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"Lamps Unto Ourselves: 2013 3rd Annual Spiritual Wilderness Retreat for People of Color"

10/31/2013

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“Be a lamp unto yourselves.” – the Buddha

On the weekend of the Fall Equinox, Sept 20-22, 2013, 12 hardy and enthusiastic folks of color ventured out to the gorgeous Salmon La Sac area to be inspired, to connect, and to rejuvenate. We were expecting rain but ended up with only a few sprinkles over the entire weekend. One blessing of countless from the incredible healing spirits of Nature!

The theme of the weekend was bringing our light into the impending time of darkness. We also delved further into last year’s theme by meditating as well on loving all other living beings, including the beautiful pine trees, the river, the mountains, as “our other selves”. We shared practices in community ranging from powerful meditations, yoga on the shore of the gorgeous Salmon La Sac River with our awesome teacher Nari Baker, hiking, swimming with spawning sockeye salmon, and beautiful ritual. 

One of many highlights includes our Fall Equinox ceremony. We fashioned lanterns out of found and crafting materials, while reflecting on the light we will carry with us as we move into the season of darkness. Later that night we had a powerful ceremony in which we shared our deepest wishes for Autumn and ended by bringing our beautiful lanterns out onto the dry riverbed where we sang to the rising harvest moon.

We give thanks to all the incredible participants this year for all of your beauty and love!  Thank you for shining your light in the world. And we are so excited at the possibility of a Winter Retreat in early 2014. Stay tuned!

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“In Honor of Trayvon: a Special Healing Ceremony and Meditation”

10/31/2013

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Monday, July 22nd, 2013

Ceremony is from 7:00pm-9:00pm, Doors open at 6:30pm

Zenyu

2828 S Frontenac St

Seattle WA 98108

zenyuhealing.wordpress.com

ALL ARE WELCOME

Suggested Donation: $5-20 (no one turned away for lack of funds)

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO THE JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON MARTIN FOUNDATION AND THE NAACP

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In the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal of the murder of Trayvon Martin, Zenyu will host a special Healing Ceremony and Meditation in honor of Trayvon. This special Healing Ceremony will be open to all members of our communities and will be held on Monday, July 22nd, from 7:00-9:00pm at Zenyu.  Doors will open at 6:30pm.

It is easy to feel hopeless and dejected in these dark times. Now more than ever, we need each other. Let us come together as Beloved Community to mourn, to heal, and to send out our most loving intentions to Trayvon’s family and all young people of color living daily with racism and violence. Let us express our outrage, let us call out to the Power of the Universe for healing justice.

Please join us for this special evening of meditation, encouragement and rebuilding of strength.  Christine and April will guide us through a grieving and healing ceremony, and the amazing artist-teachers, Christa Bell and Rebekka Goldsmith, will lead us in powerful singing throughout the evening.  Suggested donation is $5-20.  All proceeds will go directly to the Justice for Travyon Martin Foundation and to the NAACP for their work in building a civil rights case against Zimmerman.

If you haven’t already done so, please sign this petition urging the Department of Justice to file civil rights charges against Zimmerman, a man who stalked and murdered a black child: http://www.naacp.org/DOJ-petition-FB

Accessibility Information

All Zenyu events are FRAGRANCE-FREE*
(For those with pet allergies, we do have a geriatric dog that lives in our home, but we do our best to constantly clean.)

To reach the Temple where we hold our events, there are a total of 13 steps (6 steps to the main entrance of the building and 7 steps inside the building.)  The bathroom is on the main level of the house, which can be accessed either by 6 steps, or by the back entrance behind the house (which has an incline and 1 step).  The community center across the street also has accessible bathrooms on the main level. If you have any accessibility concerns or questions, please email us at zenyuseattle@gmail.com

*Questions about “Fragrance-Free” check out this article.


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An Abundant Spring!

10/31/2013

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It’s been an abundant spring for Zenyu!  We had an intimate and fun Gardening Skillshare and Work Party at Hester Angus’s homestead on Beacon Hill. 5 hardy souls and one geriatric Beagle came out one foggy, drizzly Saturday in April to dig big holes in the ground, plant beets and beans, share food, and reflect on our connection to place. In exchange for our hard work, a few weeks later we got to harvest as many pea vines as we wanted (yum)! We look forward to more of these work parties in the summer. Stay tuned!

And! Zenyu was recently awarded not one but TWO grants: a small one from Lily Divine Productions, a local production company that produces queer burlesque shows, and a $20,000 grant from the Self-Development of People Committee of the Presbyterian Church.  These may be small in terms of nonprofit grants, but it’s HUGE to us!!!

Further, we are excited to officially welcome longtime Zenyu supporter and beloved ally, Emil Paddison, as Zenyu’s new Sustainability Director!  Emil comes to us with over 10 years experience in Tenants Rights work, anti-oppression and cross-class allyship with Resource Generation.  Coming from her most recent position as Deputy Director at the Tenants Union, Emil will be helping us with Organizational Development, Strategic Planning, Fundraising and Administration.  We are excited to grow Zenyu’s work with Emil’s incredible expertise and passion for building Beloved Community rooted in compassion, justice and connection!

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2013 SPIRITUAL WILDERNESS RETREAT FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR

10/31/2013

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Gardening Skillshare/Work Party

10/31/2013

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Zenyu featured in the International Examiner!

10/31/2013

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Zenyu Healing Center: Community Health from the Inside Out
by Robin Park

When you hear the word, “revolution,” what comes to mind? Widespread protest? Violent rebellion? Political overthrow?

For me, the word evokes a vision of social justice and liberation. However, oftentimes, when we speak of justice, it only relates to social, economic and/or political institutions. We tend to think only of what’s “out there” in society rather than how it is connected to the state of our physical, mental and spiritual being. The irony of that is all social change begins within. When we shift our perspectives, values, and behaviors, we enact a chain of transformation that ripples out.

This is precisely what Zenyu Healing Center does. Zenyu started as a small community project in 2006, when co-founder Christine Cruz Guiao saw the lack of safe spaces for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Inquiring (LGBTQI) people of color to develop holistic leadership, spirituality and health. Since then, it has evolved into to a grassroots, multicultural organization that cultivates holistic well-being and leadership of queer people of color (QPOC).

Zenyu offers meditation classes, wilderness excursions, spiritual retreats and supports long-term social change by developing solution-centered leadership based on compassion, mindfulness and cooperation among marginalized communities. It creates opportunities to develop transformative connections with our inner selves, each other and the natural world through a spiritual, social justice lens.

Zenyu community members gather for one of their Northwest wilderness excursions to reconnect people of color to nature. Zenyu was co-founded by Christine Guiao Cruz (front row, far left) and is co-directed by her partner April Nishimura (front row, far right). Photo courtesy of Christine Guiao.


“I come to this work with a deep passion for the vision that all beings live peaceful, joyful and fulfilled lives, while developing a symbiotic relationship with the planet,” shares April Nishimura, Zenyu co-director and structural medicine practitioner. “Creating this reality requires that we transform our relationship with ourselves. This inner work must balance our external efforts for peace and justice. Without both of these in combination, we cannot be truly free.”

Zenyu is one of, if not the only QPOC-led space in the Seattle area that both acknowledges that spiritual spaces can be oppressive, and addresses the need for people of color-centered spaces and education that dismantle oppression through spiritual practice. What makes Zenyu even more unique is that its programming is developed by community organizers, so it offers a comprehensive and holistic approach to social justice.

Zenyu’s principles are also reflected in its organizational structure by integrating community building and fiscal transparency with its funders. Currently, the organization’s shoestring budget is entirely supported by donations, and they are developing a long-term, sustainable funding plan.

Finally, my own story: I began working with Zenyu co-founder and spiritual counselor Christine Guiao in the spring of 2011. Before that, I did not consider myself a spiritual person. My life was sprinkled with what some may refer to as “superstitions,” but my parents — both immigrants — did not instill the value of developing my spirituality. I did not practice yoga, meditate or even think my own spiritual well-being was connected to community work. I thought of myself as a poet and educator who taught storytelling as a way to enact social change. I learned when we share stories, we break silences and demand visibility. I believed this would lead to policy change. However, my train of thought stopped there. I always wondered: “What do I do now that I’ve shared my story?”

Like many of my colleagues and peers who work in social services, I practiced almost no self-care and burned out. Sure, I tried to eat well, sleep a decent amount and exercise, but something was missing.

The trauma was still there, and I did not seek out therapeutic services. I am the daughter of a registered nurse, and descend from a long line of herbalists and acupuncturists, so knowledge of various health practices and access to them was not the issue. The issue was that I was not sure of what I needed. I was not completely sure of what to expect at first, but when you are not in good health, you must be open to being uncomfortable and trying new things.

Only when I began working with Christine did I fully understand how my healing affected my work in social justice. My definition of that expanded to prioritize self-care, and that expanded to include how I treat myself. When I started recognizing how my personal behaviors were created to survive racism, heterosexism and other “-ism”s, I began to truly heal.
For if we cannot resolve conflicts within and value ourselves first, how can we do so in our communities?


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