Originally Posted on May 16, 2012

The Community Advisory Board of Zenyu are working hard to support Zenyu and would like to invite you to build with them and support one of our community partners, Hilltop Urban Gardens (H.U.G.) in Tacoma, WA.  Dean Jackson founded HUG in 2009 and has been cultivating their dream of food justice and sustainability.  We wanted to support that dream and cultivate healing justice by connecting our community to theirs.  Let’s grow together!  This WERQ Party is not a traditional work party, because we want to get GROUNDED with history, knowledge of food and healing justice, and EAT together!  So bring your laughter and some potluck items and get ready to WERQ it OwT and HUG it OwT with us on June 2nd!

DETAILS
This event is for all Zenyu members & folks interested in ZENYU or HUG.  That means everyone, especially LGBTIQQ people of color and family, friends, and allies.

FLOW
12:00pm – CARPOOL, Meet at Washington Hall (153 14th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122) parking lot
12:45pm – ARRIVE at H.U.G. (2201 South Tacoma Way PMB 128, Tacoma, WA 98409)
1:00pm – Welcome/Grounding & History of H.U.G., Dean Jackson, Founder of H.U.G.
1:10pm – Meditation Circle, Christine Guiao, Co-Founder of ZENYU
1:30pm – Let the WORK begin*
3:45pm – Wrap up
4:00pm – Gathering Potluck & Land/Earth Story Telling & Knowledge Sharing about FOOD JUSTICE & HEALING JUSTICE**
5:00pm – CARPOOL back to Seattle

* In case of heavy rain, we will have an alternative work party & potluck inside that supports HUG
** Please bring a potluck item to share that will be warmed up and ready for you at 7:00pm when all the work is done.  Also, please bring your food, land, earth, and more stories to share and your curiosity about food and healing justice.
*** We need 25 participants and we want you there!

Donations of $5-$100 to support the work of H.U.G. No one turned away for lack of funds.  It takes a lot of work to be an independent urban farmer and non-profit organization director.  As a community partner, we want to encourage you to learn more about HUG and consider how to support monetarily, by long-term volunteering, and more.  Money will also go to support transportation and gas costs for people driving carpools.

RSVP by May 27, 2012 (Sunday) by sending this information to lulucar@gmail.com (we only have capacity for 25 participants) with SUBJECT LINE: RSVP for HUG

• Name:
• E-mail:
• Phone:
• Can you stay the whole time? (If no, what hours would you like to attend?)
• Do you want to carpool or meet us there?
• If you can carpool, can you donate your car or do you need a ride?  How many people does it hold (including you)?
• Can you bring a potluck item?  (If yes, what shall you bring?)
• Would you like to donate to HUG? (If yes, how much?

Please make checks payable to: 
H.U.G.

Send to:
H.U.G.
Attn: Zenyu WERQ Party
2201 South Tacoma Way PMB 128
Tacoma, WA 98409

For more information contact: Luzviminda “Lulu” Carpenter, Board of Directors Member, lulucar@gmail.com

Facebook invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/405775346122886/

The HILLTOP URBAN GARDEN (H.U.G.) mission is to develop systems for food sovereignty and create racial and economic justice. Our vision is communities that take care of each other. We strive to put the we back in me! HUG values interdependence, abundance and community building. We also recognize the importance of having a practical understanding of the issues that can act as barriers in our communities. While we dig our hands into the earth, HUG aims to build community-based solutions to these barriers.
http://www.hilltopurbangardens.com/

ZENYU is a Seattle-based, multicultural organization that cultivates the holistic well-being and leadership of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Inquiring (LGBTQI) People of Color through meditation classes, wilderness excursions, and spiritual retreats. We support long-term social change by developing solution-centered leadership based on compassion, mindfulness and co-operation among marginalized communities. Zenyu creates a safe, accessible, and affordable space for LGBTQI People of Color to cultivate their total well being. Through our programs, LGBTQI People of Color develop mindfulness-based spiritual practices by deepening their connection to their bodies and their spirit, and exploring the healing power of nature.

Originally Posted on May 9, 2012
Vegetalismo is an indigenous shamanic practice in the Shipibo tradition. Vegetalismo utilizes the extraordinary healing powers of master plant medicine from the Peruvian Amazon. It’s used for a wide range of problems, from depression and advanced-stage cancer to spiritual crisis. April and Christine are excited to share the strange and exciting stories (and their accompanying pictures) of the profound healing and spiritual teachings that we came home with from our recent 3-week journey. Think hot pepper topical treatments, the purifying smoke of burning tires, and vomitives followed by more vomitives…and those are just the physical aspects!  We will also be sharing with you plans to take a group of folks, in partnership with our friend Cristina Orbe, back to the Amazon for healing in December, just in time for the end of the Mayan Calendar!  

WHEN: Wednesday, May 23th, 2012, 7-9pm. 

 PLEASE RSVP to zenyuseattle@gmail.com and we will send you the address!

Posted on January 15, 2012
Zenyu is at a super-exciting stage of development. We are now recruiting a diverse Board of Directors that reaches beyond our immediate circle of friends/ organizers/ etc. We were just born and are seeking more loving family members to help raise us into the compassionate, fierce nonprofit organization that we know we can be! 

Zenyu is a spiritually-based organization committed to providing venues for healing and community-building in queer people of color (QPOC) communities in the Seattle area. We provide opportunities for QPOC’s and allies to have exposure and opportunity to find our rightful place in nature as well as facilitating sacred sound healing, meditation circles and ceremonies. Zenyu honors many spiritual traditions, but is not affiliated with any religious institutions.

We are a new organization embarking on a strategic planning process that will ground our future work in a mission and vision.  We will be developing a fiscal plan & fundraising strategy that will sustain our work  and allow us to become a long-term resource for our communities. We are interested in engaging in an authentic community assessment and shaping future programing on our findings.

Our intention is to create a board with access to a diverse network of contacts & resources.  This includes people with diverse backgrounds, as well as varied levels of professional & life experience. You do not need previous board experience to apply.  We will be striking a balance between those who are new to boards and those with previous experience.  

We hope you can be a part of this! The spiritual/personal growth of our board members is key to the success of Zenyu (and vice versa). We will be creating a mutually-beneficial relationship between Zenyu and our board members, as we each grow.

We are asking for a commitment of two years on the board. This includes:
- General Board meetings (once a month). Minimum 2-hour meeting time.  Additional preparation time may be required.
-Committee Meetings (which meet at the discretion of the committee). Average of 1 hour per month.  ALL Board Members are required to sit on at least one Committee per year.
-Volunteering at Zenyu events & Fundraisers  (about 5 times a year). Time varies for each event; however, anticipate frequent committee meetings, tasks, and event participation.
-Annual Spiritual Wilderness Board Retreat, June 15-17, 2012 for visioning, community-building, strategic planning and more!
 
Applications are due by February 5, 2012.  Please email to: zenyuseattle@gmail.com with the subject line “Board Application” followed by your name.  If you have questions, contact us directly at zenyuseattle@gmail.com or refer to our FAQ page at http://zenyuhealing.wordpress.com/about/ .

To make this nourishing and sacred brew, we invite all participants to share a single vegetable offering. We will have vegan and non-vegan options.

Space is limited so please buy your tickets now at: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/215535.

*alright, alright. We welcome all beets  but we do ask people to refrain from wearing any scented products of any kind in our space. Other accessibility concerns? Please contact us at zenyuseattle@gmail.com.

Originally Posted on November 23, 2011
“Music is the inner or universal language of God.” – Sri Chimnoy

My throat still hurts from all the passionate belting we did after last night’s first-everCommunity Music Night* at Yummy House & Temple. Inspired renditions of TLC’s “Unpretty”, Stevie Nicks’s classic “Landslide”, and inexplicably the Beach Boys (w/ John Stamos on drums, remember that?!) “Kokomo” were one of many songs that rocked the Temple last night. Guitars, a clarinet, a cello, and a piano clanged along together in beautiful, sometimes-discordant (un)harmony, with some of us struggling at first to find the (musical) key. The songs may have started out a little rocky at first, but boy once we got into the groove, we really rocked that sh@&! Stay tuned for the next Community Music Night in December! Until then, join us for this month’s POC Hike on Saturday, Nov 26th and Meditation and Sound Healing for POCs on Tuesday, Nov 29th. Get at us for more info!

*Community Music Night is a monthly event that is open to ALL folks (POCs AND allies!) who want to get together and create music. Music is an integral part of all spiritual traditions everywhere and for good reason: it’s a lot of fun!  OK well there’s A LOT more to it than that (I’ll be writing more later) but for now, I can’t say it any better than Hazrat Inayat Khan, the Sufi master who said:

Originally Posted on October 20, 2011
We’ve decided not to host our monthly hike this Saturday, October 22nd.  As folks may know, there has been much activity this past week by People of Color to heighten racial awareness and decolonize the Occupy Seattle movement.  A Day of Solidarity has been announced for Saturday, October 22nd, with events starting at noon at Westlake Center. To do what we can to support, we will instead host a group meditation to support the People of Color (POC) Caucus in the Peoples Movement Rally (part of Occupy Seattle). We will then take the Light Rail to Westlake together to join in activities.

We feel it is important for people of color to have a voice in mainstream progressive & radical movements.  We also recognize that many POC’s have not felt safe to participate fully in the Occupy Seattle protest. As an organization, Zenyu does not support polarizing and fear-based politics.  Instead, we strive to remember the inherent goodness of all people, including the top 1%, while at the same time holding all people responsible for their actions in creating a just world.   We view these exciting times of Great Earth Change as unique and much-needed opportunities to practice compassion, remember our shared humanity, and join in the creation of a world that actually serves Life.

So join us Saturday.  Let’s bring the glorious light of our Souls to this mofo!!  Any questions? Email us at zenyuseattle@gmail.com!

WHAT: Pre-march Meditation & Centering ceremony

WHEN: Saturday, October 22, 2011, 10 AM.

WHERE: Occupy Yummy House & Temple (a.k.a. Hilda, Christine & April’s House)

2828 S. Frontenac, Seattle, WA 98108

across from the Van Asselt Community Center, on Bus route 36, off of Beacon & Myrtle

After the Meditation, we’ll carpool to Othello Station down the hill and Light Rail it to Westlake.

And if you need to borrow a rainjacket (it’s gonna rain), we’ll hook you up!

Details of the march and rally: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=207983679270672

Originally Posted on October 12, 2011
We just picked up 2 gigantic bags of exorbitantly-priced and very quality outdoor gear from Patagonia, who generously donated to this newborn baby nonprofit! Thanks a ton, Patagonia! Zenyu proudly introduces the “Lemonhead Lending Library”, named after Zenyu’s 13-year-old Beagle mascot. For all those folks of color who don’t have access to raingear and warm underlayers–we gotchu! Hit us up before one of our monthly hikes or Spiritual Wilderness Retreats and we’ll outfit you the best that we can!

Originally Posted on September 29, 2011
Zenyu is an out and proud community partner for this amazing event: Imani Uzuri in concert!  Email us (zenyuseattle@gmail.com) to get tickets because it’s going to sell out!! And also it’d be really fun to get to sit next to you, you Beautiful Being you! 

IMANI UZURI Accompanied by musicians Marika Hughes (cello) and Neel Murgai (sitar and daf)

Posted on September 15, 2011
“First, their whole spiritual practice should be enveloped by the principles of metta (lovingkindness). Then they should be taken out into nature, into beautiful forests or mountains. They must stay there long enough to realize that they too are a part of nature. They must rest there until they too can feel harmony with all life and their proper place in the midst of all things.” – Buddhadasa, Thai Buddhist monk and philosopher

In many spiritual traditions all around the world, people journey into the wilderness for contemplation and (re)connection to the Divine.  In honor of the profound healing that we have personally received from the gifts of the Great Mother (Nature, Wilderness, whatever you wanna call Her!) and excited from the success of the first hike this past month, we are thrilled to announce that we will be organizing a monthly hike for People of Color on the 3rd  or 4th Saturday of every month.  The date will depend on organizer schedules and the unique gifts of each season (for instance, the September hike may be the 4th Saturday in order to catch the stunning fall foliage in the sub-alpine ecosystem).

We will be exploring and wandering through the mountains, rivers, and ocean wildernesses of the Pacific Northwest, primarily Washington, but forays and longer wilderness retreats in other states and Canadian provinces will also be dreamt up and then miraculously manifested in the future.

The goal of these wilderness adventures is to bring healing to communities of color through the Original Path: communing with each other and (re)connecting to All Living Beings by being out in nature, feeling the precious gift of your body.  There will be no preaching and no dogma, though we do ask that all who choose to come adopt, at least for the day, an attitude of nonviolence, openness and respect.  This is nonviolence in thought, word and action toward ourselves and others (individuals AND groups of people).  In other words, please don’t talk sh@$ about yourself or anybody else in the presence of the Mother!

COSTS: 1) gas money ($5-12 each time, depending on how many folks come and how far we venture)
2) if you have the means, offering to drive when you can
3) dana/love donation for organizing costs (so I can eat)!

Posted on September 15, 2011
It’s been over a month since the epic first annual Spiritual Wilderness Retreat for People of Color rocked the wilderness of Mt. Rainier.  On the weekend of August 5-7, 2011, 13 enthusiastic folks of color gathered to hike to a secluded mountain ridge, practice yoga, meditate, engage in deep dialogue about spirituality, build beautiful community, eat lots of delicious food, give impromptu tarot card readings…and play cutthroat games of Uno (while still remaining nonviolent, of course).  Stay tuned for a Winter 2012 Spiritual Wilderness Retreat!