Chasing Alyssa

  Join us for June 2023's Mindfulness Mondays drop-in class! Monday June 26, 2023 from 7-8PM ET on Zoom. Suffering (which includes any challenging experience we may face) is inevitable in life. In this session, we examine and start to utilize the tools of awareness and compassion, in order to meet our challenges more skillfully. There will be a short talk, a guided meditation, and time for reflection and Q&A. Trauma-sensitive guidance is offered throughout. Drop-in classes support beginners to meditation and also those looking to deepen their practice—ALL are welcome! Register here and a Zoom link will be sent closer to the date. This class is offered in the Buddhist dana tradition. Any offering you choose to give will directly support my continued practice to serve the future classes I build. $10 USD donation-suggested (Venmo @alyssahchase, pay via EventBrite, or email chasingalyssa@gmail.com to arrange), or you may give whatever feels supportive to you, and no one will be tur...

  Excited to share that I am now officially certified to teach mindfulness meditation having culminated my 2-year program through MMTCP, Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield's program with Sounds True & UC Berkeley! I've been catching my breath to plan next steps and wanted to update you on an exciting launch of a monthly drop-in class starting this May. Each month I will offer a class with a different mindfulness theme, built to invite beginners and also deepen the practice of veterans. My first session "You are the Sky", will explore cultivating spaciousness, and will be offered via Zoom on May 22, 2023 from 7-8PM ET. Class will include a short dharma talk on Allowance and a guided meditation, followed by prompts for reflection and a Q&A.   Click the link below to register, and please forward to any contacts who may be interested in joining! https://forms.gle/ Y6FQmivU2UvnF9zN7

          The following Spring after we were married my husband and I took a proper honeymoon to Bali. We rented a car and explored the island extensively, traveling to all four quadrants. It was a life-changing experience, three weeks rich in transformation with episodes I recollect like touchstones, on at least a weekly basis. One of those episodes occurred near the northern town of Singaraja at the unusual temple, Dalem Jagaraga. This temple is dedicated to the worship of the god of death (Ciwa or Durga) so that when someone dies the soul may be at rest. The Balinese honor gods for both their positive and negative connotations, and recognize the importance of these yin and yang forces in the world. This temple is also famous for its unusual carvings inspired by modern western additions to Balinese culture, when Singaraja was a major trading port fighting for its independence from the colonizing Dutch. While we were visiting, examinin...

You really gotta be your own "Yes." To me, this is a face of Possibility. A giant Yes. I was about 4 years old here. A completely open face to go with the heart, and a spirit of adventure too. The joy is palpable, right? So why does the fight to keep that joy, the same faith in Possibility grow more difficult with time? Lots of different reasons from a million little moments that start adding up, hardening to create its own coat of armor. I get so used to steeling myself with dogged confidence just so I can keep showing up, even when all of that confidence is just thrown into the void, even when anything from unimpressed to flat out rejection comes from the other side. When acceptance or even accolades do come, it's almost confusing to me because I have trained myself to expect so little from others.  What's concerning is my great relief in these more affirmative moments. There's a validation, the thought that "No, in fact I'm not crazy......

**Names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals. And the author from possible shade.** ~ In Seventh grade, I started having trouble in math class. Honestly, I was never a big fan of math class even in elementary and middle school, but I still understood the lessons and earned decent grades. From Seventh grade through Twelfth grade in my public school system, classes were divided into three levels: Honors, Level A, and Level B. I was placed in Honors level classes across the board, but about a month into the term, I took a complete nose-dive in my Honors Math class. I could not keep up with the material, and having never experienced this before so profoundly, I felt completely lost. I found my teacher, Mrs. White, to be intimidating. When I approached her with concerns, she seemed to brush them off or go through the material very quickly, not really taking the time to break down the concepts for me. During tests, she would often remind us of the limited time we had ...

     During Pope Francis's recent visit to the United States, he cancelled a fancy lunch with major Washington politicians to visit with some of the homeless population in the area. He also encouraged congregants (on multiple occasions) to have compassion for others in their community, who they may normally ignore or even look down upon. He invited people to open their awareness and their hearts. The following story is an early "ah-ha" moment for me in NYC-living, that I think speaks to Pope Francis's message in a small way.      I grew up in a very small seaside town in Massachusetts. When I moved to NYC to study music theater, it was a huge shift on many levels. One of the differences for me was the increased presence of the homeless population: on the streets, in the subway, in the parks, everywhere, and in rather close proximity (as every facet of city life is marked by close proximity!). Every day I witness people struggling to get by, beggi...