NEWSLETTER
February
3, 2009
Volume
I, Number 9
"We must make this journey
together. We cannot do it on our own.
The time of the rugged individualist has come to a close." Valerie Skonie
Dear Friends of the
Winter Feast for the Soul,
Today, February 3 is
the 20th day of the Winter Feast for the Soul. Many of you report
feeling the effects of your daily practice.
Others report having no personal experience, but their friends and
family report seeing or feeling something different about them. More than likely there are others among you
who have not written and who are experiencing varying degrees of struggle with
their commitment. Remember that this
commitment is not for the faint of heart.
Wherever you are
today, know that there is someone else out there that shares your
experience. From where I sit I have
heard almost every variety of report in the past week.
For those of you who
have taken the time to answer my request for feedback, I thank you for your
generosity in doing that. My reward comes
from knowing about your experiences, from working with them to improve our
support systems, and from hearing about your successes and the changes in your
lives.
With that in mind we
are exploring the possibility of creating a forum or a blog site where you can
exchange ideas and report your experiences to the entire Winter Feast
community.
I know that some of
you have written to our office and not gotten a personal response. For that I apologize. There are overwhelming numbers of emails
received each day and it is impossible for me to answer them personally. I do my best to answer as many as I can
either directly or indirectly in the newsletters. Next year I am hoping to have someone who can make that task his
or her responsibility. See below for
more on this.
With Love and a
Joyful Heart,
Valerie Skonie
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
COMMUNITY
CALL
February
7: Gregg Braden
DIVA-YOGA
ADDS 650 PEOPLE TO WINTER FEAST COMMUNITY
French-Speaking
Community is Richly Served
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2010 WINTER FEAST
You Don’t Have
to Move to Idaho to Be of Service
INSPIRATIONAL
QUOTES FOR FEBRUARY 5 – February 11
HOW TO CONNECT TO SATURDAY COMMUNITY CALLS
Finding the Winter Feast on Talk Shoe
COMMUNITY CALL: Gregg Braden Interview on February 7
I’ve been spending
some time refreshing myself on the teachings of this amazing man over the past
week and I am so excited for you to hear what Gregg will have to say on
Saturday. Gregg is a scientist, a
spiritual explorer and a true visionary guide who shares his teaching with the
world. We are fortunate that he has
agreed to talk with us on Saturday. .
Please join us at 11am EST on our Talk Shoe site or download the call later. It
does take an hour to download the recording onto the site, so be patient if you
don’t find it right away. Instructions
for finding the site are found at the end of this newsletter.
DIVA-YOGA ADDS
650 PEOPLE TO OUR WINTER FEAST COMMUNITY
I spoke with Maryse
LeHoux, founder and director of the French language Diva-Yoga website, today
and she reported that she has registered 650 French-Speaking meditation and
yoga participants for the Winter Feast for the Soul on her website. Maryse is an experienced pro at hosting this
kind of event and periodically sponsors what she refers to as “Yoga Challenges”
for her followers. For those of you
fluent in French, I suggest that you go to her website and check it out. We are certainly grateful to Maryse for all
the people that she has brought to our Feast and for the hard work that keeping
them engaged has brought her.
By the way, the word
Feast does not translate well into French as it indicates something more like a
party. As a result Maryse has renamed
our 40-day practice period: Célébrons La Spiritualité. The link to her website is: http://www.diva-yoga.com/.
VOLUNTEER
OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2010 WINTER FEAST
As the Feast is well
under way for this year’s winter season it occurs to me that there are a number
of things that I plan to do better and to expand on for the coming year. Each represents an opportunity for someone
who is interested in becoming a more active part of the 2010 Winter Feast for
the Soul. Here are a few that come to
mind immediately:
·
Email
Communications Manager
·
Children’s Feast
Manager
·
Young Adults
Feast Manager
·
Prison Project
Manager
If you are interested
in exploring further what will be involved, please write to me directly
at: vskonie@gmail.com.
INSPIRATIONAL
QUOTES FOR FEBRUARY 5 – February 11
February 5:
Disclose to us they divine light
Which is hidden in our souls
That we may know and understand life better.
-Hazrat Inayat Kahn, Sufi Master
February 6:
We are like a school of fish,
Meeting to discuss the possibility
Of the existence of an ocean.
-Coleman Barks
February 7:
One of the most surprising effects of deep meditation…
Is that we begin to find ourselves feeling more sensitive and more
agitated as we sit down to practice. In
fact, meditation does not make us more agitated, but it does make us more aware
of what is buried beneath the surface of our mind and how unstable and
unreliable our ordinary thinking is.”
-Norton and Smith,
“An Emerald Earth”
February 8:
I have found that the Secret Place of God is within my own soul,
I will listen for Thy voice.
-Ernest Holmes
February 9:
Which is worth more, a crowd of thousands,
Or your own genuine solitude?
Freedom, or power over an entire nation?
A little while alone in your room
Will prove more valuable than anything
That could ever be given to you.
-Rumi
February 10:
If you wait till you’re no longer busy,
You’ll never get around to the Dharma.
The moment you think of it,
Quick go do it.
-Patrul Rinpoche,
“The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones”
February 11:
If my mind doesn’t go our to disturb the noise,
The noise won’t disturb me
-Ajahn Chah, Buddhist
teacher
HOW TO CONNECT TO SATURDAY COMMUNITY CALLS
These instructions are repeated from last
week’s newsletter for those who may have missed them.
Saturday Community Calls are broadcast at
11 am EST on Talk Shoe, the same site where we host three on-line guided
meditations each day.
To connect to Talk Shoe using your
computer:
·
Go to www.talkshoe.com and type “Winter
Feast” in the Search Box in the upper right corner of the screen.
·
There you will find all of our
offerings.
·
Click on Community Calls.
·
You will see a screen where you will see
screen names of others present on the call.
During the call you will be able to type
in questions and comments for our speaker.
These questions are visible to the host on her screen. When appropriate, they are relayed to the
speaker.
To connect to Talk Shoe by phone:
·
Dial 1-724-444-7444
·
When prompted, enter call ID Code #: 31692#
·
You will be connected to the call
line.
·
The host does not come on the call line
until 2 minutes prior to start time.
To access meditations, simply click on the title of the meditation
that you wish to explore.
ALL CALLS AND MEDITATIONS ARE RECORDED
AND CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM TALK SHOE ABOUT ONE HOUR AFTER THE SESSION ENDS.
Have a
wonderful week.
