Dearest Heartseed Community Members,

As many of you know already, we were on the East coast to lead a Wellness Retreat which was cancelled when the angst and encouragement towards containment by isolation amplified. We chose to drive to Rachael’s childhood farm home in Western Virginia and spend some time here before we begin the long drive back to Colorado.

We’d like to acknowledge and speak to these unusual times. It’s been difficult to carve out the time for many reasons, and not entirely easy to find the words. We’d like for you to be able to step away from your computer or phone after reading this feeling a bit more grounded. We’d like for it to be as though with this email, we could somehow wrap you up in a thick heavy blanket, hand you a warm cup of tea, and squeeze you tight.
 

We need each other. We need each other’s smiles and tears. We need to share bellowing laughter and heaving cries of grief. And here we are being asked to transcend the confines and space and time and put our technologies to good use. Let it be so.

We also need to be generative. It stops that feeling of stagnancy and stuckness and somehow helps us feel empowered. Creating for you might look like painting, or knitting, or graphic designing, or coloring, or baking, or writing, or singing or dancing or digging or pruning. We need to find ways to be creative.

We’re offering a free Guided Embodied Meditation on Zoom tomorrow night at 6pm Mountain time. Join us here. The session will be recorded for those who can't make it.

Rachael continues to offer sessions via Zoom.

Noah will also be offering online coaching-guidance-listening-support sessions via Zoom. He'll be explaining a bit more about this work in the coming week.

We’re Here. We’re exploring more ways we can serve in these strange times. 

Here's a goofy Family photo:

And for those of you interested, A Short Poem Noah wrote:

Return to Prayer
Looking out the window
I see the trees swaying 
in the gentle wind
Under a grey sky.

The skeletons of wildflowers
still standing
quiver.
They dance 
as if to say
“Remember us; 
the summer will return.”

The yellow grass, 
greening in spots,
is one of the many subtle
but vital signs
that the rebirth of spring is nigh.

A moment. Then another.
A deep breathe and a sigh.

How does one stay in contact 
with the wholeness and grandiosity
of Being unfolding?

Is it possible to keep one foot in the discomfort of difficult matters
And the other foot firmly rooted in the beauty of living.
Perhaps some level of discipline can be cultivated that would allow for such a feat.

In the meantime, 
I do my best
to Stay Grounded.
and to recover from the tussling and jostling 
of whining and crying children
and waves of
news and media in strange times. 

And I pray.
Perhaps not as much as I should,
But maybe more starting now.

More to come...

Warmly,
Noah and Rachael
(P.S. If you don’t already use the app Marco Polo, now might be a good time to start. It's a video messaging app and is a great way to stay in touch with friends and family.).