Building Resilience in a Changing World
Self-Learning Workshop Resources
Workshop Overview:
In this workshop, we offer a set of inner practices centered around building resiliency in a world where division and superficiality rule the day.
This offering is practice-based with a focus on meditation and journaling through the lens of Daoism and its wisdom traditions found in The Three Treasures.
The Three Treasures being Compassion, Simplicity and Humility.
You will have the opportunity to walk out of the workshop with real and effective tools in navigating the difficulties that arise when our hearts lose connection with soulful wisdom.
Unit 1: Compassion and Daoyin Meditation
Resilience
Synonyms for resilience/resilient are: elastic, springy, flexible, supple
Consider the things in life where you are flexible; where you can spring back from something. Then consider where you are least able to be flexible and spring back.
Compassion
latin root for Compassion is Compati “to suffer with”
To be willing to crack one’s heart open with another
In order to do that, we need presence.
Daoyin Meditation
In its simplest, and for our purposes, its essential form, meditation is the practice of breathing. Breathe in, breathe out, allowing, not forcing, the mind to focus on the practice of the breath.
Shoshin or Beginner’s Mind - To see every situation you're placed in as if it's the first time you are seeing it.
It is worth noting that guided meditation or creative visualization is something wholly different from meditation. Not better nor worse, simply different, and for our purposes, distinctly different from the process of learning your own Language of the Soul. If the intention is to quiet the mind, to access the whisper of the Soul, guided meditation/creative visualization is not an optimal practice.
If one wants to replace one feeling with a more positive feeling, guided meditation/creative visualization is a reasonable choice. Keep in mind though this overriding can serve to mask rather than facilitate Healing & Growth opportunities.
The meditation I teach my students has its roots in Daoyin and is built upon the microcosmic orbit. The focus of the practice has three prongs:
Physiologically the in-breath and out-breath are the focus. Inhale, allowing the diaphragm to expand until it reaches its natural end-point, then exhale by allowing the diaphragm to release. In doing so the exhalation is a natural release of the air in the body. Then repeat.
Be aware of hesitations or holdings within the breath. Focus the mind on these steps and gently welcome the mind back each time you become aware that you have wandered. Over time, you will learn to allow the body to breathe you. Be patient, practice each morning and allow the practice to come to you.
Emotionally with each breath allow each thought, each feeling to be carried, via the breath, downward into the expansion of the diaphragm and with each exhalation, released and/or given away so as to be transformed into its new state. Be open to the possibility that the thought or feeling can change. Allow this process to unfold. There is nothing to make happen. This is the first stage of learning the practice of grieving into the Soul.
Spiritually allow yourself to acknowledge, through the breath, the depths of self as being infinite in nature. You are a celestial being, rooted in a corporeal body, having a spiritual experience. Acceptance of this statement will facilitate a path where the in-breath can operate in unity with the out-breath, yin and yang in harmony on a complementary mission, to live a life serving within Healing & Growth.
With a physiologic foundation of meditation in place, the development of the breath practice then moves toward incorporating the energy meditation within Daoyin; a comprehensive practice centered around developing an embodied awareness of the microcosmic orbit, the chakras and their energetic qualities. This progression into energy meditation cannot be rushed and needs the student to be willing to let go into the process rather than being ambitious in their development of self. The competitive nature of the ego is part of what the process is intending to let go. This is not a negation of the competitive spirit but rather a placement of that quality of the egoic self into its optimal expression within us.
The practice of Daoyin meditation, or Inner Flow Meditation, is integral to one’s development in learning your Language of the Soul. It is a sitting or lying meditation rather than movement-based. There are many wonderful and beautiful movement-based energy meditations in many Qi Gong and Tai Chi traditions. Daoyin is notably different in that its focus is singular. It is a practice intended to deepen our relationship with the Soul.
I have chosen to teach Daoyin in successive one year courses to allow individuals seeking to heal, grow and transform a sufficient foundation to do so. In this way this work is a radical departure from the mainstream self-help community whose weekend workshops offer tastes of Healing & Growth rather than immersion. To that end, I am not offering specific instructions on the practice of Daoyin meditation beyond the beginning points. The basis of this decision lies in the process of unfolding that occurs when a student makes the commitment to learning the life practices that are Daoyin over the space of a year and ideally over many years. This approach offers a depth simply not available in the many books, classes and workshops that offer growth opportunities over a few pages, a few hours or a few days.
Check out our podcast on Soul Journaling for more information
Soul Journaling Prompt
Consider the things in life where you are flexible; where you can spring back from something. Then consider where you are least able to be flexible and spring back.
Unit 2: Simplicity and Building a Life Around One’s Core Needs and Values as an Expression of Simplicity and Resiliency
Simplicity
Simplicity manifests naturally from being present. Senseless action falls away when we practice life in presence and the result is simplicity itself. In this way it is not necessary to make simplicity a goal. It is one of the few results from presence that is universal in nature. It is important that we have some awareness of the possibilities of simplicity so we can express it creatively. Presence makes its initial linkage to simplicity through stillness and its accompanying letting go of our patterns and in turn, a letting go into our depths. These practices allow us to see what is truly essential. A decluttering of the inner living space. We do what is called from within us by trusting our own wisdom.
The Whisper of Truth
Being receptive to what rests before us through gratitude, forgiveness and trust is the secret shortcut to a meaningful life. So often the framing to a purpose-driven life is set around overcoming obstacles, meeting challenges and striving for success. While these aspects of life may appear before us, the deep and resonant truths that are the actual vehicles for sustained inner peace and connection to purpose lie in the simplicity of being thankful, forgiving and trusting ourselves.
~ Lukas Sa’id
What is “Wu-wei”?
“Wu-wei” is often misinterpreted as “non-action” and “non-interference”. In truth it is about not trying. Not efforting or pushing in life so that we can act with clarity and ease. “Wu-wei” is a fundamental Taoist principle connected to the act of cultivating one’s mind and conducting oneself in society. It also serves as a guideline in the ruling of a country. A practice absent in today’s divisive practice of governance. Taoists believe that “The Heavenly way is natural and spontaneous”; In other words, wisdom based. Well considered. To not act recklessly nor do things blindly; they should also follow the heavenly way to attain peace of mind. In this way we avoid unnecessary suffering.
Values as an expression of simplicity and resiliency
The recognition that a life built around one’s core needs and values is an expression of simplicity and resiliency at the same time. To dig into what those core needs and values are for each individual. A shedding of what’s not needed in life so that personal resources can be dedicated toward what truly matters for each of us. An authentic expression of self being the clearest path to a life of simplicity. For that reason frugality or even moderation don’t really tell a full enough story around the broader meaning that simplicity can offer us in life. Simplicity can offer an emotional, physical and mental release on levels necessary to learn how lifelong patterns have complicated our lives.
Soul Journaling prompt
Forgiveness, gratitude and trust are the three legs of how we are loving in the world
Write into what feels most foreign to you in your awareness: forgiveness, gratitude or trust
Unit 3: Humility and the Four Forms of Rest
Humility
Define Humility in a way that feels alive and not limited to the ways that are hierarchically designed to keep us small. Ways that celebrate the possibility of being humble in the big stories that nourish life.
Big story definition for Humility – a letting go of the ego’s need to define an experience within a framework that is by nature limiting.
Humility and the Four Forms of Rest
A willingness to practice humility is an integral foundation to living a restful life as described through the Four Forms of Rest. A way to bring ease to the practice of the Three Treasures. Without ease, it is an otherwise self created obstacle, expressing itself as fatigue and inconsistency.
The first step in creating Healing & Growth in one’s life is embodying humility so that one may be at ease and know when to rest. It is a lifelong practice. It is often one of the most difficult challenges for modern humans. Most of us have no idea how fatigued - physically, emotionally and spiritually - we have become.
This simple yet clear framework offers an opportunity to rest and regenerate in four forms:
Sleep Til Rested
Initially set aside a minimum of 9 hours for sleeping. If you wake up mid-cycle or before you intended to awaken, continue to rest even if you are not sleeping. If it is challenging to get to sleep, focus on your pre-sleep practices. Extend the time you allocate for settling down to sleep. Consider a shower, yoga or stretching, meditation, reading, journaling, or gentle recorded sounds. Listen to a podcast that is not overly stimulating. It is more than OK to rest. To not do. It is needed in order to Heal & Grow. It is not time wasted. It is time invested in coming to life more fully. Some need less sleep, others, more. Either way, all of us need a lot of rest. Remember, you are likely regenerating your body, mind and spirit after many years of insufficient rest. You as well are learning how to do things in a restful way.
Practice Not Doing Each Day
Allow yourself a period or periods of time where you do nothing each day. Not doing may include entertainment such as reading or TV watching, it might be a gentle walk in the neighborhood or nearby your workplace, it may be sitting on the porch watching life unfold around you. Practice letting go of the anxious, worried and frustrated thoughts when not doing. They are draining you.
Take Many Short Breaks Each Day
Throughout your day, pause and step away from your activities/work. When I say step away, I mean it literally. Step away and move your body for 5-10 minutes. Give yourself an opportunity to do a reset. Do this no matter how pressed for time you may feel. If anything, you need this break more when you are feeling pressed for time. The same applies if you are feeling like you are in a flow. Still step away. It will pay off many-fold once you allow resets and the work process to be regular companions. You will find yourself over the space of most days more energized and more effective in your endeavors. For those whose work may not allow for short breaks throughout the day as I’m encouraging, step away to the restroom and do your reset there. Breathe, stretch, let go through your breath the tensions of the day.
Rest The Mind As A Multi-Daily Practice
Each morning begin your day with a breath focused meditation. Set aside 5-10 minutes to begin. Build your meditation time to a minimum of 15-20 minutes each morning. Don’t concern yourself with being good at it. It takes practice. It will take months in some ways and years in other ways before meditation becomes more fully embodied. Let this be OK. What matters is making it a practice every morning. After a few months of practice, introduce a mid-day practice of meditation. After a few more months of practicing two times per day, a clear sense of a stillness practice begins to develop. In cultivating a stillness practice the inner observer begins to reveal itself. This revelation of the observer serves to guide one's actions in presence and shifts one's relationship with unnecessary suffering. We learn to catch ourselves before we react and fall into unnecessary suffering.
4. Soul Journaling prompt:
Which form of rest is your big edge?
What does your wisdom offer you in humbly letting go into that practice?
Closing Offerings
Allow this practice to be explored through playfulness and creativity. Let it wash over you. Letting this happen allows you to experience the resilience you’re seeking
Other resources:
Language of the Soul year-long course
Language of the Soul: A Path of Simplicity Paperback and Audiobook
The Podcast: Language of the Soul: Conversations on Healing & Growth