The Practice Sessions: 10 minutes a day

What if connection, pure and simple, has value? How can we grow and nurture our social circles?

Hello beautiful human,

I’m curious how the month has been for you. I’m interested to know if you tried any of the five-ten minute invitations and practices I shared out a month ago? Do you notice any shift in how you feel? What your body tells you?

I’ll admit I’ve been on-again, off-again in my own praxis this month and I’m okay with that. We’re not linear beings, we’re not robots or computers and that’s more than okay—it’s a strength we’ve forgotten is a strength. Productivity is not my goal. Awareness maybe is a word for what I aim at. Deepening. Listening might be the best word. Following the flow. And the ebb.

As I wrote on Monday, I’ve experienced first-hand recently how the systems we’re so often enmeshed in do not serve or support our human thriving. We’re trading our lives for money—because we’ve set up a system in which our security and welfare depend more on our bank accounts than our neighbors. It’s a precarious and fragile system that easily collapses when one piece goes awry.

And. Here within the garden walls of this inviting space, we have an opportunity to stretch, breathe, and maybe imagine and begin to create something different and more resilient, not to mention healthier for ourselves and the planet.

We recognize that within the chaos of the present moment new things are possible. We can remember other ways and try them out in the privacies of our practices.

In March we focused on reconnecting with our own physical, emotional and mental health in small incremental actions. For April, I’ve expanded our lens to focus on the people we’re connected to: family (given or chosen), friends, colleagues and even the strangers we cross paths with as we run our errands and move through the world.

What if social connection has value in and of itself?

I mean, we know it does—there are scientific studies that prove this if you need science to validate. But do we live in accordance with the evidence?

This question, and a few more below, prompt us into our April explorations.

The pdf embedded below offers thirty-five daily-ish prompts—more than enough for a month—designed to help us reach out and connect. Have fun with it. For some of us, that means the satisfaction of ticking each one off daily like a fun extra-credit assignment. For others, we’ll skip around like a hopscotch on the page, and take breaks when we need to. We might find one we love and do it repeatedly. Maybe for some of us one of these suggestions will take us right off the map entirely, leading to a next step and a next in a way and direction that feels right.

Here’s to the adventure—one day at a time!

Nestled within An Inviting Space, we already practice gift economy and reciprocity. This is another in a growing series of Practice Sessions that emerged from my gratitude for the individuals who support my writing with their paid subscriptions. Members within the shelter of these paywalls have opportunity to deepen and explore ideas and notions, practices specific to resilience and creativity: in other words, we’re learning and/or remembering how to THRIVE, as individuals and in community. Wisdom comes through the collective, and the invitation is always present to join us.