Oneness Experiential

Let's explore the experience mind-body oneness! Our cultural conditioning
has created well-traveled pathways (i.e. habits) in our consciousness that
reflect a separation of "mind" from "body". Thus many of us have cultivated a
practice of treating our thinking mind and its habitual synaptic firings as
"self", while objectifying the body/physical experience. In other words,
thoughts/beliefs/opinions/memories are "me" and this thing that they live in
is "my body". (ever tried to "fix" yer body so it feels/appears a certain
way? or tried to "overcome" emotions? or heard yourself say something you
didn't mean?) There are countless ways we reinforce the habits of separation
in our day to day lives; however, there is plenty of space for building new
pathways.

The air we inhale is the exhale of plantlife; the air we exhale is its
inhale. The water we take in and release in this community is the Mississippi
River before and again after it quenches our thirst. The food we ingest grew
from the interactive regeneration of the earthbody: the sunlight and rain,
the decayed bones of our ancestors and the compost of our waste. Our presence
in life is part of a constant interdependent flow of natural living
wholeness. There is deep wisdom in the living body and there is vast
possibility available in allowing the mind to be present in this oneness.

Drawing on the teachings of Ki-Aikido, we will be exploring the individual
experience of oneness. Using 4 basic principles of Ki-Aikido, along with a
variety of body-listening techniques, we will learn ways to reinforce new
habits of attention, allowing the mind to be grounded in the wholeness of
being. The course will include breathing and movement meditations, verbal and
non-verbal sharing, and individual journal/art space.