If you want to succeed, embrace failure. A year ago, I would have expected such paradoxical advice to come from a Taoist monk or a Jedi master. Now, after a sabbatical year away from school, I find myself touting that same refrain as I explore questions about teaching and learning. How do I encourage the [more…]
Stillness at Summer’s End: Reflections from a Silent Retreat
And, so, my sabbatical year off from teaching came to an official end. This post came just before school started back up again during the 2013-2014 academic year. Once again, I needed to move in concert with another’s clock. Once more, I had to work a bit harder to find time for reflection and integration. Thankfully, I decided [more…]
Calling Our World Into Being (Part 3 in a 3-part series on Improvisation and Spirituality)
Part 1 of this three-part post introduced a working definition for spirituality—the whole-person practice of awakening, feeling, and expressing a connection to larger Mystery and deeper meaning—and for improvisation—the in-the-moment art of active creating in relationship to the many offers coming from one’s inner life and immediately surrounding circumstances. Part 2 examined the ways that [more…]
Paths in Parallel (Part 2 in a 3-part series on Improvisation and Spirituality)
Part 1 of this three-part post introduced a working definition for spirituality—the whole-person practice of awakening, feeling, and expressing a connection to larger Mystery and deeper meaning—and for improvisation—the in-the-moment art of active creating in relationship to the many offers coming from one’s inner life and immediately surrounding circumstances. This piece will explore some first [more…]
A Deeper Kind of Play—Three New Exercises to Link Improv and Spirituality
A merry band of daring pioneers recently gathered in the coastal hills north of San Francisco for a workshop exploring the many-layered relationship between improvisational theater and spiritual practice. A few exciting exercises came out of our time together—check out these three and see what you think. I’d joyfully welcome any and all feedback from [more…]
Mindfulness Momentum: 7 Reasons to Start (or Boost) Your Practice Now
If you listen carefully, you can hear multiple streams of mindfulness growing into a larger tide. Here are seven good reasons you might want to start surfing the mindfulness wave. 1) It’s simple. Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of the famed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the University of Massachusetts-Worcester, has defined the practice [more…]
Improvisation and Spirituality: A Personal and Collaborative Inquiry
My friend and colleague Cort Worthington and I were delighted to offer this inaugural Improvisation and Spirituality workshop at the Green Gulch Zen Center in Marin County, just north of San Francisco. We came with some provocative questions and exercises to get us rolling and the group dove in with full commitment to find all [more…]
4 Reasons We Avoid Our Inner Knowing–and 7 Things We Can Do About It
In you are natural powers. You already possess everything necessary to become great. –Chief Crow The above quotation hangs over the sink in our kitchen, a quiet touchstone for a truth so easily forgotten. It’s a message I want to pass along to every young person (and adult) I work with. It’s also a [more…]
The Bay School Model of Mindfulness
Every so often a sweet little synchronicity opens doors of exploration. Just this past week, one such moment led me to a small school intertwining themes of mindfulness and mindset, right here in San Francisco. After another fine improv show at Bay Area Theatersports (BATS) last Sunday, I complimented Katherine Riley, one of the performers, [more…]
I Want to Sing!
Life stirs so many emotions large and small, each on opportunity to experience more of our humanness. Funny that a Spontaneous Broadway improv class could open a new window into their wisdom. From mindfulness practice, I realize that I am more than my emotions. Moving from “I am angry” to “I feel angry” gives me [more…]
