At the New Year’s Eve celebration, there is a tradition of everyone writing down a wish or a statement of love or hope. Then everyone puts them in a bowl and draws one out to read as part of a …
Author: Marta Barnett
Interview with Gail Iverson
What brought you to mindfulness meditation? In the mid-1970’s, I moved to a rural community in Minnesota. I was interested in meditation but at that time in rural areas there were not many opportunities. One day I was looking in …
Why the Past Isn’t Personal
I’ve spent much of my meditation practice learning to let go of the past, a past at times so horrific that it seems to hover over the present. Often when I’m mulling over the past, I find myself rationalizing and …
Roger Saves His Sister’s Life and Finds His Own
From the Festival of Giving and Receiving I did an internship at the Mayo Clinic at the department of engineering. My mind was constantly shifting in and out of spacey states, but I was able to work through it. I …
Tagged with: gratitude
Eric’s Dad Learns First-Hand No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
From the Festival of Giving and Receiving My family and I were in Chicago visiting my sister. It was a pretty joyous time and the four of us were feeling light on our feet as we walked down Michigan Avenue. …
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Tagged with: gratitude
Poetry
The return I want to feel Spring In my heart once again All over Borne anew I want to wash my hands of this cold, achy Tale and begin again As a flower unfolded from the dark earth Sings After …
Stepping Twice Into the River
I have a pesky habit of getting stuck in the past, of brooding over relationships and events, analyzing and wishing for a different outcome along the way. Sometimes, I find myself tête-à-tête with a particularly unsmooth shard from the past’s …
The Imperfect Meditator (Sound Familiar?)
A couple of weeks ago during a weekly practice group, a woman shared that she is having a difficult time meditating recently. “I keep looking at my watch,” she said. Her comment resonated with me. Except that I don’t just …
Post-Retreat: Reentering Life’s Freeway
Imagine laying in a forest, bathed by the fourth-dimensional serenity of nature and sunlight playing across the landscape. And, suddenly, a wormhole opens and you are thrust onto the middle of a freeway junction with cars zigzagging in every direction. …
The Extraordinary Ordinary
When my sister and I were growing up, we started to catalogue Dad’s various idiosyncratic sayings. Some were out of context, some were hilarious and some were actually profound, as in, “Life is made up of moments.” Life is full …
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Common Ground Meditation Center
2700 East 26th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406, 612-722-8260
2700 East 26th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55406, 612-722-8260