I came back to San Franciso on Friday – it continued to go differently to how we had planned – just as another heatwave was kicking in. The air, at least, was clean, and when I went to ride my bike on Saturday morning, there were even bands of fog in the usual places, before the temperatures rose fully. My legs were a little stiff after the weeks without riding, but I expected that.
I have found myself keeping house, alone, for the first time in more than twenty years; still unpacking from the move, and without my partner alongside me for the time-being. There are still boxes to take care of, and household things that need buying. I took a few days mostly just to land, and move slowly about the place, in this lovely city, with a slightly new geography to take into account.
It wasn’t until Monday that I started thinking about meditation, or teaching. For the lunchtime sit, my body felt very happy to be settling down again, and other sessions I led have felt grounding. I noticed that even with the various teachings I have been doing, I have been missing the routines of the summer, especially the Hebden Wednesday sessions, anchoring the middle of the week, and the regular Instagram Lives for Core.
Core has switched to using Chalk, which was all new for me (but then so was Instagram in April). I have quickly come to enjoy the audio-only interface; listening to other teachers on headphones felt very intimate, and when I led a somewhat informal meditation on Wednesday morning, I was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee next to me, just translating my own curiosity about how I was manifesting in the moment to instructions for others. It reminded me of my days in radio.
This weekend Core will be hosting a 24-hour event to promote mental well-being, and I will be contributing to that. As long as I stay awake past my usual bedtime, I will be leading a meditation at 9:20 PST on Friday evening.
Shundo David Haye 