To be a conditioned, emotional being is to be ready to be moved by the world and by others. Connecting with ourselves means becoming aware of those inner motions that attune us to our environment. When we connect with others, we enter into emotional resonance with them.
Emotivity—mood—is fundamental to our existence. But due to distraction and repression, we can lose access to our state of mind and body. When we are busy with the activities of everyday life, it becomes much harder to consciously navigate how we relate to the people and things in our life. Those emotions that are closed off to us will still drive our behavior, sometimes sabotaging our resolutions, while we spin comforting stories around our motivations to salvage a sense of identity. Only when we meet our emotional responses with full awareness, can we integrate them, resolve conflicts between them, let them go or let them guide us.
In this workshop, we will embark together on a meditative journey to reconnect with ourselves, find resonances with others, and learn to appreciate the occasional dissonance no less. We will explore different gateways into our body—the heart-mind of Zen, the tantric seat of sexual energy—and then move from the I to the We. Partner exercises, learning to ask for the touch we wish for and giving what we can give, will follow the stillness of Zazen and vitalizing tantric movement.
Couples and triplets and solos are all equally welcome to join this evening of meditation, tantric exploration, and mindful touch. The intention is to become rested in ourselves and, from there, find the appropriate way to connect with every person we encounter.