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center-ing

i stayed at the center for transformative change this past weekend while i was in oakland for back to back meetings. i often stay there, and they are always incredibly gracious and welcoming to me. i wanted to write up a little love note about them here…

as you know from my last post, i had an incredible experience of shedding my technology. this was no doubt enhanced by where i chose to stay. the center is sort of like a living meditation think tank…angel kyodo williams is there doing a lot of thinking and writing about movement, and particularly the role of transformative practice (meditation and yoga primarily) for movement building. in addition, there is a small community of folks who live there, and are in practice together all the time.

the guest room at the center is simple – just a bed and a desk and a lamp.

the guidelines to the house are basically to leave no mark, do no harm – to be mindful of the shared spaces and make an effort not to walk around on your phone or leaving your things all over. as a result the space always looks and feels beautiful, organized and clean. these rules generally work in any shared home environment.

one of my favorite aspects of the center, and the main reason i wanted to write you all about them, is their ecological commitment to reducing waste and conserving precious resources. they compost, recycle, encourage short showers…the very fact that live together is in itself a reduction on use of mama earth’s resources.

they have made an art form out of the old “if it’s yellow let it mellow” approach to not flushing 6 gallons of water down the drain each time you have to pee. they have these special, discreet little covered garbages next to each toilet where you can put peepee paper, and you only flush under special circumstances, like if your toilet offering is solid, or red. i have been trying to do this at my home in detroit and found it’s really hard to talk about, so i want to put up some little education signs. but i really appreciate how they do it at the center – it’s subtle but it has more impact than just about any other water-saving measure you can do in the home.

they have a huge gorgeous practice room and a schedule full of yoga and meditation – and i believe all of their offerings are free for folks involved in social justice work in the bay.

if you are in the bay, check out their schedule and make use of this community resource. if you are visiting, contact them to experience some of the retreat that can be daily life.

now i am off to tend to my knee, which i hurt when i went overboard on my yoga experience at the center – ego and yoga do not mix, and since my ego is so active, i’ma stick to the pool for a bit. besos.