Nurturing Well-Being: Building Community Connections Through Mindful Practices, Grounding Mountain Pose and Sharing Root Vegetable Soup June 1 2025
- rockbriarfarm
- Jun 1
- 4 min read
The past few days I have been thinking about community. The first Oxford definition mentions people living in the same place, which I don’t think captures what defines community. The secondary definition defines community as “a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals”. While this could be construed as meaning places of worship or fellowship, community, is truly more than this definition describes. It is the sense of connectedness we feel when engaged with others with whom we share experiences, interests, beliefs or history; these connections provide a sense of wellbeing, support and place. Some may be tangential connections, some may be deeper relationships, but they weave together to make us feel supported and part of something powerful. This is vital for our psychological wellbeing.
In long ago times, we lived in tribes, and we survived because of community. Prior to the industrial revolution and the nuclear family or before we worked remotely or communicated through texts, the community played a pivotal role in our existence and daily life. I believe that our souls are programmed to seek this sense of unity and belonging, in today’s day to day interaction, much of that sense of community is missing.
For thousands of years, yoga was a solitary practice until BKS Iyengar taught a class in 1936 to a group of women. The roots of a yoga community were fostered and group classes evolved to what we now understand yoga classes and community to be. The beauty of practicing in a group is the support, joy and sense of being part of something greater.
Remember that the word yoga means to yoke, a practice that binds or yokes our mind, body and breath. The building of a community is also a yoking process. Not everyone in a community has common interests, however, a singular interest (yoga, church, synagogue, PTO, pottery class) may bring some of them together. The individual connections begin to yoke together, strengthening our sense of community and our wellbeing. As these threads weave a community together, we learn about each other, support each other and find new ways to share the sense of belonging
What is better for our hearts than a strong sense of support from those around us? This week I suggest that we reach out, nurture the seedlings of recognition and connection that we find during our day, whether at yoga, the library, church or the grocery store. Take a moment, recognize the connections, deepen that sense of community one thread at a time.
Meditating on Community
In traditions like Buddhism and Yoga the Sanskrit term “sangha” describes our understanding of community. Tich Nhat Hanh describes how practitioners create sangha based on spiritual practice:
“…thanks to the collective practice, we can regain our solidity. Even if we’re distracted, our sangha can help us remember to come back to the present moment, to touch what is positive, to touch our own peace, to see how to undo what is difficult”.
“Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” ~ Helen Keller
“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” ~ African Proverb
"However, community is first of all a quality of the heart. It grows from the spiritual knowledge that we are alive not for ourselves but for one another. Community is the fruit of our capacity to make the interests of others more important than our own. The question, therefore, is not ‘How can we make community?’ but, ‘How can we develop and nurture giving hearts?" ~ Henri Nouwen
Henri Jozef Machiel Nouwen was a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian. His interests were rooted primarily in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice and community.
Our Practice – Tadasana (Mountain Pose) with Open Heart.
Tadasana is a grounding pose that we can return to to find stability, grounding and rootedness, the same feelings we find from our community.
To Practice:
Stand with the feel parallel, about hips width apart, or slightly less if it feels better.
Lift and spread your toes and the balls of your feet, then place them softly back down on the floor. Move your body side to side and back and forth finding your center. Slow your movement coming to a standstill with your weight evenly balanced.
Stand tall, ankles, knees, hips stacked. Spine is long, chin is not jutting forward, core is engaged. Allow your shoulder blades to draw toward each other and down the back, away from the ears.
Let your arms relax beside your torso, palms facing where they naturally fall.
Balance the crown of your head directly over the center of your neutral pelvis with the underside of your chin parallel to the floor.
Nurturing with Food – Root Vegetable Soup
Thinking of community made me think of making something to share, what better than soup. Before we begin to harvest summer vegetables, this root vegetable soup is delicious, nurturing and very easy to expand and share.
See you on the mat,
Namaste,
Julia Anne
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