October Newsletter: Acclimating to the Unknown

Greetings!

It is October and this is my first newsletter since June when I announced I'd be parting ways with Lotus.....where do I begin?

While so much has changed, there is, at least so far, no new normal. And I anticipate that if I am living well, with true attentiveness, that a new "normal" will never actually arrive, and that is a likelihood I welcome. There are many new life challenges as I find myself in the roles of facilitator, teacher, and personal coach, and I often feel as if I'm working for the first time in my life! It is deeply satisfying to feel challenged and nourished by meaningful work in the world. I feel lucky. While I sometimes feel overwhelmed by all that I'm inviting into my life, it is my practice to befriend that experience and welcome it. When I pay close attention, it changes, or it disappears, and I recognize that I am still here, quite alive and quite well.

I've had a wonderful time connecting with Tim Palmieri in recent weeks as he's acclimating to the Lotus context. If you haven't seen it yet, you can check out this conversation between Tim and I from September 10th about our experience in this transition. I trust the evolution of Lotus with Tim and that ultimately this change will be for the good of everyone involved. Certainly, it is not always easy for me: at times the grief of loss runs deep as I'm learning to let it all go. Yet, to my surprise, the Muse is arising anew within me as I find myself daydreaming about new musical possibilities. While it seems unlikely that I'll pursue music again full time, it is a joy to feel raw musical inspiration again. It is reminiscent of the sort of inspiration I felt back when Lotus was formed.

Last week I started teaching my Fall mindfulness course. While the current course is full, I will continue offering this course a few times per year, so if you are interested in a future iteration, please follow the above link and submit your name and email on the form there. This week I'm also resuming the free guided meditations on Zoom which I'd started offering during the early days of the pandemic. There'll be a 20 minute practice on Tuesdays at 12 noon and a 30 minute practice on Friday mornings at 8:30am. These times are for the Mountain time zone. For more information and the Zoom link click here.

Right now, the thing I'm most excited about is the public launch of a new group offering: a 3 month journey for an intimate group of 6 people which is focused on a powerful relational practice called Circling (aka Inter-Subjective Meditation). I offered a couple beta versions of this group earlier this year and it was a beautiful and highly connective experience for everyone who participated. If you are interested in personal growth and up-leveling your relational capacities, you can read about this offering here. At present, there are 4 available spots left and I am aiming for a November 2nd launch date so please respond to this email or fill out the form on the page linked above if you think this might be a good fit for you. I look forward to hearing from you!

Lastly, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the Lotus community for the immensity of support I've received at this time of transition. Leaving Lotus has surely been one of the most radical and difficult decisions I've ever made. There is a humbling vulnerability that comes with making such a decision in the public eye and it has been wonderful to feel held and supported along the way. Thank you!

With Love,

-Michael

Sea Change

Dear Friends,

I am writing today to let you in on a major life decision I've made. In large part, making this decision feels like I am choosing the impossible, as if I'm willingly jumping off of a cliff. And while it feels this way, there remains a sense of clear knowing that the essence of what I'm up to is following the guidance of my heart. I have a practice of reminding myself each and every day that my heart is completely trustable. Therefore, to not make this choice would be to deny the Truth of my heart.

I am choosing to leave my musical career with Lotus behind. This choice is primarily informed by my dedication to personal growth and my commitment to serving the world in the most authentic way I'm able. To my mind, this decision is largely irrational, but my heart knows things that my mind knows not. But rather than going on about my decision in this newsletter, I have written an open letter to the Lotus community which can be read here. My final shows with Lotus will be at the Summerdance Festival in Ohio on Labor Day weekend.

As I close out the final chapter with Lotus this Summer, I have paused many of the classes, groups, and guided meditations that I've offered over the last year and will be resuming these offerings in mid October. I'm so excited about what lies ahead. Thank you for being on this journey with me.

With Love,

Michael

A heavy heart and expanding horizons

Greetings!

I hope this newsletter finds you well as we approach the spring equinox.

On some days, days like today, I have the task of holding the weight of my heavy heart. It is a physical experience: a heaviness in the chest, a shallow breath, a furrowed brow. And it's often accompanied by a desire to hide. The reason for this seemingly burdensome feeling today is hidden from my mind, which is frustrating to the part of me that seeks a clear reason for this experience. It is even more frustrating to the part of me that wishes all of my newsletters were filled with words of inspiration. But today, rather than waiting for the upswing towards a better mood, I choose to embrace what is here and express it to you, dear reader, and in doing so, I already feel things lightening a bit. More and more, my daily commitment is to navigate my sensory experience with openness and equanimity, and not pretending I’m impervious to the emotional challenges of being human. I have become a big fan of making friends with my reality, and even on days like today when emotional heaviness is difficult to befriend, I feel a deep-rooted satisfaction and freedom through simply allowing it to be here, without resistance. Already, my breath is starting to deepen and I feel humbled by the simple fact of being alive.

The past year has been transformative as I've found myself fully immersed in an enriching and challenging new career path. In some ways it feels as if I've been catapulted into this new venture, but it feels more fitting to say that I've been called to it, and that I've felt the call for a long time. 

One facet of this path is a practice that has become very dear to me: meditation. My daily practice over the last 18 months has evoked a fascination with the nature of awareness and yielded an increased capacity to metabolize anxiety. I experience the practice as a gift and have an intuitive understanding that I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of the long term benefits. For the second time this year, I am offering a 6-week mindfulness course based on the Unified Mindfulness system. It starts on Thursday, March 25th from 6 - 7:15pm MDT. Classes will be held at the same time every Thursday through April 29th and the entire course is offered on a sliding scale between $45 - $85. For more details click here or simply respond to this email if you're interested in signing up. The class size is limited to 10 participants and I expect it to fill up. 

My coaching practice is also evolving. I have been continually shapeshifted and transformed through the simple and complex art of supporting others. In so many ways, my clients have become my biggest inspiration. I see coaching as a practice in being unconditionally open to the full spectrum of the human experience, ever stepping into the unknown with my clients as they courageously look, with honest eyes, at their vulnerability and fecund potential. Witnessing and supporting this process in others brings me straight into my heart, over and over again. Cultivating my capacities as a coach has become very important to me. Currently, I'm studying adult development and shadow work at the Yugen Institute which has been highly rewarding.

I am continuing to offer Dyad & Council groups once a month. Consistently, these groups have been nourishing for me and for participants alike and I would love to have you join!

Also, I’m happy to announce that my recent musical releases are now streaming on Spotify, Pandora, and Apple music. Please spread the word!

Gratefully,

Michael

Adventures of the Innocent/Sage + Event Updates

Hello Friends,

I am writing, with excitement, to announce the release of my newest EP, Adventures of the Innocent/Sage. This 3 song EP contains over 30 minutes of electronic music with an emphasis on "storytelling" with the guitar. The title is inspired by the work of one of my favorite teachers, Bill Plotkin, who articulates the “Innocent/Sage” as a facet of the human psyche, a facet of our innate human wholeness. In his upcoming book, he summarizes the qualities of the Innocent/Sage in this way:

Innocent, wise, clear-minded, lighthearted, wily, and extroverted, [this] facet of the Self is fully at home with big-picture consciousness, light, enlightenment, laughter, paradox, eternity, and the mysteries of the Divine… The Innocent/Sage wants to lead us up to the realm of pure consciousness beyond distinctions and striving. I place a slash rather than a hyphen between the two parts of this facet’s name because paradox is the Innocent/Sage’s friend and ally —“both/and” its stock in trade, its modus operandi. The Innocent/Sage sometimes appears naive and uncomplicated, and sometimes seasoned and sagacious, but it’s unfailingly both. The Innocent/Sage is always having a good time, and that twinkle in its eye — is this naiveté or wisdom? 

Adventures of the Innocent/Sage is available for pre-sale on Bandcamp, with tomorrow, November 20th, being the official release date. I am humbled by this glowing review from my friends at The Sloppy Bhakti. I'd very much appreciate your support in spreading the word. I'm hoping to make this music available on the various streaming sites by the end of the year. 

With Gratitude,

-Michael

Event Updates 

• There are only three Dyad & Council groups remaining this year and I am giving away two spots for tonight’s group (11/19) at 6pm mountain time. If you've been curious about these groups but unsure about attending, please respond to this email. I'd love for you to join us! 

• Join me for free guided meditations at this Zoom address every Wednesday and Friday from 12:30 - 1:00pm Mountain Time, with a break on Friday the 27th. The meditation schedule can be found here. 

• I am also offering a 6 week mindfulness class starting January 5th with classes on Tuesday evenings from 6 - 7pm. We'll be exploring a variety of meditation techniques and ways to integrate mindfulness into daily life. In order to make this course available to as many people as possible, I am offering a sliding scale between $35 - $75 for the entire 6 week class. Please respond to this email if you are interested in attending, and I would appreciate any referrals if you know others who may be served by this offering. Class size is limited to 10 participants. More details coming soon.

Homecoming

Greetings! 

I hope this, my second newsletter, finds you well!

I recently had two significant experiences, both of which served as a kind of homecoming in different ways, and by homecoming, I mean a coming home to myself.  

First, I spent most of last week backpacking in canyon country. For the seventh year in a row, I spent nearly a week off the grid, exploring the mysterious and enchanting wildness of the Utah desert. It has become a sacred annual pilgrimage which nourishes me in ways I could never explain with words. Here is a snapshot of a typical occurrence on any given day: while surrounded by vast expanses of sensuous orange stone, I am struck by a silence so vast and complete that it fills me with awe, awakening a similar silence deep inside me. In moments like these, I recognize that this kind of external silence doesn’t exist in the modern human world. Sometimes, the loudest sound, by far, is the sound of a raven’s wings cutting through the air in the distance, and after she passes, the complete silence enfolds me once again. It is my intention to carry this silence with me in my heart as I return to my physical home and engage with my work in the world. 

The second homecoming experience, immediately following my return from Utah, was being gifted with a last minute opportunity to perform at Red Rocks this past Sunday. The intimate crowd and quiet “COVID-friendly” backstage made for an idyllic night of musical expression that felt more relaxed than most shows. It was a welcome change. 

These days, as I witness the unfolding events in the world, it often seems that there are countless reasons to identify with anger, reactivity and fear. As I encounter these energies in myself, it is my practice to remain in my heart, to stay home: right here and now, allowing those energies to move through me without fixating on them. That capacity to not get hooked by my emotional reactions and their accompanying narratives is a practice, a work in progress. I am not always successful, but when I am, it feels like a kind of grace, and with that comes gratitude. 

The Dyad and Council groups I hosted this September were beautiful. They have been a precious gift to me as a facilitator. Each group is a participatory experience which invites what is meaningful and true within each of us, and this reliably yields a nourishing heart-centered connection with others. It occurs to me now that the silence which the desert evokes within me, is the same silence that emerges in our hearts as we connect authentically with other people. Most years, I feel a kind of grief when the time comes to leave the desert and return to human society, but today I feel a kind of gladness in knowing I have the capacity to help create a heart-centered community that supports the emergence of that loving silence within each of us, the silence that feels like home to me. I am continuing to host these groups into October, and I want to invite you, just as you are, to join us. The dates and times are listed below. Click here to register. (there are still a couple spots open for tonight's group) 

Thanks to all of you who have supported me through my Bandcamp music releases. My goal is to release my next EP by early November, so please stay tuned for that. 

Lastly, I want to recommend a documentary that strikes me as important: The Social Dilemma. I’m imagining this film has been making the rounds on the various social media platforms, but if you haven’t seen it yet, whether you use social media or not, the message that this film delivers is one way that we might begin to understand certain aspects of the polarization we are witnessing in American culture at this time.  

Wishing you very well, 

Michael

An Emergence

Greetings friends,

It is a joy for me to take this first step in reaching out to you. This communication has been a long time coming! I hope these words find you well amidst these times of challenge for so many on planet earth right now. 

Firstly, I notice a desire to make contact with you. Here. Now. With this breath…

...and this one. 

We are together. We are alive. Thank you for being there. Thank you for receiving these words. I offer them with gladness and humility and a desire to communicate something of value.

Here are some questions I’ve been dancing with related to the state of our world at this time:

• What is mine to do? What is my work?

• How am I being called forth to constructively participate in the unfolding human and more-than-human story?

• In what ways, if any, might my fears be obstructing my true power and capacity to contribute to the wellness of my community?

What I want to share with you today is, in part, my response to some of these questions. 

I’ll start by sharing that I am interested in relationships—the relationships we have with ourselves, our human community and the earth. I believe that one of the foundations for a healthy planet starts, at the most fundamental level, with the cultivation of these relationships. In service of that, I am now offering relational group processes online, via Zoom, which can support our capacity for deep connection and authentic relationships with our fellow humans. I am also offering one-on-one transformational coaching for anyone interested in getting direct, heart-centered support in creating the most wakeful and inspired life you can imagine for yourself. And last but not least, I have, for the first time, some personal musical releases which I’m thrilled to offer to the world!

You can learn more about my coaching practice here, get more info on my groups here (or skip the reading, and simply sign up here), and if you are curious, I have articulated my story about how I got into this work here. Additionally, you'll see on my events page that I'll be offering some free guided meditations live on Zoom in the coming weeks so please drop in if you'd like to practice in community––no previous meditation experience is necessary.

Regarding my music: I have released a live, mostly improvised, ambient set that I performed with my dear friend Kyle Liss for a yoga class in Denver last year, Ambient Yoga Journey Vol. 1. I have also released my first ever solo work, an EP called Early Works, which I composed and produced back in 2009 - 2010. Electronic music had long been a passion of mine and Early Works represents my first foray into producing my own. These songs, 90% complete, sat on a hard drive for 10 years. Now, amidst the pandemic, I felt inspired to complete them and get them out into the world. At present, they are only available via Bandcamp, and while I intend to get them onto the various streaming services eventually, sales through Bandcamp have a more direct financial impact for me. I really appreciate your support and would love your help spreading the word about my music!

In the future, my communications will likely come from Mail Chimp and may be filtered to your promotions folder so please keep an eye out for those if you want to stay in the loop with my communications. And finally, I want to ask for your support with expanding my reach on Facebook. Unfortunately, I can no longer access my previous artist page and have to start over from scratch. If you are a Facebook user, I would really appreciate it if you could friend me here in support of expanding my reach again: https://www.facebook.com/michael.rempel.779

With a bow of gratitude, 

Michael