Ubuntu group – OC | Friday, May 18, 2012

When we hear stories of unimaginable suffering that are met with remarkable human courage and compassion,
we are often left feeling skeptical or bewildered.
We may be tempted to see these people as saints, possessed of qualities and powers inaccessible to us.
But stories of great suffering are often stories of ordinary people that have found greatness of heart.
We must not romanticize or idealize compassion.
It is born of our willingness to meet pain rather than run from it.  
Sometimes, compassion emerges in the darkest moments of life, when all doors of escape are closed
and our hearts have turned to stone….
In moments of pain, fear, anger… the desire for self-protection … provoked to the surface….
You face a choice – your heart can close, your mind recoil, and your body contract, or you can dive deeply inward
to find and nurture the balance, resilience, and courage that allow you to deepen and care.

– from “Compassion: listening to the cries of the world”
by Christina Feldman

Hi everyone,

Living life staying grounded while maintaining an open heart can be a daunting challenge.  Dealing with deep pain requires great courage.  It is natural for bodies to contract after meeting with trauma, stress, pain, or anything we deem must go unexpressed in the moment.  I continually feel the day to day challenge, of opening, re-opening, and opening again.  Amidst times my heart turns to stone, warmth returns to it with my breath and tears.

The practice of TRE at the Ubuntu group is one of the ways we can help the body re-open, enabling us to be more present with ourselves and each other.

I hope you can be there for the next one.

Warmly,

Barbara English
http://livingubuntu.org
(949) 891-2005

—

Ubuntu group – OC
Fri May 18 6:30p – 9:30p (TRE starts promptly at 6:30p)
Optional: bring veggie foods to share

[Ubuntu] n.
Every human being truly becomes a human by means of relationships with other human beings.