Clear Sky Meditation & Study Center

 Communities come and go. What is the secret to sustaining them for 400 years and beyond? What are the aspects and components of a community that fosters human renewal, supports the best in the human spirit, and increases resilience to future challenges?  How does a conscious and awakening community offer a model of transformation and healing for ourselves, our societies and our organizations?. Details Date:  October 28 Time:  9:00 am - 10:30 am UTC-6 Phone:  2504293929 Website:  https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/conscious-awakening-community  

 I have just spent six months at Clear Sky as a karma yogi. Karma Yoga is the path of selfless service for others. A big part of it is doing what needs to be done, which means that you often don’t have a choice of what tasks you do. More than once, I have been assigned tasks where resistance and negativity arose. Not because they were inherently unpleasant tasks or unreasonable requests, but because the human experience involves preferences (one of which is not being told what to do!). Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/how-to-not-let-negative-emotions-own-you/  

 While it might seem relaxing to watch TV over a meal, where's the sense of FOMO for the present moment? When not fully present, we’re actually missing out on being alive in that moment. Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/mindfulness-washing-up-and-the-fear-of-missing-out/

 Even someone who meditates is sometimes nervous about going on retreat. Yet, there is no replacement for this extended period of simply being with our arisings to see that they are merely patterns. Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/why-you-shouldnt-be-scared-to-do-a-personal-retreat/

 I don’t know about you, but I’d say my spiritual progress has had both ups and, well I won’t say downs, I’ll say plateaus. Now that I think about it, just when I’ve felt like I’m struggling most, that’s often when my teachers have commented how well I’m doing. So who am I to judge the status of my non-self? Whether we need to know how things are going or not (for them to actually be going well, or not) there are things we can do to increase the chances we’re making progress in our meditation or spiritual growth in general. Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/five-reasons-practice-not-going-part-1/  

 Some moments move in fast forward. You blink, and it’s gone. Some moments move more like car accidents, and time seems to stop. When I smashed my roommate’s vase, it was one of those slow moments. A shift in the being Things had started changing a year prior, when I discovered meditation. A friend told me about a retreat centre that was offering a 10-day retreat, and even though I’d never meditated, I just went for it. Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/how-i-ended-up-living-in-spiritual-community/

With dread, I looked over at the clock on the nightstand, hoping I wouldn’t see what I knew I would…1:30 a.m.! I’d been asleep for less than three hours, and if this night was like all the nights of the past six months, it meant I was awake for the rest of the night. It wasn’t always like this. I used to be a sound sleeper. Once I fell asleep, I could sleep for eight hours, waking without an alarm at the same time each morning. But that was before I went through a separation, among a few other major and traumatic life changes. Here, Dean from Clear Sky tells the story of how changes in his life brought on insomnia, and how he dealt with it. Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/blog-how-use-mindfulness-cant-sleep/  

 One of Clear Sky’s many projects is the Clear Sky Farm , dedicated to innovative sustainable agriculture and permaculture. All of our produce is organically grown in our one-acre cold-climate food forest, located on-site. Learn more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/about-us/farm-food-forest/  

 When I first started meditating, it felt great. I’d had a little instruction and I started sitting at home, alone, every morning. With that, I was leaving for work every day with a state of calm and bliss, and my days were simply going much better. Worried your meditation practice is going to dwindle? One way to motivate yourself is by going ahead and booking a retreat well in advance. Learn more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/meditation-how-to-avoid-stopping/  

 This course is about healing the split between money and spirituality and integrating our vision and your calling into your everyday work. Through this course, you will come to a place of peace, power and care in your heart in your relationship with money. Course Details Location: Online (Zoom) Dates: January 15th – February 5th, 2022 Time: 2pm MT Dana: $450CAD – $900CAD recommended range. Please chat with us if you have concerns about the cost. Part of taking the money out of the shadow is stepping forward and having a pricing conversation with us. Learn more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/money-spirituality-integrating-spiritual-and-material-online/  

 Mindfulness and Clarity Heal Confusion Do you find life sometimes confusing? Do you sometimes blame your confusion on someone else? Or perhaps you beat yourself up for things? Me, too. Do you also like to explore? Me, too. I invite you to explore this topic with me. Here’s the insight I’d like to offer: Confusion is a lack of clarity, plain and simple. Fortunately, it is also a choice. Why fortunately? If it’s a choice, it can be healed, and in fact meditating has shown me that it can be healed. Read more @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/healing-my-confusion/  

 A teacher colleague and I were talking recently about our morning routines. I shared that I’m often in a rush from the time I get up, right into the beginning of my day at school. As a working Mom, her struggles are around getting her children ready in the morning, especially while carrying the feeling of “How can I get everything done?” in the back of her mind. Read More @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/i-dont-have-time-to-be-compassionate/

 When meditating, we aim to pay great attention to what’s going on. Bare attention to what’s going on in the body, the senses, and the mind. Of course, the goal is to be paying attention all of the time, to be as awake and alive as we can, all of the time. The modern word for this is mindfulness. The meditation cushion is like going to the gym, it’s intensive training so our minds can be in good shape off the cushion. Meditation, then, is an important training and conditioning that we do because we want agile minds, because we want to maintain space throughout the day to stay in contact with a sense of calm and perspective. Mindfulness is cumulative. Read now @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/tips-for-mindfulness-in-daily-life-part-1/  

 Clear Sky’s founding teachers recommend challenges as a way to make lightning-quick progress on the spiritual path. There’s more below about exactly what they mean by challenges, plus a link to download their free challenges worksheet from their website. This blog also talks about how the challenges complement one of Clear Sky’s principles for a spiritual container, Structure and Routine are Your Friends. Read now @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/are-you-up-for-a-challenge/  

 When you depart after retreat you vow to make some positive changes, finish the practise you are doing, continue to do that weekly, monthly or yearly challenge, and maybe change a bad habit. For the first few weeks you are all gung ho, and yet returning to a life full of distractions and competing commitments, the confusions settle back in. You forget and lose touch with the vibrancy of the awakened mind and awakening energy. Applications open now @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/hybrid-karma-yoga-program/