Welcome to the December edition of Connect, the Waking Down Teachers Association's (WDTA) publication.
Our intention is to inspire and support you in your continued embodied awakening process. To this extent we will feature individual teachers, essays and other content that we feel might be of value to you.

This month's edition features writings from Steve Boggs, CC Leigh & Michael Radford (published in Dancing in the Fire - thanks to Bob Valine!) and a gazing transmission video with Colorado WD teachers CC Leigh, June Konopka, and Max & Tatini Goler. Enjoy!

With blessings on your journey,
The WDTA

Who I Am In This Work
By Steve Boggs

In my awakening process, I have experienced myself as a tin woodsman on a yellow brick road searching for a heart I have always had an inkling of, but not really known or fully occupied. That longing has been underneath so much of what I have occupied myself with in my life. My work, my relationships, the experiences I have had have all been an attempt to heal my homesickness for God.

We truly are magnificent, wondrous beings, yet what we so often feel is the weight of 40 or 50 years of baggage; all the disappointments, the frustrations, the missed opportunities, the moments when we lost our nerve, the betrayals, the regrets, the grief. ...continue reading (scroll down page to 4th paragraph)

A Waking Down Love Story
By CC Leigh & Michael Radford
(Taken from "Dancing in the Fire" with permission from Bob Valine)

CC Leigh: "Dancing in the Fire" pretty well describes our journey together. It all started in 2004 at the Transfiguration Retreat in Estes Park. Michael was a participant in a small group I led, one of those uniquely synergistic groups where everyone seems to really serve one another's process and the heart connections quickly deepen. I could not help noticing Michael: a beautiful but very broken-hearted man, who cam to each group meeting resolved to reveal yet another of his (in his opinion) most shameful aspects. Every day he arrived tense and hurting, and by the end of the group left more relaxed, growing ever-more radiant as the week progressed.

Michael Radford:
By the time I arrived at Estes Park in May, 2004, I was falling helplessly, at an ever-accelerating pace, into depths and heart of my flaws and brokenness. I'd been participating in the Waking Down work for about eight months. The deep holding and greenlighting of the WD teachers and community had gradually produced an profound relaxation in me around all of the traits and qualities of my personality that I had previously spent my entire adult life striving mightily to fix, change, improve, or even annihilate. The man (me) that CC sat with in our small group somehow knew, with quiet certainty, that when he'd spoken every last terrible truth about what was in his mind and heart, he would be free. ...continue reading

Gazing Meditation

Gazing is a practice that offers the transmission of whole being awakeness to catalyze your own awakening and integration process. When practiced in person it is a two-way giving and receiving. Below referenced gazing video is for you to simply receive the transmission.

The practice is simple: just sit quietly and receive. Let thoughts come and go, and simply be present in the gaze. You may or may not feel anything through this type of gazing, but in our experience, the transmission works powerfully nonetheless.

Colorado WD Teachers Gazing Video on YouTube

For more information go to wakingdown.org
We appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Please email us at info@wakingdown.org