By Maureen Murphy
When I think of the challenges we face today, the words “compassion”, “Earth”, and “community” are at the core of my response.
On June 4, community members are invited to Tikkun Eco Center for a day of heart-centered mindfulness practice providing meaningful, grounding, support for all of us in these challenging times.
I believe the root of our multiple crises—catastrophic climate change, economic injustice, violence, and a host of chronic physical and mental illnesses—is our fundamental misunderstanding of our place in nature. We have been conditioned to believe and to act as if we are outside of nature, and therefore we collectively abuse her benevolence and deny our mutual co-arising and interdependence.
Transforming our understanding, and the behaviors that follow, begins with connection. Mindfulness practice, a form of meditation also known as vipassana or insight, helps restore our connection to our inner knowing, to each other, and to the animating spirit in all life. From there we can make a conscious choice to be present to what is happening in each moment. Do we have the capacity and skill to stay compassionately engaged with what is occurring in our world, to respond to the suffering without becoming numb or flooded by overwhelming emotions? What can help us?
Practicing mindfulness can help us reduce reactivity and improve our relationships so we can come together in solution-oriented collaborations. That’s why I’m excited to partner with Tikkun Eco Center to offer a series of day-long mindfulness meditation retreats on the first Sunday of each month. Our intention is to support members of our community in reconnecting with their own true nature, one another, and the land on this beautiful permaculture farm.
Ben-Zion Ptashnik and Victoria Collier, the founders of Tikkun, are using mindfulness practices to sustain their own life-long activism repairing our planet and our community through restorative permaculture practices. Currently they are partnering with local NGOs to restore 20 rainwater reservoirs and plant 50,000 native trees in the villages surrounding San Miguel.
Tikkun is a beautiful model of personal and ecological regeneration I wish to see replicated, and I know it will inspire those who take part in our mindfulness trainings. Each of us has a gift to share in these critical times. My experience and education helps me support healers, leaders, teachers, and advocates of all kinds to grow strong resilience skills so they can fulfill their missions without becoming overwhelmed, exhausted, and burned out.
Studies show that mindfulness and meditation can help us balance our nervous system and manage our stress response. This in turn can lead to improved sleep, digestion, circulation, and immunity. We are better able to focus and concentrate. All of these contribute to a greater sense of well-being and have been shown to increase longevity. After all, we want to live in a world which supports each one of us in truly flourishing!
If you are curious or wish to join us for the next mindfulness retreat, please visit Tikkunsanmiguel.mx/events.
Dr. Maureen Murphy is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher and women’s resilience coach. She practiced chiropractic for 30 years in Oakland, California, before making San Miguel her home. She is founder and director of Soul Spark Women’s Connecting Circles and passionate about facilitating inner alignment as a requisite to transforming our world.
