Teaching Staff & Class Descriptions
Diana Lyon – Tender, Tender, Ever Tender: Allowing Life and Grief to Soften the Heart
Being fully present to the preciousness of life and the delight of love means also that we open ourselves to being pierced by grief. Death, separation, illness, and change are all integral to our experience of being human, and they have a seismic impact on our body, heart and soul. Spiritualized tropes such as “everything happens for a reason” or misplaced focus on the karmic elements of tragedy create the conditions for ignoring rather than being present for what arises in the grieving heart moment by moment. Together we will create space to share our experiences of grief and loss as well as the practices that have buoyed us along the way. We’ll take time with core practices of our lineage — gifts from our beloved teachers that sooth, nurture, and build capacity and resilience. If inspired to do so, please bring mementos for a communal grief ritual.
Muiz Brinkerhoff – Hidden Treasures: Revisiting our Fundamental Teachings & Core Practices
We’ll work together to open to deeper experiences with some of the core practices and fundamental teachings of our Ruhaniat Lineage … Watching the Breath with Loving Awareness, Darood, Wazifa, Meditations & Contemplations, Walking Practice (Centers, Planets, Wazifa, Saints Prophets Masters), Satsang & Sohbet.
Pir Shabda Kahn – Nurturing the Inner Life, Caring for the Planet, Cultivating Strength, Courage, Compassion and Forgiveness
Each day we will begin with some Zikr Dances and then cultivate Strength, Courage, Compassion and Forgiveness as a means to change ourselves and serve our worldwide problems. All of our worldwide problems, environmental, political, racial, gender, and prosperity inequality have been the result of human ignorance, greed, pride, jealousy and lack of self-worth. It is natural therefore that the solutions at their core rely on human beings practicing Loving Kindness and Compassion, which is at the root of all our lineage teachings.
Tamam Kahn – Finding Words to Tell It Like It Is
A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language. — W.H. Auden
The class will look at all kinds of poetry, talk about it and do some writing. Even if you are a songwriter or you love mystery or travel writing, this class will make your language choices more precise, and besides it’s fun.
Gitanjali Rivera – Singing from Silence
In our beginning we sang. We sing at those moments in our lives where simple speech is inadequate; times of great joy, deep sorrow, and worship. Through times of silence, breathing practices, chanting, and walks in nature, we will listen for the song of our Soul and allow it to come through. We will sing our prayers, our love, and be in harmony with one another as we improvise, sing rounds, chants, and songs to share with one another and our community.
Kira Gayatri Kull – Sacred Play: Creative Practices to Engage the Myths Within Us
What if our creativity could serve as a mystical practice? What if play is just as powerful as prayer? Sufi mystic, philosopher, and poet Ibn al-Arabi coined the term alam al-mithal meaning “realm of images” in the last 12th century. Psychologist Carl Jung drew great inspiration from Arabi’s writings in the formation of his theories of archetypal image and the “collective unconscious” centuries later. With theatrical play as a guide, this class will dive into an exploration of these inner landscapes. Participants will have the opportunity to deeply meet themselves through symbol, image, and archetype, giving voice to these imaginal players through varying forms such as song, poetry, and movement. In the realm of imagination, anything is possible. Come, come whoever you are!
Sadaya Zimmerle – Yoga: the Journey of the Self, Through the Self, To the Self
We will focus our energies, cultivate liberation in our bodies, hearts and minds as we increase our strength, flexibility, and resilience to enter this journey together. All bodies and states of being welcome.