Jaya and ashe use this episode to explore an expanded sense of accessibility in how teachers go about teaching, and how students access learning. We're talkin' about accessibility in the teachings, and we hope you enjoy.
What words are more accessible? Which formats? Which platforms? What is the benefit of adapting the teachings for a vast and evolving community? How do you know if you're thinking about it enough?
This is the fourth of six parts in a series called First Fire. Each episode in this series is a small part of one longer conversation.
1. the quality of being easy to obtain or use. "students were concerned about the accessibility of quality academic counseling" the quality of being easily understood or appreciated. "the accessibility of his work helped to popularize modern art"
Access Middle English (in the sense ‘sudden attack of illness’): from Latin accessus, from the verb accedere ‘to approach’ (see accede). access (sense 1 of the noun) is first recorded in the early 17th century.
Accede late Middle English (in the general sense ‘come forward, approach’): from Latin accedere, from ad- ‘to’ + cedere ‘give way, yield’.
Jaya and ashe use this episode to explore an expanded sense of accessibility in how teachers go about teaching, and how students access learning. We're talkin' about accessibility in the teachings, and we hope you enjoy.
What words are more accessible? Which formats? Which platforms? What is the benefit of adapting the teachings for a vast and evolving community? How do you know if you're thinking about it enough?
This is the fourth of six parts in a series called First Fire. Each episode in this series is a small part of one longer conversation.
1. the quality of being easy to obtain or use. "students were concerned about the accessibility of quality academic counseling" the quality of being easily understood or appreciated. "the accessibility of his work helped to popularize modern art"
Access Middle English (in the sense ‘sudden attack of illness’): from Latin accessus, from the verb accedere ‘to approach’ (see accede). access (sense 1 of the noun) is first recorded in the early 17th century.
Accede late Middle English (in the general sense ‘come forward, approach’): from Latin accedere, from ad- ‘to’ + cedere ‘give way, yield’.
So I think it's really cool, like to inquire it. What I mean by inquire is more like in inward questioning, but in a feeling way, when I am sure that I'm right. How does it feel in the body or if someone doesn't feel their body very easily? Like what kind of voices that, or what images come,
ashe:
thank you for that addition. Cannot tell you how much I struggle in another thing. That's making me emotional because I'm like, I don't think when people say, where do you feel it in your body? There's really very little comes to mind most often, you know, I'm just like, Ugh, I'm not sure. I'm pretty much thinking these thoughts. And I know that there are sometimes I'm in touch with that concept. Like it comes very naturally to me to say where right often I am. That's not the language I would use or I don't connect to that idea. And then I feel a little bit, um, I start to get very curious about that. That's putting it maybe mildly sometimes, you know, it's frustrating to not be able to receive the teaching or, you know, to impose a barrier there where there could be a lot of inquiry. But, um, I do appreciate the permission, I guess, for more options, it, it makes it all feel maybe more connected. Like there is a body place for me also, I just get, maybe we'll get there a different way, but anyway, I was just, I've never heard that before those like, think about it differently than that. And it'd be the same concept
jaya:
is new for me. It's -- somewhere between laziness and trying not to overburden with words that the Teach we, a teachers and the teaching role with tend to just give that same old, like, how does it feel in your body way? Meaning how has it, how is that in your experience? Like, what are the what's in your inner atmosphere when that belief that's charged with the emotions? Comes on or when you notice yourself playing power games and you're like, oh, you're curious about that happening. And, and there can be the pause, like in the, in those martial arts movies, where suddenly everything slows down and the person's doing their really cool moves through everybody else is still like, you get to pause and feel like what's. What's moving here.
ashe:
What's moving, even and that's, that's such an accessible question to me. Cool. Awesome. Yeah. Do you consciously think about accessibility in your teaching? Like do you spend a lot of time on that? Yeah,
jaya:
I have to put it a little differently because I have been teaching for so long now. Um, I wouldn't say I spend a lot of time on that. Yeah. Maybe I could spend more time, on that, you know, like, um, working with you as giving me a chance to have a different perspective on what have I bothered to make sure is out there that is accessible to anybody. And for example, doing these YouTube beginning meditation videos, people that I've known for decades, Who could come to the live meditations on Monday or Wednesday, they feel like the YouTube video, like, Wow, it's the YouTube video that's accessible to that person. Right. But also the things that I mentioned to you that. I like to have a sense of who is here. Even if it's 50 people in a year-long program, but it's an ongoing conversation with those particular people. It allows the organic things that come up. I mean, I guess there's enough trust and it's not like a performance. It's not a pretension. It's like, what's really coming up for people. And what's really helpful for people and what's fun for people, you know, those might be the sort of main three things. Um, but then that's really cool for me to think about accessibility in different ways. But an example, when I'm, let's say guiding a meditation, I'm first of all, quiet as much as I can be. And I'm letting the words come and including the, sometimes it's more about the sound of the word like that consonant or that combination of continents, you know? And I just wait for that to become a word, you know, like, uh, feeling is different from sensing and I, it could mean in a, in a. Intellectual way we can come up with how someone might hear the word sensing and someone might hear the word feeling, but just in the sound of the word, I guess, poetically, but it's more like, I don't know. It's the wholeness and the integrity that the sounds matter. They carry something. I don't know. Anyway. I'm aware that if a particular sound or a particular word is coming in a particular timing, that is something about accessibility. Like it, it might, there's someone who's listening now, or maybe it even works. I don't know, beyond time. Who knows? Maybe. Cause sometimes people listen to the recording later and they're like, oh, that was such good timing. So physics says time is really up in the air and, and a question. So I'm open to that possibility that whoever might listen to this I don't expect every word to hit everybody, but maybe there'll be something for someone about the word from, I mean, it doesn't have to be even a special word, you know? Um, but then I do have in mind, simple things like someone is more visual. someone is more auditory. Someone is more kinesthetic. And I, when that comes up as part of my process of receiving the words, I don't hesitate to include the other avenues. And I know people who don't feel their body very well. So I, I, it depends on the context. Like if it's a group that we've been together for awhile, then they might understand my shorthand and I can say, feeling your body or open your eyes and work with color, or use sound, but other times I'll go into more detail if it's a more open situation. And I don't know who's there and I don't know how they connect. The thing is connects? What is your way of connecting what's possible? Yeah. kind of was rambling a bit there, but I think maybe I responded to your question. Yeah.
ashe:
Well also the thing about time made me think that. How I sent you a song maybe a year ago. I'm not sure sometime in the summertime, maybe in the future. Um, it was, it was called the keep going on song and the woman who sings in that song reminds me of you at least physically. I don't know her, but, um, and there's this one line that says, whenever this is wherever, this is, we'll be together tonight. And I think of that as why I make this sort of media or I make this sort of art and the podcasts and these kinds of videos and things. To your point about connection. I don't know when or how, but like this will be the moment that you experience it. And in that moment we are together and that has nothing to do with time or being linear. And so that line just really has stuck with me so much and just really, it helps me access all of what is digital and separate, you know, feeling separate these days. It really makes it gives permission for that to be
jaya:
yes. Yeah, I was resistant to technology early on. Like I was definitely not the first person to get a so-called smartphone years ago. Um, and I was resistant to doing one to ones online. Now that's been maybe four or five years. It seems longer, but it's hard to think of a single one-to-one meeting online that wasn't treasure. Hmm. I mean, better than treasure. What is treasure, you know? Um, and the kind of like meeting online. I think it does leave open lots of layers of meeting that aren't always as present in person because in person there's a little bit more. Negotiation of, do you like me? Do I like you? Am I safe with you? Like, you know, totally. Am I doing, am I okay with my body? And I'm, am I comparing to other bodies? Um, do I have enough space? Am I taking up too much? I mean, that's all important. I'm not, I, I wouldn't want to be at all reducing human contact, but I find there is a lot of real human contact through screens. That can really infuse a different quality to times that we are in person together that the whole kind of spiritual self or whatever way to put that, the invisible, the parts that we more likely to ignore that can be present. When I, I have my space and I can also turn my camera off and have the feeling of I'm with people. And no one is seeing me that practice has been really powerful for people to be connected, but to be like, no one's watching. And then maybe slowly something can start to be creeping up of. And what if they can see me? Could I have the same relief, openness, enjoyment being seen as if I'm not being seen.