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my Inner Inmate wants to know if there were only 3 Wise Men why are there so many wise guys? ♥
Hello <<First Name>>
If it is available for you, S.O.B.E.R. =
Stop, take a break
Observe what is happening within and around you,
Breathe and focus your attention on your breath,
Expand your awareness to include your body, location and overall situation,
Respond instead of reacting…thank you
A Mindful South Florida event is now over. We had over 600 persons register for the main symposium and the 7 workshops, though the actual attendance was less. Valerie York-Zimmerman and I would like to express our sincerest gratitude for all of you who did attend the offerings and a deep bow to our Sponsors and Community Partners for their generosity. Without this generosity and support, we could not have done this. Gratefully, we feel we met our two intentions of raising awareness about mindfulness and mental health and in offering an opportunity for the South Florida mindfulness community to come together to be with and get to know each other. After the holidays, Valerie and I will be discussing the possibility of forming a A Mindful South Florida Coalition of mindfulness supporters and advocates (welcoming input). We will keep you updated on our progress. Thank you again for your generosity, support and for all you do for our community.
With the event over and my Fall cycle of workshops, classes and MBSR now over, my schedule is light for now. I am looking forward to some rest and time with my family before the next cycle begins in 6 weeks. So instead of blogging, I offer you Mary Beth Stern’s essay that beautifully brings out the interplay of light and darkness so germane this time of year. For those that do not know, Mary Beth is a UMass Certified MBSR teacher, and she and I have been developing and co-teaching 5 week Mindfulness 2.0 courses over the last year (**next offering - Mindfulness for pain and sleep course in Feb, details soon). We also hold Saturday Morning Mindfulness, 10-11:30am in Jupiter. Here are her words:
As the days grow shorter, darker, often colder, with the onset of the winter solstice, there seems to be a collective yearning for warmth, connection, and light. In virtually every culture and spiritual tradition, this is a time of giving and receiving, of meeting darkness with the hope of light. We celebrate the festival of lights; we burn the yule log; we gayly light our homes and trees. Fireworks light up the midnight skies on New Year’s Eve.
Those Norman Rockwell moments of family gatherings, festive feasts by the warmth of the fire’s glow, have been perpetuated from generation to generation as the ideal experience of “happy holidays.”
Mindfulness invites us to be present to and celebrate all the moments of our lives. Through practice, we bravely enter the darkness to see what is there, what is real, what is now. The “ideal” experience is the gift of truth, whether we are encountering joy or pain, the warmth of connection, or the pang of loneliness, the vitality of health and youth, or the challenge of illness and aging.
It is the bond of vulnerability, a shatterproof alliance, that is the source of true connection that illuminates the dark of winter and warms us on the coldest of nights. Who among us hasn't been lonely in the most crowded of rooms? Fearful, behind the bravado of looking good, being smart enough, rich enough, hip enough. Or broken-hearted when we’ve feigned indifference?
So, during these shorter, darker days, the invitation is to open your heart to embrace both the darkness and the light; to receive and transmit compassion, connection, and grace. In the words of Saki Santorelli, “...consciously transmit from your heart, a word-less current of care and kindness.” It is this current that gives birth to the divine experience of our common humanity, lighting the path to our redemption, evolution, and growth.
Speaking of darkness, light, and connection, A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY, otherwise known as Miami, 1977, I was immersed in the 1st Star Wars movie sitting thru it 3 times on its opening day! When the 1st prequel, “The Phantom Menace” was released in 1999, I had just completed my 1st MBSR course. Now, on Dec 19th I will attend the opening of the last installment of the Star Wars saga, Episode IX, “The Rise of Skywalker.”
One of the themes of Star Wars is the theme of good (light) vs evil (dark side), and the importance of achieving balance in the Force. Master Yoda (good guy) and Supreme Leader Snoke (bad guy) both warn that when the Force falls out of balance one way, it rebounds and becomes out of balance the other way before stabilizing -- too much light causes dark side to grow and darkness brings light. Many feel that balance here refers to an equal mix of both light and dark side. However, George Lucas (the originator of Star Wars) defined balance as the removal of the toxicity of the dark side; thus, you keep the Force in balance by making the light side pure and free of the dark side. That’s what the Jedi seem to think as well.
On the other hand, perhaps balance is just a concept that allows for Star Wars as a series to continue indefinitely. No matter how many times a darkness manipulates the Force, balance will always be restored in the form of an equal of measure of light -- a never-ending plot for future spin-off’s. John Steinbeck alluded to this, “All the goodness & the heroism's will rise up again, then be cut down again & rise up. It isn’t that the evil thing wins—it never will—but that it doesn’t die.” What true balance means has been debated by fans for years, so hopefully, Episode IX will shed light on this for us that need to know.
The ‘end of the saga’ is bittersweet for me, as I am a big fan of Star Wars, not just because of the Jedi mind tricks, the cool high-tech effects, the battles or the Cantina bar scenes, but because the original Star Wars movies introduced me to the power of Myth and Spirituality. But more pertinent now, for me, the Saga is about AWARENESS OF THE PRESENT MOMENT - it’s what Luke uses when he destroys the Death Star at the end of the 1st movie, what helps Darth Vader turn against Emperor Palpatine, how Yoda and Obi-Wan unravel the threat of the Sith, and something Yoda emphasizes in his Jedi training thru-out the series. There are plenty of other examples thru-out Star Wars series that illustrate present moment awareness and. I list some of the movie’s mindfulness quotes LINK HERE along with some of my other favorite Science Fiction writings.
Finally, if Star Wars is about anything, it is about family and connection. George Lucas said, "People don't actually realize it's actually a soap opera and it's all about family problems — it's not about spaceships.” The Star Wars enterprise has a special place in my family’s heart, something that is too long of a story to explain here.
This season of darkness and light, please stay attentive to your moods, reactivity, and impulsivity…keep balanced, stay connected, and take good care—of yourself, your loved ones and our planet. And if you find yourself eating all kinds of unhealthy goodies these days, do so without guilt, regrets, or disgrace ~ for it's not what you're eating that causes the suffering, it's what's eating you!
Wishing you and yours much Peace, Joy, and Blessings...Season’s Greetings, Warm Winter Solstice, Merry Christmas, Healthy New Year…and May The FORCE Be With You
Jedi Mindfulness Trick:
MIND: These aren't the thoughts I'm looking for.
Me: These aren't the thoughts I'm looking for.
MIND: They can go about their business.
Me: You can go about your business.
MIND: Move along.
Me: Move along...move along
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MBSR/mindfulness classes open for enrollment:
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Gus Castellanos' MBSR class accepting registration:
- Saturdays, Jan 25 - Mar 14, 2020, 10am - 12:30pm with UM Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, CEs available. Link to register
- Wednesdays, Jan 29 -Mar 18, 5:30-8pm with Sari Center at Good Samaritan Medical Center in West Palm Beach. CEs available, Partial scholarships offered to anyone in need of financial assistance. Flyer HERE contact gus@18mind.com for info/to register
- Tuesdays, Jan 21 - Mar 10, 6-8:30pm, with Mindful Kids Miami at Riviera Presbyterian Church, South Miami. CEs and Master Plan Points available. Registration/Info HERE
Valerie York-Zimmerman 8 week MBSR Thursdays, Jan. 23 – Mar 12, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m., Garden Sanctuary, South Miami. Link HERE Orientation: Jan 16, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Valerie also offers MBSR Practicum Leading to Teacher Certification with UCSD’s Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute. Practicum students attend the MBSR Program for the public on Thursdays, Jan. 23 – Mar 12, 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. and also meet separately for Practicum classes, Saturdays, Jan 25 – Mar 14, 10:00 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Link HERE
Calcagnini Center For Mindfulness MBSR classes for 2020 listed for Winter and Spring 2020 link HERE
Mindful Kids Miami offers 8-week MBSR classes on:
*Saturdays, 10am-12:30pm, 1/18 – 3/14 with Martha Holmes at Mindful Kids Miami office, South Miami LINK HERE
*Wednesdays, 3:oo-5:30pm, 1/22 - 3/11 with Olivier de Lavalette at Flagler Elementary School, Miami. LINK HERE
*Thursdays, 3-5:30pm, 1/23 - 3/12 with Dorlie Banbanaste at Palm Lakes Elementary, Hialeah. LINK HERE
*Saturdays, 10am-12:30pm, 1/25 - 3/14 with Scott May at Barry University. LINK HERE
Patricia Isis, Ph.D. 8 week Mindful Self Compassion Mondays, 6:30-9:00PM, Jan 27 - Mar 16 at Mindful Kids Miami office, South Miami LINK HERE free orientation Monday, Jan 13, 6:30 - 8pm
Toni Saul MBSR Tuesdays, Jan 21 - Mar 17, 6-8:30pm, Coral Gables Congregational Church. Link HERE Free orientation Jan 21 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Flyer HERE
South Florida Center for Mindfulness
MBSR classes
LINK HERE FOR THESE CLASSES
Free Information Sessions:
Thurs, 1/9, 6 - 7:30 pm at Boca Raton Physical Therapy with Piero
Sat, 1/11, 10:30 - 12 pm at Boca Raton Physical Therapy with Piero
Classes Begin:
Thurs, 1/23 to 3/12, 6 - 8:30 pm at Boca Raton Physical Therapy with Piero
Sat, 1/25 to 3/14, 10:30 - 1 pm at Boca Raton Physical Therapy with Piero
8 week Mindful Self Compassion
Link HERE to Register
Free Information Sessions:
Tues. 1/7, 12:15 to 1:45 pm at Yoga Source Plantation with Sharon
Wed. 1/8, 6 - 7:30 pm at Boca Raton Physical Therapy with Sharon
Classes Begin:
Tues. 1/14 to 3/10, 12:15 to 3:00 pm at Yoga Source Plantation with Sharon
Wed. 1/15 to 3/11, 6 - 8:45 pm at Boca Raton Physical Therapy with Sharon
Sacred Treehouse offers:
Link for info/to register HERE
*MBSR Wednesdays, Jan 22 - Mar 11, 6-8:30 PM in Boca Raton with Nicole Davis. Orientation: Wed, Jan 8, 6-7 PM
*MBSR Fridays, Jan 24 - Mar 13, 10 AM - 12:30 PM in Jupiter with Nicole Davis. Orientation: Friday, Jany 10, 6-7 PM
*8 week Mindful Self Compassion Fridays, Jan 24 - Mar 13, 10am-12:30pm in Delray Beach with Patty Shutt, PsyD
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