Bear's Blog

Everything is contracted, smaller, we have less activity, less coming and going. It’s demoralizing that we are in this ever-worsening situation, but we can and should continue to do the small things like using “face-coverings” and keeping our distance. Yet in the magnitude of what is happening, it feels like putting sandbags around our home with an impending tsunami on the rise.

We need and miss the emotional and energetic nourishment we get when we are physically with others. And it’s a bit...

Symbols are powerful things. They are shorthand for what we believe in, and people have died for them - and what they symbolize - throughout history. National flags reflect those identities and values, and flags can also represent other self-defined groups. Pride Month just ended, with lots of flags in evidence of that celebration!

We are now having a national discussion over what flags, signs and monuments exemplify our American ideals. One thing we can all agree on is – the Statue of Liberty! Or can we? Some of...

So, what is our new normal? Your new normal?

We will not be able to move in the world in the same way we used to, at least for a year or two. A vaccine will help a lot, and “herd immunity” – 60-70% of the population exposed – will take a few years to achieve. In the meantime, contacts outside our “bubble” need to be limited and carefully considered. So until then…

What is important to you? What choices are you making?

The only appointments I have deemed critical lately were...

Are we revisiting history with the (Spanish Flu) pandemic of 1918, the Great Depression of 1929, and the Civil Rights Movement of 1968, all at once?

A friend recently noted that the current astrology* is very similar to the late 1960’s and early 70’s. Let’s remember what was going on back then…

…the Civil Rights Movement, the Feminist Movement, “Gay” Liberation, Vietnam protests, Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers boycotts, the Environmental Movement and...

This is the last Corona Care Kit newsletter. We are collectively diving back into action, for better or worse; going back to work, public spaces, stores and restaurants. Dipping our toes into the social pool, the new way forward is uncertain and tentative. Being propelled into the public square, literally or figuratively, we are called to make something new, and better from these times.

Last week’s newsletter – Stop, Drop, and Roll with It! – referenced what to do when you’re on fire! And...

Tumultuous times are with us. The tide of emotions and thoughts can be overwhelming. Maybe you are upset, angry, sad, scared, or discouraged. Possibly you are experiencing a mix of those, or a feeling that doesn’t even have a label. We are certainly experiencing a disturbance - in the energy field, in the streets, in our thinking and emotions, and ultimately in our bodies. I feel a heaviness in my body, and a numbness that slows everything down.

My self-care practices are helpful while I am engaged in doing them....

Nature! Nature is all of us, and everything in the world. There is an ongoing mutual exchange, support and reciprocity between all living organisms. And while the natural world nourishes us in many ways, I want to talk about our direct relationship with FOOD; there’s the practical, the energetic and the spiritual aspects. 

In recent years there has been more attention on local food, native plants, seed diversity and organic farming. Community gardening programs have sprung up in schools, prisons, and on...

Is there a situation where the suffering is deep and complex, and you don’t know what to do (like now)? It seems an appropriate time to share this meditation, with Corona taxing our resilience and understanding of what’s happening in the world.  It’s an antidote to feeling helpless or afraid. In class many years ago, a student asked me during the (first) Iraq war “what can I do?” and this was my answer (it’s now part of every Foundation class I teach).

Tonglen is a powerful...

Working from home, schooling from home, trying to organize ALL our activities and time – from home – gets exhausting. So here’s something you can do whenever the impulse strikes you – be inconsistent, undisciplined, irregular!
 
For this week's Corona Care Kit item, I want to suggest a BOOK that is a wealth of wisdom, a reference, a divination invitation, a philosophical perspective, and intuitive guidance. It’s next to my bedside, and has been for many years. (Often it’s my...

Ah, MOVEMENT - this week's Corona Care Kit topic. We feel confined right now, but don’t let your body suffer! Movement supports all aspects of our physical health – circulatory and respiratory, muscular and skeletal (use it or lose it!), endocrine and nervous (sleep! reverse the fight/flight response!) and especially immunity. The lymph fluid cleans up cellular debris from antibodies fighting invaders, and then moves it out of the system. The problem is, it doesn’t have a “pump” to move it...

 And now, for Nature. There is always so much support being offered to us from the “natural world”. It’s ironic – but helpful! - that we are going through this big contraction at a time the Earth is expanding into springtime. Nature and its forces are eternal, moving through seasons and cycles that provide us with continuity and define our activity. We have become more disconnected with our inherent nature in the modern world. It’s interesting to see nature taking a deep breath as...

This week’s Corona Care subject transcends categories – it could be in play/art, meditation, nature, or gratitude.  I’m going to frame altars as a way of bringing moments of gratitude into your days – but they can also evoke inspiration, contemplation, devotion and appreciation.

What is an altar? It’s a visual reminder that brings a connection to spirit into everyday life. A place for the mind to rest and appreciate a greater perspective of what is. Just like that alcove or landing...