The Gift of Practice: Five Years of Morning Meditations

Locked down, locked in – April 2020 challenged most of us.

How could PVUK offer support amidst this?

What would support our community at this difficult time?

“Maybe regular morning meditation sessions online would be helpful” Teri West and I thought and so this was put in motion. By the end of April 2020, and with wonderful tech and communications support, we were offering Early Bird Meditations 6:15 – 7:00 a.m. on Monday and Weds (Teri) and Love Meditation 7:30 – 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursdays (Vari).

Immediately there was sangha there with us. Immediately there was presence and gratitude for this chance to be together. Generating peace and love, as a sangha, to offer to ourselves and our world at that uncertain and frightening time.

(read more below)

As we know, the uncertainty dragged on and challenges continued ….. we carried on the morning meditations. At some point Teri and I knew that we had started something that we could not stop. So many people told us moving stories of what the meditation sessions meant for them. “The anchor of my day. “  “A lifeline amidst the turmoil.” “A source of joy and stability.” ”A feeling of belonging in community.” “The support I needed to set up a regular practice.”

Teri reflects:

‘ I created an attractive setting and wished to give anyone joining me the feeling of entering a Dharma hall, so set the camera 6 feet or so away, and led the meditations in side view, rather than the full-frontal view of online meetings. In the beginning, when I was up and in my meditation space before 6am each morning, that discipline, and the feelings of peace, calm and togetherness that we generated between us stayed with me for the whole day.  Even when guiding a meditation, we are practising along with our spiritual family members who are also practising, and perhaps even in a deeper way, as those around us are relying on our own stability.  

The days of Covid were difficult times, and though the ‘Early Bird’ sessions were a response to those times, they seem to me to be even more relevant now; with increasingly challenging, chaotic and unpredictable world events taking place each day.‘

Now, five years later, there have been well over 1000 sessions of morning meditation. Now PVUK offers morning meditations five days of the week and also evening meditations ‘Together in Peace’ 6 days a week. And there is a wholehearted and committed team that offer these meditations.

It has been a beautiful and rich sangha journey. One we could never have foreseen. So let’s take a  moment to stop, breathe and celebrate the energy of peace and love that has been nourished and sustained through this time.

And please do join us or check out the recordings on our Facebook page. Or just come to the first 25 minutes or last 25 minutes of our 45 minute sessions. And please share the word with your sangha members.

May we continue to nourish peace and love in all the ways that we can.

Vari McLuskie

True Action of Loving Kindness