Upwelling: Being Conscious of Becoming
Monterey Bay Meditation Studio stands on a threshold. As with all transitions, we are sensing into the uncertainties of letting-go and stepping into what’s next … much of which is yet-to-be-known; all of which evokes a variety of thoughts and emotions.
After reading or being guided through the Ellipses Meditation and/or sitting with the blog, please share a post about what you noticed arising/moving through you; or, if you prefer, send me an email. I’d love to connect with you through your experiencing.
The Beginning
Now entering our 8th year, we, at Monterey Bay Meditation Studio, find ourselves and our community in major transition. Katie’s decision to depart carries impact for many of us individually and for the community as a whole. Many of us have been processing that impact individually, and we will have opportunities to process that impact together – in our Online Town Hall Meeting on Fri., Jan. 13, 5:30-6:30 pm (Pacific) and in our Community Gathering in the Forest (in-person!) on Sun., Jan. 15, 10:00 -Noon (Pacific).
Conscious relationship with change involves bringing mindful attention to what is being released and to what is emerging. Right now we are standing on a threshold. Monterey Bay Meditation Studio (the each and the all of us) is entering a new iteration of being-in-the-world. We are being called, individually and collectively, to engage with ourselves, each other, and Earth not only by “being aware and being kind,” but also by embodying courage, creativity, and compassion. The MBMS calendar is emerging in response to this call … and you are invited to participate in the Reveal.
I invite us to consciousness of processing, transitioning, and envisioning through a meditation of not-knowing.
Let’s get started …
I offer you the following Ellipses Meditation — an experience and contemplation of not knowing, of letting a thought be incomplete and allowing a pause that invites wondering … allowing possibilities to arise without “getting on the train” of any particular thought. If you prefer to be guided rather than read the meditation, I have recorded it HERE.
On this January morning, the rains have begun again.
It is before dawn, and I’ve just poured a cup of mushroom tea.
I pause before I begin writing, and words arise in my mind. When I listen deeply, this is what I sense is happening ... in myself … in the Studio … in the world …
Ellipses Meditation
(Take your time with this one -- going slow will take you deeper.)
Taking a deep breath, allow yourself to settle-in. … …
I invite you to pause and take-in these words … slowly … sensing into them … seeing how they might be living in you right now … noticing how you, along with everything and everybody else, are changing ... Seeing if you can notice what is different right now in your body … your mind … your heart … your energy … … As you are becoming aware of changing … of becoming … … …
Inviting your curiosity to this moment … Notice questions that arise … and notice how you are in relationship with them through what you are sensing in your body … your mind … your heart … your energy … as you whisper the word and then pausing to listen inside yourself
~ Releasing … What is releasing in me right now? …
~ Beckoning … What is calling me right now? …
~ Transitioning … What is transitioning in me right now? …
~ Upwelling … What is the upwelling that I am sensing? …
~ Enlivening … What is enlivening inside me? …
~ Emerging … What is emerging within me? …
~ Evolving … What is evolving through me? …
Pause. … … …
Sitting with awareness and kindness of being alive in this moment … in these nascent times …
Breathe. … … …
Being aware of reciprocity … sharing breathing of Life and Living with all living beings …
Letting that be gracious-plenty for now … … … …
Marianne’s Sharing
I have been through various spaces with this meditation quite intensely for the past 3 months. Because so much has been releasing, beckoning, and transitioning on so many levels, I have no choice but to stay fully present, to what is arising as it is arising -- otherwise I would just be overwhelmed and want to pull the covers over my head.
Sitting in transitioning, I notice questions arising that have no answers … What? How? When? Where? Why? Who, me? … “Oh-h-h-h-h, so this is what it is to be conscious of becoming.”
I then turn my intention to listening … inside … outside … upwards … downwards … sideways.
I’ve been awake in the middle of the night, just taking-in the light of the stars.
I’ve walked with the ocean at sunrise, just letting the sound of the waves come to me.
I’ve been awash in synchronicities and paradoxes.
I feel very alive … not necessarily comfortable, but very, very alive.
Releasing …
Beckoning …
Transitioning …
Monterey Bay Meditation Studio’s Emerging
Upwelling: An arising, that is caused by the movements of surface winds and the rotation of Earth, of the cold, nutrient-rich waters from the depths of the ocean -- nourishing Life and catalyzing new possibilities. … Hmmm … sensing what it’s like to drop-into spaciousness … to have room for upwelling .…
Upwelling …
Enlivening …
Emerging …
Evolving …
What if we expand …
… what we think meditation is?
… what we think an organization is?
What if we live …
… meditation as a way of being rather than something that we do on its own time?
… MBMS as an organism rather than an organization?
What if we are becoming a community …
… as a commons – a field of mutual sharing and supporting hearing, growth and transformation?
… as an embodiment of cultivating a mind- and heart-set of being aware and being kind in service of ourselves, each other and all beings?
… as a field of enlivenment in which we engage in meditation, practices, and relationships that cultivate our capacities for resilience, flexibility, curiosity, courage, and compassion – all of which are keys to meeting and living in the current opportunities for conscious healing, regeneration, and evolution?
… as a co-created network of learning, action, and relationality that evokes a sense of belonging, aliveness, meaning, and purpose?
“We must do all that we can to help each other through this.” – Jem Bendell
Realizing Potentialities
As I sit with these unknowns – these possibilities – inspiration arises and I get ideas. A few of these have found their way to the MBMS 2023 calendar. Scroll down to see what’s emerging so far.
The ubiquitous challenges (a.k.a., invitations for healing, growth, and transformation) of today’s world are like a giant mindfulness bell calling us to wake up, grow up, and show up with clarity and compassion, with strength and skillfulness, with access to purposefulness and community.
“May all of us have the courage to open ourselves to the time that we live in, to let it shape us as we, in turn, shape it. May we perceive what is being asked of us. May we awaken here, on this sharp edge of uncertainty.” – Kaye Jones
Let us re-vision, re-generate, re-member, and realize our potential … together.
Invitation
I invite you to return to the Ellipses Meditation and see what arises now.
If you feel inspired, connect with what’s emerging through the MBMS website and notice when you feel energized (note: that’s a beckoning-signal from your body).
Share a post with us about what you noticed.
I’d love to connect with you and hear what you’re experiencing.
In the flow of conscious transitioning and emerging,
Marianne
What’s On the Table or In the Oven for MBMS in 2023 so far …
~ Online Town Hall Convergences (the first one is Friday, Jan. 13, 5:30-6:30, Pacific);
~ In-person Community Events (the first one is Sunday, Jan. 15, 10:30-1:00, Pacific);
~ Collective Gatherings to explore being in conscious relationship with what is happening and what is emerging (Climate Cafes, Emergent Dialogue Practice Sessions, Community Conversations)
~ Increasing racial, cultural, gender-identification, and more diversity in our community;
~ Courses that consistently bring perspective to bringing healthy responsiveness and conscious relationship to personal and global uncertainty and transformation (Choosing Earth, Beginning & Deepening Mindful Awareness);
~ Opportunities for more community involvement and leadership through spiritual activism, book clubs, natural disaster assistance, and tending to Earth and all her beings (see Groups on the MBMS Community Platform).
