’s sitting and being here again, with less drama.
I love that a client will be on his way soon for a session this afternoon, and tomorrow there will be two more sessions, and Monday quite a few sessions with incredible people….spending time in their presence, looking at the mind, staying with it.
I love that the mini retreat is coming in two weeks, because that is what brings me to presence. I plan to sit and do inquiry.
Willing to sit, be here right now. With this busy mind. With this human body.
If you’re drawn, if it would feel like going for it, if it is appealing, interesting, exciting, maybe a little scary, yet you are willing to look…perhaps you’ve exhausted all other choices….
….join me in inquiry.
Whether a teleclass, Year of Inquiry, a mini retreat coming soon, the Horrible Food Wonderful Food weekend in April in Seattle, I am so touched by what we do together.
Simple as it sounds, placing aside the intention to connect with others and do inquiry is very powerful.
All the big coaching success blah-blah books have this in their directives: SCHEDULE IT.
But they are ON to something.
Go to the retreat. Sign up. Say yes. Join others. Allow yourself to be guided. Show up at the meeting. Sit in the chair. Close your eyes. Start writing.
You may find that as you put your boat in the river of looking, as you enter the flow of inquiry….
….you begin to be directed by an order of intelligence that is far beyond the mind, the personal, the individual.
You’re saying “yes” and you enter the silence. And awe.
And it’s more than just OK, it’s beyond belief.
Give yourself the opportunity to get there. You will anyway, there’s no emergency or rush….
…but why not now?
“In ego-land it’s helpful to have an ego that can discriminate between right and wrong, but at a certain point, that’s not what you are operating by. You are operating by the flow of the Tao, which is a higher order of intelligence. You don’t need to intellectually discriminate anymore because the Tao discriminates without discriminating; it knows without knowing; it moves without moving. There is no sense of being enlightened or unenlightened.” ~ Adyashanti
Sign up for Mini Retreat Jam Session by hitting reply to this email and letting me know you’re coming, or sign up for the next teleclass.
Sign up for Year of Inquiry the same way, or clicking for more information HERE.
Appreciations for Group Gathering in The Work:
“Dear Grace, I so appreciate your teleclass savvy. in my book, you are a model for teleclass giving. This body so appreciates the combined effect of the food teleclass and the work. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”
“I had no idea I thought I needed money to feel safe and
secure and happy and special and needed and wanted and in control….I appreciate the stress-free but supportive environment you create that allows whatever is up to be welcomed into inquiry.”
“Thank you so much for our group and Grace for such amazing insights and leadership. It’s been a pleasure to let go of so many heavy thought-weights, together.”
Love, Grace