Greetings,
In addition to my usual weekly and monthly offerings, I’m delighted to announce I’m heading back to Massachusetts to share some holistic health bounty next month! I’m offering two public workshops May 17-18 in Medford, and private in-person Counseling sessions May 16-19 in the environs. I’d be grateful if you’d forward this newsletter on to two people you know who might be interested in attending or joining my mailing list at this link.
These days, it’s hard to imagine I lived in sub- and urban Massachusetts for fourteen years, now that I’m settled in the rural vibe of Vermont. Indeed, in our late twenties my husband and I unexpectedly moved from our native California to the greater Boston area for my graduate studies.
I had not intended on further education, let alone even heard of this strangely named institution, Tufts University, where I imagined everyone was either highly durable or muscled. Nor had I ever considered exploring the eastern seaboard, as I mostly dreamed of returning to Italian seascapes where I’d lived and played for years.
Nonetheless, our time in Massachusetts turned out to be quite special, and in those early years, it felt like the world was our stage! We enjoyed age-appropriate shenanigans with friends and quintessential New England adventures when family would visit, like apple-picking and Red Sox games. Not to mention our (pre-Ayurvedic!) conquests of delicious international cuisine just outside our door, in good ole Somerville.
Perhaps as a result of all that fun, augmented by the stress of my studies and responsibility of adulting, it didn’t take us long to seek a source of greater stability. We needed to balance the mounting busy-ness in our lives.
We quickly found our sanctuary in the teachings of Gelug Buddhism, specifically at a sweet volunteer-operated hub called Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies, in Medford. We volunteered there extensively, continued to show up through the years of our growing careers, and raised our babies on the rhythmic sounds of Tibetan bells and chanting.
Even three plus years after relocating, I continue to feel the pull back to that source. The first place where I truly felt rooted in community and ancient lineage.
When we came to these unceded lands of the Abenaki peoples, present day Vermont, we were once again seeking greater balance. My husband and I jokingly said it was to get away from people. Rather, it was re-alignment with our true nature by immersion in nature.
Here we enjoy more opportunity to throw our arms to the sky, walk barefoot in soil, sow seeds and eat local harvest. We can meditate daily on mountain views, cry out or get lost in woods, and send our kids to outdoor school.
Our immersion in this harmony of nature, has attuned our awareness to the abundance at our fingertips. But that abundance is not just in Vermont. It’s also over there, and there. It’s in Somerville, and graduate school, and noisy urban settings too. Really, it’s everywhere, if we are keen enough to sense it and embrace it.
As my appreciation for resources has grown, so too has my deep-seated need for the resource of community. It feels ironic that I moved to the second least populous state in the U.S., only to return to my biological need for social connection. It’s only natural though. As always, I’m seeking the balance.
And so, I come full circle. I’ll be returning to that community source in Medford, where I planted my juvenile roots in the rich and mature soil of teachings on compassion and wisdom. Since my life’s work is guided by Bodhicitta–active loving kindness for all beings–it only seems fitting that I would return there to give back. Learn more about bodhicitta in this article from one remarkable teacher, Lama Thubten Yeshe, on the FPMT website.
I’m humbled that our resident teacher and volunteer management at Kurukulla Center have agreed to host my upcoming workshops! The workshop content includes hands-on and contemplative practices for wellness of body and mind derived from the lineages of Ayurveda and Yoga. Though we won’t cover Buddhist philosophy directly, we’ll be immersed in the setting and energy of this spiritual sanctuary and lineage.
Anyone is welcome to attend and no experience is necessary. The suggested costs are sliding scale and I’ll donate the proceeds to the Center after covering my administrative expenses.
Perhaps you’ll practice bodhicitta too, and share these flyers with someone in your community. You never know the benefit that could come to them or you.
Wishing you all well,
Sarah