A Season of Transformation

Jennifer Ayres reflects on Autumn as a season of transformation – October 2020

There is no denying that life feels topsy turvy right now. Half a year of massive disruption in our lives has at least brought about the opportunity for reflection for many of us, a chance to re-evaluate our state of health, our lives, our connections, our beliefs, our core purpose. Without so much of the ‘usual’ noise to distract us, many blindspots have been obliterated. What can we now see clearly? What truths about ourselves and our world have we met eyeball to eyeball? And what do we do now?

It’s been 2 years since I first attended a Zen Leader workshop and I’m not ashamed to stay that I’m still working on flip 1 – Acceptance to Transformation – it’s a biggie. Or rather it’s a whole series of flips that range from the small to the seemingly insurmountable, from individual flips to global ones.

We all want to transform but first we need to tackle acceptance and it’s not straightforward. I find that it’s a layered process. I think I’ve accepted something and then I get triggered and realise I’m not quite there yet. In the early days, there was definitely a part of me that associated acceptance with settling for less, but true acceptance does not bind, it sets us free.

Right now, I don’t feel bound by the Covid restrictions here in the UK, I accept the situation as it truly is and I choose to act in a way that helps to protect myself and others. By not battling against what’s happening around us, I’ve been able to draw from the positive aspects of life right now and have found mental space, some stillness, some peace and now the transformation feels easy, exciting and inevitable.

Wishing you all a transformational Autumn.

Jen x

Ready, Set, Resonate 

Tues., Oct. 13 (7:30-9pm CST). Join us to celebrate the launch of Ginny Whitelaw Roshi’s new book with a webinar exploring the relationship between the physical body, universal energy and how they connect through resonance. 

The Chosei Zen Virtual Dojo is growing!

Join us online for the following webinars, classes and Zen training events during the next month. 

• Online zazen (Zen meditation) twice daily (7am and 7pm CST) and a weekly online Intro to Zazen class on Sun. mornings (9am CST).
• A new weekly online Tai Chi Class is starting Mon., Oct. 12 (7:30-8:30pm CST) led by Geoff Ashton Roshi.
• Ready, Set, Resonate Webinar on Tues., Oct. 13 (7:30-9pm CST). Join us to celebrate the launch of Ginny Whitelaw Roshi’s new book with a webinar exploring the relationship between the physical body, universal energy and how they connect through resonance. 
• Zazenkai (one-day intensive training) on Sat., Oct. 17 (7am-7:45 pm CST). This online, student-led intensive is designed to prepare students to participate in keishin (online sesshin) and is a great opportunity to boost your Zen training.
• Weight of Suffering Webinar on Mon., Oct. 26 (7:30-8:45pm CST). In this webinar, Geoff Ashton Roshi will examine the relationship between suffering and weight (e.g., weight of our thoughts/feelings, feeling of heaviness in our muscles) and the relevance to Zen training. 
• Zen and Shakuhachi Webinar on Sun., Nov. 1 (7:00-8:30am CST). Joe Pittelli will play shakuhachi (bamboo flute), during Daily Zazen and afterwards, he and Wayne Honda Roshi will present and answer questions about using shakuhachi for Zen training and hara development. 
• Hara Development Webinar on Mon., Nov. 9 (7:30-8:45 PM). In this highly experiential webinar, Ken Kushner Roshi will discuss and demonstrate the importance of developing the hara (lower abdomen) in Zen, the martial arts.

Join Ginny and Hundreds of Other Teachers at the Free 2020 Embodiment Conference

Ginny writes: I’m honored to be part of what could be the world’s largest gathering of embodiment practitioners in the upcoming Embodiment Conference. Mark Walsh and his colleagues have championed this rich opportunity to come home to your body, come home to your most grounded and expansive self. I will be joined by colleagues I greatly admire, including Dan Siegel, Otto Scharmer, Tara Brach, Ken Wilber, Richard Strozzi Heckler, and our wonderfully talented IZL alum, Mandy Blake.  If you want to catch it, my own segment is at 11 am ET/17:00 CET on Oct 15 on how resonance is an embodied way to make your greatest difference.  And did I mention all this is free?

At the Conference, you’ll find lines of learning for any aspect of embodiment you’re curious about, including: yoga, leadership, dance, creativity, social change, intimacy, martial arts, meditation, breathwork, coaching body therapy, anatomy, ecology and trauma. At the conference you can:

• learn about new areas of the field (they have it covered!)
• gain deep personal insights
• deepen your professional expertise
• gain dozens of practical tools for stress and trauma
• get inspired and reboot your own practice
• connect with people across the globe for support and encouragement

Get your free place and receive as bonus,

• The free embodiment book.
• A voucher for the Embodiment shop (https://embodiedfacilitator.com/shop/) with a value of £50