Sow & Grow Meditation Timer

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Why would I create yet another meditation app? While the process was informative as I’ll describe below, the main reasons are:

  • It’s a zero cost support for new meditators in the Sow & Grow Meditation movement.
    • Post-practice encouragement to visit the site.
    • “Text my check-in buddy” feature.
  • To provide an option that does not require a login.
  • To provide a free option with no advertisements.
  • As a tool of the movement, it is designed to make itself obsolete:
    • Easily pick a meditation plan with a full set of teaching audios
    • Edit the plan to delete audios you no longer need, adjust durations of silence, or practice multiple techniques in one session.
    • Start with continuous mantra deep listening practice and gradually increase the amount of time in silent practice.
  • It’s easy to share and try a meditation plan, even a custom one, with a minimal commitment for the new user. In a couple of taps they can be practicing, with the timer running on any device with a browser.
  • Regular users can optionally install the Progressive Web App to their desktops.
    • Increases convenience over navigating to a browser tab.
    • Enables off-line use.
    • It is still updated to new versions automatically when you are on-line.
  • The “Circle” timer integrates the meditation features into an interface to help guide a small neighborhood meditation group host. This supports the Sow & Grow emphasis on the host simply providing space and not needing to be a meditation teacher.
  • The YogaFlow timer could be used by individual Hatha Yoga students, although it is primarily designed for Yoga teachers.

For years I happily used the Insight timer to ring a pleasant sounding bell at the end of my practice. Now when I revisit the app, it forces me to go through a lengthy process of starting to use it, just to get to the basic timer feature. It’s still has a free tier, which is great. I know the start-up process is designed to help new people to become regular with their practice. At Sow & Grow, we emphasize supporting each other, so our meditation tools can be simpler.

If you haven’t already I encourage you to check out the timer. It’s designed to be easy to learn and use. If that isn’t true for you please contact me!

Scan to open the Timer in your browser

AI as a tool to bridge the Wisdom Gap

The Sow & Grow Timer started out as a whimsical notion to create a visual timer for yoga teachers. I’d heard and seen examples in YouTube videos of how powerful AI was to create programs from scratch, without writing any code. The latest phone upgrade I treated myself to came with a full year of Gemini Pro, which normally costs $20 / month. So just to see what happened, I sat at my computer and had the first version of the Yogaflow functionality working in a few prompts. The power of AI to get things done really is seductive!

I’d also heard great things about the ability of AI to do research. So when I was preparing to teach my first Meditation class at Asheville Community Yoga, I used it to discover the latest in scientific understandings of the difference between guided and silent meditation techniques. What were the benefits of one over the other? It was very affirming of my insights and gave me some scientific backing to teach that silent meditation techniques were worth the additional challenge they pose for my future students. Then I was curious about the question of handling thoughts during meditation. I’ve used different techniques, as available in the recorded teachings I included in the app. But what are the scientific understandings about the relative benefits there? Wow. Starting with gently releasing thoughts and moving eventually to witnessing them without attaching my identity was also affirmed. Both methods very valuable, but best to start with the more common approach. Finally, I wanted to learn more about the continuous mantra technique promoted by one of my favorite teachers, Sadhguru: The Isha Kriya. I’ve been so impressed by this practice that I’ve requested permission to include it in the app. How wonderful to discover a meditation modality that is more accessible than silent practice, with all the benefits! So I created the two techniques of that kind for the app. As I refined my main Sow & Grow Meditation website, I was curious what other organizations also had a mission driven by the same world view. I learned about the term “Wisdom Gap” for the problem of (soon to be) ultimate technological power in the hands of humanity in its spiritual adolescence.

The Mindful Use of Machine Learning

Bringing the app to its current state involved about two months of ‘managing’ Gemini—a process of constant evolution. What started as a simple, single-page HTML experiment has grown into a sophisticated, React-based Progressive Web App (PWA) that handles the complex technical differences between Android and iOS. The most remarkable part? I didn’t need to master the underlying code or systems to make it a reality. This perfectly mirrors the Sow & Grow philosophy: just as our meditation hosts don’t need to be ‘experts’ or ‘teachers’ to hold space for others, I didn’t need to be a currently up-to-date software engineer (I retired in 2012) to build a professional tool for our community.

I’ll admit, I have become deeply intentional about using AI to amplify my work. While I am acutely aware of the environmental costs and the more ‘scary’ potential of such power, I believe the path forward is one of mindful engagement rather than refusal. We are at a turning point as significant as the dawn of electricity or the first Ford Model T. Instead of standing on the sidelines, I am choosing to co-create with this technology to bridge the ‘Wisdom Gap.’ By leveraging AI, I’ve been able to build tools that support meditation and Hatha Yoga—using modern code to serve ancient practices and help raise collective consciousness as rapidly as the technology itself is evolving.

Credit where it’s due!

The last two paragraphs of this post, and their heading, were written by Gemini, as well. I wrote two ending paragraphs that gave the same information and told the same story, but with my mediocre writing quality. I fed the paragraphs to Gemini one at a time. It generated three versions with different voices, and I picked the one that I liked best. I’ve never been a strong writer, to be honest. My book was pretty heavily edited as well by a friend, before I self published it. Now AI can take my personal style and message, and transform it into polished prose in seconds. I hope you enjoyed the result!

Sow & Grow Yoga Flow Timer

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I’ve graduated from my first Yoga Teacher Training! One of the challenges I’ve had teaching my first classes is timing. It is easy to go over the scheduled amount of time! I’ve used different devices to help, but in the end I was inspired to create something any yoga teacher could use.

The result is a free yoga and meditation timer web app. It is featured on the Sow & Grow Meditation website and it will refer back to it’s home to help raise awareness of and inspire participation in the movement!

One of my pet peeves over the years is yoga teachers that did not manage to balance the amount of time a pose is held on each side of the body. The process of giving helpful prompts on the first side takes time and often the second side gets “cheated” by being held for less. My timer is designed to make it easier to even them up. The display has unique features towards that goal.

The app does not require a login. It has no ads. There are no paid subscription features. It can be installed on your phone’s desktop to enable off-line use. The name and length of time for each segment of the session is configurable. The segment names could be categorical (warm-up, standing poses), specific Asana sequences (2 sun salutations) or even individual poses, for Yin (90+ second holds). The timer could be helpful for home practice too.

The timer display, when you turn your phone sideways, is unique:

In this orientation, the numbers are the pause / play button. Touch the speaker icon in the upper right corner to turn off / on the chime sound at the end of each practice segment. There are three timer displays in one:

  1. The main numeric display shows the time left in the current segment or part of your practice. The green time bar at the bottom also grows to full width when the current segment is done.
  2. A sweep second hand that makes a full rotation every 20 seconds. Use this to time holds less than 20 seconds.
  3. A sliding parade of shapes under 10 second tick marks. Use this to time holds longer than 20 seconds.

The config screen allows you to add / reorder / delete and configure segment names and durations:

Users can save and share practice segment configurations through “magic URLs.” This is great for:

  • Teachers can share their class plan with a substitute.
  • Teachers can give sequences (or meditation sessions, described in another post) to their students as “homework.”
  • Any yogi can share the app and their favorite configuration with one link.

To create a configuration link, go to the Config screen and scroll to the bottom. The button at the bottom brings up this display:

The URL itself contains all the segment settings. It can be shared via text, email etc., or copied and pasted into a document to save for reuse. The QR code image file can be downloaded and included on a poster or flyer. Since the timer is a web application, the single URL provides the configuration and almost instant use of the timer app itself.

The app also has a meditation mode, which I’ll highlight in a future post. Meanwhile, it’s quick and easy to check it out for yourself!

Teaching Yoga? Coming out of retirement?

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I’m in the process of completing a 250 hour yoga teacher training at Asheville Community Yoga (ACY). What a wonderful experience with amazing people! I wasn’t sure if I’d teach when I decided to take the training. I’m still not sure how much I’ll teach. But something that Amber (our lead teacher) said during training has inspired me: since the COVID pandemic, many more people are showing up at ACY for meditation classes. More for Gentle Flow classes. Less for the power yoga. To me, it sounds like more people are coming for the inner spiritual practice aspect of yoga than before.

A quick Google search affirms what Amber shared. In the U.S., the percentage of adults who meditate more than doubled from (7.5\%) in 2002 to (17.3\%) in 2022. Worldwide, estimates suggest between 200 and 500 million people meditate. Back in the cold war, I worked with my parents in a movement called “Beyond War.” We tried to raise awareness of the immense destructive potential in the warheads already poised for use. The leaders of this movement taught that once a new idea reached 20% adoption, it became unstoppable! I don’t know that much about this science of idea adoption, but my understanding is that self reinforcing change is exponential. I’d say that the benefits of meditation tend to reinforce and encourage others to join!

Focusing on my spiritual practice has been wonderful and fruitful. I did a 4 week silent hermitage retreat in February. I practiced meditation every waking moment. Sitting, walking, tending the fire. I was in a yurt in Vermont, so it was cold outside! Tending the fire was pretty central, along with the breath. I took nothing to read. No journal. No technology. Not even a watch, at first. My hosts made my main meal each day. At the bell I went down to the main house to fetch the food, which I also ate alone. The fruits of practice were profound. Ecstasy came more steadily during the last week. Since then it’s been coming and going in waves of anywhere from an hour to several days. Stronger and steadier over time! I feel very blessed, though certainly not at the end of my spiritual journey.

The world continues to be in a precarious situation. I’m more motivated than ever to stay with my practice in every moment. I’m also feeling pulled back into the mode of teaching and leadership. Can I “go there” without it becoming an egoic distraction to my practice? Perhaps. I hope so!

One thing that I’ve just posted to my yoga teacher training cohort is the Sow and Grow Meditation website I created just before I retired. Unlike when that web page was created, I’ve got a year round home now, where I might start a small meditation group of my own to be one of the initial seeds! Maybe one or more of them will be inspired to do so! I don’t have a lot of traffic on this site at this writing. But at least I’ll get the URL “out there” and see what happens. A toe in the water of manifest social engagement, to balance with my inner spiritual process.

Fully Retiring (from Reiki, etc.)

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A major revelation came to me recently from the book “Karma: A Yogi’s Guide to Crafting Your Destiny” by Sadhguru:

Energy healing systems have grown very popular in the world today. My own take on them is unambiguous. While the intention to help others is a laudable one, it is juvenile to think that you can heal someone else because you have learned to harness a little energy in your hands.

Sadhguru

Given the emphasis I’ve been placing on my remote Reiki techniques lately, this understanding is quite significant to me!

Sadhguru explains that energy healing only deals with the effects without clearing up the causes. Later the karmic causes of an illness just surface as some other problem in the client’s life. The subsequent challenge may not be another illness, it could be any other form of problem.

I see now that if a karmic cause surfaces as a minor illness or pain and the person does nothing to work through this karma, it remains to be reinforced with their new thoughts and actions. They can always do that regardless of clearing up an effect, of course, but if the illness might inspire spiritual practice, using Reiki to provide temporary relief can be seen as a hindrance to their spiritual life.

Not only are there significant challenging consequences for the client, he says the healer will also have their own “calamities” to deal with after attempting to heal others. He says it could be 9 months or more later for either client or healer, but that the suffering will invariably come in one form or another.

Sadhguru recommends offering people solace in the fact that their suffering is avoidable, when it is seen to be triggered by pain, not caused by it. We suffer attachments and the loss of that with which we identify. For example when the tendency to identify with your body is reduced or eliminated, pain can be witnessed as a symptom of a problem rather than a problem itself. It is welcomed and accepted, rather than suffered and/or suppressed with drugs. That way your intention can be brought to investigating and clearing the root cause(s) through spiritual practice.

Sadhguru ends his section on energy healing with:

Do not try to become a franchise for cosmic energy. And do not try to become a miracle worker. My only aim is to help you recognize the miracle of life that you are. Everything else is a distraction.

Sadhguru

He couldn’t be any clearer, and it feels like the section was written with me in mind, because I was envisioning ways to help people connect with others (franchise) to do remote Reiki and yet I certainly don’t want to get distracted from my practice, any more than I already do!

In fact, one of my ongoing challenges since I retired from computer programming in 2012, has been discerning the relative importance of engaging with the world (to encourage spiritual practice, use and teach Reiki) and my spiritual practice. I’ve been clear that they are not necessarily mutually exclusive, yet identifying as a teacher entails goals and attachments that certainly are distractions from practice.

This revelation from Sadhguru pushes me over, quite firmly, in the direction of fully retiring.

As I write this it has been several days since I made the decision to retire and I already feel a subtle yet significant difference in my practice. It’s easier to stay with my moment to moment practices, with fewer thoughts of scheduling in time for work, setting goals for task completion, etc.. Lately my work has required a lot of time on the computer, for marketing, writing educational emails, etc. and that kind of work has always been the most difficult for me to integrate with my practice.

When opportunities to support people in their practice present themselves organically, I’ll certainly do so. But I will no longer seek them out, nor actively advertise my availability.

I am going to finish creating the sowandgrowmeditation.org website and email series to support new small meditation group hosts. This project will not require a lot of time from me, once it’s launched. The idea is that I’d only “sow” my own two small groups and encourage them to do the same once they have established their weekly groups. Then I’d let the nature of the intention create the growth that it will, without any attachment to the outcome. It’s really an experiment so just witnessing it feels right, at least in this moment!

At this point I’m planning on doing at least one more foil windsurfing blog, since the footage is in the can and it is just fun! I won’t bother with any encouragement to practice embedded in the video(s), but I do have some ideas to help people learn to foil!

DIY Labyrinth

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Want to know how you can experience a labyrinth while walking in a maze? You may skip the prologue to go straight to the rules of the game, below.

Introduction to Walking Meditation

I love walking meditation. It’s actually easier than formal sitting meditation practice, but it can be just as beneficial. The idea is to keep your awareness on the path ahead of you, and your breath. When uninvited thoughts arise, gently release them and bring your awareness back to your steps. You might try counting how many steps occur during the in-breath and how many during the out. Find a thought process that helps you stay with the current moment. I just recommend staying with whatever internal technique you have decided on for the entire practice session.

Labyrinth is the ultimate walking meditation experience, for so many reasons which I won’t try to describe here. There is only one winding switch-back filled path from the entrance to the center, unlike in a maze. It’s a great way to let go of the mind’s habit of thinking about where we are going more than enjoying the journey.

The Backstory of this Idea

The Friday night before the spring equinox, I connected through zoom to a few of my friends from the Center for Transformational Practice (CTP) in White River Jct, VT to set intentions around a retreat that weekend. For years we have had quarterly retreats on the solstices and equinoxes, but of course this April that would not be possible while keeping appropriate social distance. To be honest I would not have traveled back to VT for the weekend from Atlanta, so this was yet another opportunity for me to practice virtually with distant friends.

Some of us decided to practice a 30/60 day on Saturday. This is a retreat format, where the participants alternate between meditating for 30 minutes and 60 minutes of work or any other activity you wish. We have done these in small groups at CTP before but sometimes it has been done by just Simon at CTP and one or more of us practicing the same at our own homes on the same day, so we had done this even before the COVID-19 era.

Elisabeth was not up for the 30/60 idea, but she said she would like to check in again at 3pm to do a labyrinth walk together, probably tracing paper ones together on a zoom call, I guess. Anyway, her voicing that idea gave me an idea which I’m excited to share with you today!

I’ve been doing walking meditation in the Kirkwood Urban Forest a lot more since the social distancing started. A practice that had been a once or twice a week has become daily, now that I’m working from home (on this website and on zoom group practices and classes) most of the time. When the time approached to check in to do labyrinth walking on-line, I was more in the mood to get outside for my regular walk, with a new enhancement!

The forest has a maze like set of paths. The map below is a pretty good representation, though not totally up-to-date. They meander all around the modest sized glade, up and down steps made from ragged slabs of recycled concrete, by a sandbox, around the community garden, by the peach trees and adjacent to a small creek that runs down one side. It’s really very beautiful, and now I’ve transformed it into a labyrinth!

I simply set some rules for myself as to how I’ll navigate, so that every turn through the maze is as prescribed as a labyrinth. The rules make the decision for me, I just mindfully follow them. You could come up with many rule sets that would serve, these are just my favorites to date.

Rules, in order of precedence

  1. At each intersection, take a (section of) path you have not yet walked this visit. When you get to an intersection where you have walked all the path choices, take the one you walked on first (earliest) this visit.
  2. When you get to an intersection where rule 1 is insufficient to discern your direction, turn onto the path furthest to the left, then alternate so at the next intersection, you take a hard right, back and forth, as long as the turn does not violate rule 1. If it would, keep going until you can turn the correct direction onto a path you have not yet walked. For example, at a simple 2-way fork where turning right is your next direction, that has already been traversed this visit but the left fork has not, you stay left and continue to look for a right turn you can take without violating rule 1.

To make your labyrinth longer without having to backtrack, do not take a path that you know will exit the forest or lead to a dead end.

To keep from even having to remember which direction I went last and therefore the direction I must turn, I pick up a small stick and hold it in the hand on the same side I must turn next. As soon as a legal turn in that direction is found I take it and switch the stick to the other hand. This may sound superfluous, but sometimes you will need to walk for a minute or more before you will come to any turns and if you are keeping your mind on your current foot falls and your breath, forgetting the last turn in some ways could be a good sign of current moment practice! Just as in a labyrinth, the stick relieves the mind of memory, everything is prescribed by rules and the token.

While I practice in my local forest, you may be familiar with a park or conservation area nearer you that has a maze of trails that would serve as a DIY labyrinth for your practice. If you can make it to Kirkwood, in Atlanta, GA this would be a fun way to give our little neighborhood gem a try, especially if you are devoted to walking meditation practice!

If you give this a try please let me know how it goes in the comments below, including what maze you transformed!

Mitigating Novel Ways to Suffer and Die

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I’ve been driving DoorDash using my Zero electric motorcycle. To be honest, it’s mainly because I love riding it so much and love serving people. The pay is pretty poor, but I don’t care.

However I have felt torn about it, on the level of need. Our society seems to think that needs go so far beyond sustaining our physical bodies. Most of us live for the taste of fancy food, the delightful acting on our favorite TV shows and the hugs and kisses from our loved ones. Why would I put such a wonderful, natural and needed thing into this list? All of these, even loving relationships, are not technically needed to keep the body alive, unless you are an infant. Monks have lived in caves or other homes of seclusion for many generations and thrived physically.

Do I want to participate in an activity that risks the lives of the people that I’m serving? No matter how careful I try to be, it is possible that I will infect the customers and restaurant workers in the process. Some will just get mild symptoms, some will die. Or some of the people that they love will die, because of the hugs and kisses that are still being exchanged, because we need them. We really do need them. I know that! My rational for doing the delivery work is that I love it and if I don’t do it, someone else will! But my heart is starting to tell me “no thank you” to that rational lately.

How many people that would have suffered in a car accident, with it’s associated loss, guilt, or even death, are avoiding that possibility by staying safe in their homes these past many weeks? I guess I could look it up, but I’ll leave that to you, if you wish. Can we really control when we die? When our loved ones will die? How they will die? For my part, I don’t want to try. If I did, I probably would not ride a motorcycle!

I always put on my seat belt. When I was a child we didn’t have them and now we do. The number of people saved by our modern safety equipment, they say is quite large.

When I was a child, were lots of people dying of, or at least greatly suffering from Lyme disease? Not yet. That came in the 1980’s. Aids? Nope, not yet. I’m sure there are other examples. There are new ways to die every generation, and new ways to behave, new inventions that become a standard part of modern life, to save lives, too. It’s all good!

Yet each time a new way to die appears, or even a new illness like Lyme (which I had in the 80’s and amazingly recovered from, I have friends who are not so lucky today), which causes great discomfort and potentially suffering, large or small, we scramble as a society to try to do things to reduce that suffering. Yes, at some level we are just trading in one way of experiencing pain for another, one way to die for another. Because pain is a part of life, guaranteed, like death itself. In truth, it is all good, too! We couldn’t truly enjoy the taste of that fancy food, the delightful acting in our favorite TV shows or even those hugs, if we didn’t have the painful parts of our lives with which to compare them. The body/mind is a “difference engine,” when it comes to the emotions that we live and die by. That’s what we came to Earth to experience as human beings, or any other life form for that matter.

Even though I resonate with the big picture, the global one that spans multiple generations, I don’t think I’m going to drive DoorDash anymore. Not until the tests for the novel coronavirus, and the antibodies that we need to survive it, are available at every local  pharmacy, so this novel new way to die becomes socially acceptable and manageable in people’s eyes and hearts. Not until the hospitals are no longer overwhelmed, or bracing to be soon. Because all of my life practices, from my morning meditation, to my mindful walks in the park, to the hugs I that I can normally give my friends, are to reduce suffering. That’s my bottom line! And make no mistake (how could anyone at this point?) people are suffering this new way to die. It’s different, new and scary. And driving DoorDash, or going out and having unneeded contact with anyone, (now even the White House says not to shop for food for two weeks unless you really need to) is like reckless driving (for young and healthier than average people), and like not wearing your seatbelt (for the elderly and those with health challenges).

So “practice” safe distancing. Do it as a spiritual practice. Better yet, use any extra time you have, or extra stresses you feel, to inspire you to start meditating every day! Raise your consciousness. Reduce suffering. It’s up to each of us to decide, because our governments are not that consistent in many areas about the issue!

Hiram Hisanori Kano

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Rev Hiram Kano and wife Ivy

It is a clear reflection of the fact that I have always been future oriented in my thoughts and actions, that I’ve never written a blog post about my dear departed grandfather before. It is high time!

My memories of my grandfather are few and very sweet. The first that comes to mind was when he gave me my cross. He had made a deal with all of his grandchildren, that as soon as they had memorized the Lord’s Prayer and recited it to him successfully, that we would receive one of these silver crosses, several of which he had an artist custom make for him.

The Nordic Cross my Grandfather Kano gave me when I was a boy.

We were at his retirement home in Ft Collins, Colorado, which overlooked the reservoir. It was a beautiful sunny morning. I was so proud and pleased!

As an adult, I remember him giving me this somewhat cryptic advice. He said something to the effect of, “There is only one path!” As he said it, he swept his hand upwards in a dramatic motion, palms facing each other, from his waist to over his head. “If you fall off of the one path, you must return to it!” For me this advice, that led to no further explanation or discussion, at least that I remember, has always been like a Buddhist Kōan, something to contemplate but never fixate on one interpretation. Advice to revisit every few years, to see what it brings in the current context.

As a person that was never good at memorizing historical facts, I wouldn’t even attempt to recount my version of his life to you here! Luckily, he wrote his memoirs in Japanese and after he died they were translated into English. There are also lots of wonderful web pages about him. To be honest, I have not read them all to properly curate which links to share here, there are so many!

Since I am so future oriented, I can’t publish this page without proudly including the latest development in my family as relates to my grandpa Kano. My nephew, born Aaron Kano-Bower, has recently married Mia Benjamin. When they married, the decided to take the Kano name. So the Kano surname will continue, to the next generation after all (they do plan to have children, God willing). After they married, Mia completed her Seminary degree and has now been ordained an Episcopal minister! So there is a now new Rev. Kano, doing her best to follow in her saintly great grandfather in-laws footsteps! I couldn’t be happier.

Photos below are of my grandfather Rev Hiram H. Kano and Rev Mia Kano. Note Mia’s cross!

When I heard the news about them taking the Kano name, my heart leaped for joy. I had not known until that moment how important it was to me for that name to continue down my father’s line! You see, my wife and I (now divorced) hyphenated our names together when we married, so my to girls are both Munsey-Kano. I never thought it was a big deal, having the name morph and be “lost,” since rest of my siblings are women and their children were not given the Kano surname. But I guess I felt more strongly about it than I realized!

Daily On-line Group Meditation

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This practice is no longer taking place. If you are interested in a future version of daily group practice please contact me!

Yesterday I led my first reiki enhanced group meditation session for three people and I’m excited to do more. Since I practice sitting meditation every morning anyway, I’ve decided to try inviting everyone to join me on zoom!

Starting Saturday April 4, I will be on a publicly open zoom meeting starting at 7:00am EST every day. I will be offering distance reiki to anyone that joins the call right at 7:00am (or a bit early is okay, I’ve enabled the waiting room feature) and lets me know that preference. People are welcome to enter silently at any time, but once I’ve started to meditate I’ll assume new people to the session prefer not to receive reiki consciously from me that morning. I’ll be done with my 30 minute meditation before 7:45am, but people are welcome to silently leave the session earlier than that.

If you intend to join for less than the full time that I will be practicing, please set your own timer or track it yourself by peeking at your time piece from time to time as needed. I always recommend that you decide the duration of each practice at the beginning and then stick to that intention regardless of the quality of your experience! Allowing ourselves to end a meditation session early is problematic. It means that any moment during our practice we could be discerning / judging if we want to “give up” on the practice! This decision making process is not particularly meditative. So please drop in on me as you wish, but heed my advice so you do not sabotage your practice with uncertainty and lack of devotion.

The meeting information below allows for joining via a telephone. This is fine if you wish, but know that the practice will normally be in silence, except for any greetings before and afterwards. If you wish to receive reiki and David might have trouble remembering who you are (he is actually basically face blind so this could be possible for people that would not expect it to be an issue) please join the meeting through video on your phone or computer. That will allow him to make a better connection to you for the treatment to be sent.

These sessions are not classes. If you wish to receive instruction and/or inspiration, please check my MeetUp group first, then if none of the scheduled classes work for you, schedule a class with me. Next week (4/6-4/10) I’m devoting lots of time to teaching!

David Kano is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Daily Group Meditation with David
Time: Apr 5, 2020 07:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Every day, until Apr 10, 2020, 6 occurrence(s)
I’ll continue after the 10th if it is well received, stay tuned!

Please download and import the following iCalendar (.ics) files to your calendar system.
Daily: https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/u5Eqde-qrTIuyVrG7y96UCrK-Byq8hLBNw/ics?icsToken=98tyKu-tqTksGNectFyCd7ctE8H8bM_Il2h4uIQKhUazNgNBSU7UL_MaOp5dPs-B

Join Zoom Meeting
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Meeting ID: 657 262 394
Password: 467756

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Coloring Meditation for Kids of All Ages

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I’ve led kids in many forms of moving meditation in recent years. The one that was best received by most of them was coloring. You simply start with a blank sheet of paper and draw a scribble on it to create spaces to fill. Then while you color you do your best to keep your mind on the current moment, coloring in the spaces and following your breath. I usually set the rule that no space can be colored the same as an adjacent space, but that’s really up to the person doing the coloring.

Now I’ve created a simple resource to take this practice to the next level. The idea is to record each time you become aware that you are having a thought about the past or future. That way you can see how you improve from session to session and even within each session if you use the optional suggestions in the included instruction sheet. To give this a try, print the a copy of the second page of the Coloring Meditation document for each person/session.

I’ve also created a YouTube video that describes how to use this tool.

Here is a sample I made by practicing for 5 minutes, also featured in the video.