WAKE UP! FESTIVAL - DAYS 3 and 4
KELLY McGONIGAL
ROBERT PENG
MARK NEPO
What a line up - there were a few more, but these 3 were the stars of the days for me. A neuroscientist yogi, a Qi Gong master with a light sense of humor, and a cancer survivor/writer/poet/spiritual teacher.
Kelly McGonigal is a beautiful merging of science and energy. She is young, smart, confident - just what you would expect from a Stanford PhD. AND she is a devoted yogi that brings the ancient teachings of the Gita and the Sutras to fMRIs and brain research. In simple, understandable vocabulary, she explained how yoga and especially meditation actually changes the brain and can help people heal from the grips of chronic pain, addiction, depression, and anxiety. She introduced us to the Insula - the part of the brain where mind and body meet. Its where loneliness lives in the brain, where our feeling states reside - and it is the area most important for creating self control and change. Feeling the sensation of the breath stimulates the Insula - and that's part of the reason why Pranayama is so important. Patanjali knew it - now we know why it works.
Her morning meditation was accessible to EVERYONE. Truly. Her instructions were clear and full of imagery and metaphor.
You can access the notes to her lecture at: kellymcgonigal.com/wakeup
(Yes. She's a true geek - full power point on line! What a gift!)
Robert Peng is a light hearted Master of Qi - and I don't use the term Master lightly here. He was diagnosed at a young age with a disease that kept him home from school in China. Spirit somehow guided him to the practice of Qi Gong where he was eventually healed and continued on a rigorous path to learn how to share his healing with others. This fluid practice of moving energy with intention and soft hands maintains openness in stiff joints and brings vitality and energy into body, mind, and spirit.
" I am Qi. Qi is in me."
I'll be incorporating some of this work into all my classes from now on.
Many thanks to this Master of Qi for helping me remember the importance of soft knees, soft hands, and of course the 3 dantians. :)
Let me just say it out loud. I love Mark Nepo. I do. I saw him years ago at the first Fox Cities Book Festival and was at that time blown away by his poetry, his honesty, and his heart. Well, the love fest has just amplified. The session was on our stories and also the art of listening to others stories. He encouraged each of us to write for 5 minutes - a story of one thread in the universe that holds things together for us. We then shared the story with a partner and the recipient could ONLY LISTEN. No commentary or patting on the shoulder. Just attentive loving non-judgmental listening. It was a lovely exercise in being present for each other, which we often forget how to do.
Nothing compares to the sensation
of being alive in the company of
another. It is God breathing on
the embers of our soul. (from The Way Under the Way)
It was an amazing experience for me as I told Mary, my partner, the story of holding the women's stories in Nicaragua. I reluctantly raised my hand in the group discussion to ask about this double dipping of stories and the heavy place I still hold for these women in my own heart. "Their stories have become part of my story", I said, tears running down my cheeks. Mark held the moment perfectly, without trying to fix it or change it, validating the interconnectedness and helplessness I was feeling, and reminding everyone that the threads of our stories are individual threads that weave in and out of each other, forming the
fabric of our experience.
Here's the link to the entire poem : The Way Under The Way. Read it before meditation and let it remind you that you truly CAN do everything and go everywhere, if you open your heart.
http://www.marknepo.com/poems_theway.php
ROBERT PENG
MARK NEPO
What a line up - there were a few more, but these 3 were the stars of the days for me. A neuroscientist yogi, a Qi Gong master with a light sense of humor, and a cancer survivor/writer/poet/spiritual teacher.
Kelly McGonigal is a beautiful merging of science and energy. She is young, smart, confident - just what you would expect from a Stanford PhD. AND she is a devoted yogi that brings the ancient teachings of the Gita and the Sutras to fMRIs and brain research. In simple, understandable vocabulary, she explained how yoga and especially meditation actually changes the brain and can help people heal from the grips of chronic pain, addiction, depression, and anxiety. She introduced us to the Insula - the part of the brain where mind and body meet. Its where loneliness lives in the brain, where our feeling states reside - and it is the area most important for creating self control and change. Feeling the sensation of the breath stimulates the Insula - and that's part of the reason why Pranayama is so important. Patanjali knew it - now we know why it works.
Her morning meditation was accessible to EVERYONE. Truly. Her instructions were clear and full of imagery and metaphor.
You can access the notes to her lecture at: kellymcgonigal.com/wakeup
(Yes. She's a true geek - full power point on line! What a gift!)
Robert Peng is a light hearted Master of Qi - and I don't use the term Master lightly here. He was diagnosed at a young age with a disease that kept him home from school in China. Spirit somehow guided him to the practice of Qi Gong where he was eventually healed and continued on a rigorous path to learn how to share his healing with others. This fluid practice of moving energy with intention and soft hands maintains openness in stiff joints and brings vitality and energy into body, mind, and spirit.
" I am Qi. Qi is in me."
I'll be incorporating some of this work into all my classes from now on.
Many thanks to this Master of Qi for helping me remember the importance of soft knees, soft hands, and of course the 3 dantians. :)
Let me just say it out loud. I love Mark Nepo. I do. I saw him years ago at the first Fox Cities Book Festival and was at that time blown away by his poetry, his honesty, and his heart. Well, the love fest has just amplified. The session was on our stories and also the art of listening to others stories. He encouraged each of us to write for 5 minutes - a story of one thread in the universe that holds things together for us. We then shared the story with a partner and the recipient could ONLY LISTEN. No commentary or patting on the shoulder. Just attentive loving non-judgmental listening. It was a lovely exercise in being present for each other, which we often forget how to do.
Nothing compares to the sensation
of being alive in the company of
another. It is God breathing on
the embers of our soul. (from The Way Under the Way)
It was an amazing experience for me as I told Mary, my partner, the story of holding the women's stories in Nicaragua. I reluctantly raised my hand in the group discussion to ask about this double dipping of stories and the heavy place I still hold for these women in my own heart. "Their stories have become part of my story", I said, tears running down my cheeks. Mark held the moment perfectly, without trying to fix it or change it, validating the interconnectedness and helplessness I was feeling, and reminding everyone that the threads of our stories are individual threads that weave in and out of each other, forming the
fabric of our experience.
Here's the link to the entire poem : The Way Under The Way. Read it before meditation and let it remind you that you truly CAN do everything and go everywhere, if you open your heart.
http://www.marknepo.com/poems_theway.php
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