Sunday 3 Nov 2024 | 10:00 – 12:00 UK Time
For our November Mindful Morning we welcome four practitioners from diverse backgrounds who will share their personal experiences in how their practice informs and supports their family relationships.
The family can be viewed as our primary sangha, and one that perhaps offers more ‘perfect’ opportunities for practice than other aspects of daily life.
For the first part of the morning, there will be guided meditation followed by the panel. After a short break at around 11am, we shall resume for Dharma sharing in small groups.
Anais Holt
Founder of Present Brave & Kind – Meditation
I discovered Mindfulness Meditation at age 7 with my grand-mother, and put it in a corner of my mind and heart until I was 30. High levels of anxiety, triggering some panic attacks in the evenings, made me pick it up all over again, and rediscover it in a slow-progressive manner.
Since then Mindfulness Meditation has become an integral part of my life, and allowed me to become the loving, trusting and resilient mother, professional and human being I was aspiring to be when I was younger.
I will talk about the Plum Village practices in family relationships. I am personally very geared to how to apply it in my interactions with my children, but I do not see it separate to my practice in my interactions with my husband, my parents and the rest of my family (and friends).
Avni
Avni practices in the Family sangha and the Colours of Compassion sangha.
I have been practicing in this tradition since around 2017. I am on the caretaking team and facilitating team for the Family Sangha. I practiced in a Japanese tradition prior to 2017 called Nichiren Shu Buddhism which involved chanting of the title of the Lotus Sutra and studying and practicing the teachings of the Lotus Sutra. I practiced in that tradition since 2013. Reading Thay’s books drew me to this tradition and the change happened organically.
I have been married for 20 years. I have a 14 year old daughter. My ethnic origin is Indian. I have been raised in a Jain family and my husband is a Hindu. Growing up with both Hindu and Jain teachings formed a core part of my spiritual/religious practices. For most Indian families religion plays a central role in family life – it cannot really be separated. Religion and culture are very much interconnected. And this was certainly the case in my upbringing.
My daily practice now involves an hour of yoga and meditation in the mornings. I also like to chant and at the moment I chant the prajnaparamita mantra 108 times in the morning. If I am able to I do a sitting meditation in the evenings . During the rest of the day I try and remember to come back to my breathe and my body in my normal activities – not always successful though!!!!!!!!
I also love to dance as a spiritual practice. It helps me to connect to my body. I do classical north Indian dancing called Kathak which interestingly enough involves walking meditation. I walk to the 16 beat time cycle in Indian classical music called Teen Taal.
In my work life I am a dentist. I also work voluntarily as an integrative therapist.
Jonathan
Jonathan practices with the York Sangha, the Rowan Tree Sangha and is an aspirant to the Order of Interbeing.
I live in York with my partner and our two young children. I work as a psychotherapist in the NHS. I have been practicing with the Plum Village tradition since 2018. I received the Five Mindfulness Trainings in 2019, with the Dharma name Steady Path of the Heart.
My take on the panel sharing will be practicing with my family on a day to day basis (including encouraging mindfulness in my children and protecting and nourishing harmony) and the learning from this, particularly regarding seeds of habit energies across the generations.
Melissa James
Melissa James is a Singer, Songwriter, Actor, Facilitator and the creator of SING4SANE – a Big Sing and mental health initiative. Her song “Live Again” was recorded as a single for the charity SANE, inviting members of the public into RAK recording studios to sing with her, uniting people with an understanding of mental ill health.
Her recent 6-month stint in a West End production reaffirmed her belief in the importance of her daily practise of yoga and meditation. Performing 8 shows per week was no easy feat and her periods of quiet, being with nature and walking all got eroded as she maintained a rigorous performance schedule.
It was then that I realised exactly why I do what I do,” she says. “Sometimes the little voice inside me can urge me to skip a day. There is always something else that can be done rather than sitting on my cushion. Suddenly, when the luxury of my regular schedule wasn’t as readily accessible, I valued my morning sittings because I couldn’t have them so easily.
Melissa believes firmly in the power of art as a way to strengthen her spiritual awareness and connection and practices sounding, dance and movement as forms of meditation. She is mother to two children and is part of Colours of Compassion sangha
