Sit Club with Davin Youngs

One of the most fundamental and lovely teachings in the lineage of Buddhist meditation is Metta or Loving-kindness. Championed in the west by teachers like Sharon Salzberg, Metta meditation is a practice that brings our attention to the first of the four Brahma Viharas or "heavenly states." It is a simple, yet profound reminder of our ability at any given time to tap into unconditional friendlines...

Are you willing to give up your suffering? Are you willing to stay present to now and let go of your past and your future? One of the central teachings of Buddhism is the truth of impermanence. Throughout time, teachers have taught that while suffering is a part of the human experience, there is a path for suffering to cease. That path is traveled most quickly when we recognize that nothing is per...

In this Sit Club gathering we explore the tradition of walking meditation through the words of Thich Nhat Hanh. Walking meditation is an incredible way to awaken your practice and move into the embodied practice of meditation. In this practice, you will be asked you as are able to stand, and move throughout the space that you are in. You are encouraged to use headphones and take this practice wher...

In this Sit Club gathering, we come back to self-compassion as a starting place to find more freedom and ease in our lives. While it's easy to think of self-compassion as simply being kind to one's self, it is actually a portal to so much more and it starts by being able to stop and notice. Davin leads a guided meditation that will invite you to stop, notice and contemplate difficult situations in...

What is the nature of transformation? What differentiates transformation from change? When are we ready and willing to embark upon a transformative journey and can meditation be the catalyst? What would it mean to really know transformation in your life? In this Sit Club gathering, Davin explores these questions and uses the words of Charlotte Joko Beck to accompany the practice. -- If you would l...

What if your most difficult emotions were simply a veil that covers your peace and happiness? In this gathering, Davin offers a meditation that invites you into the experience of bringing that which feels most difficult, close. This expands your capacity and awareness of what your most painful emotions really are. He continues to read from Rupert Spira's 'You Are The Happiness You Seek' and offers...

We often are told that change is hard and that spiritual waking is an epic endeavor, but what if all that you seek... peace, love, happiness, joy... is as easy to access as releasing your grip? In this gathering Davin explores the experience of holding versus releasing and how on the other grasping is indeed, happiness. He uses a reading from Rupert Spira's book "You Are The Happiness You Seek" --...

Have you ever considered the nature of your being? What sits at the very core of who you are? What if your nature of was peace and happiness? How might that influence how you move throughout your life. These are the questions Davin explores in this Sit Club gathering. Using Rupert Spira's "You Are The Happiness You Seek, " Davin offers a practice and reflection guiding you into the awareness of yo...

What are the hallmarks of a rich spiritual life? In this gathering, Davin shares one that he believes might be the most tangible... the willingness to take inspired action. While meditation helps us cultivate the capacity to be in the present, the outcome is never more of the same. The inevitability of change is that which can inspire how it is that we navigate our every day lives. A reading by Ch...

In this gathering Davin explores the simple yet profound mantra "I love..." as a way of cultivating love in our lives and an open hear. Davin read's a blog post by Jack Kornfield that asks "Did I love well? Did I live well? Did I let go?" -- If you would like to join live, please visit: SIT CLUB If you would like to donate to Davin as an energetic exchange for these offerings, please do so here: D...

Hope is a tricky topic when investigated under the framework of meditation and mindfulness. What role does hope play when we are working to accept things as they are, not cling to the past and not pine for the future? In this gathering, Davin explores a framework of hope that involves an increased confidence in what already is. Knowing that there is more built in. He uses the words of Sharon Salzb...

What is the meaning of the summer solstice and how might a deeper understanding of it influence our lives? In this gathering Davin introduces the solstice as an invitation to notice patterns. be in our body and to see and be seen. He also previews his new track "The Heartbeat Is a Sunset" now available on all streaming platforms.    -- If you would like to join live, please visit: SIT CLUB If you...

Drawing from Mark Nepo's book "Seven Thousand Ways to Listen" this Situ Club gathering is focused on the practice and posture of deep listening. In the guided practice, Davin leads participants into an exercises of noticing sounds that begin quite close and then move outward. From there he inquires about the implication of truly listening well, proposing that is requires an active posture of givin...

The Third Commitment offered by Pema Chodron in the book Living Beautifully is the commitment to embrace the world just as it is. In this gathering, Davin explores the broader implications for this commitment and what it might mean for both seeing the world as fundamentally good and questions around social justice, good and evil, and personal aspirations. -- If you would like to join live, please...

We continue utilizing the Pema Chodron book, Living Beautifully as our guide. This week focusing on the second commitment to take care of one another. In this sit, Davin guides a meditation that practices engaging those who are closest to us in a circle and then enlarging the circle by inviting their loved ones in. -- If you would like to join live, please visit: SIT CLUB If you would like to dona...

In this gathering, Davin continues his focus on the Pema Chodron Book "Living Beautifully" and explores the first of three commitments she offers that will allow us to live better with the uncertainty of life. The first commitment is "Do No Harm." In the guided meditation practice, Davin offers and exploration of "fundamental goodness" as a foundation for understanding this first commitment -- If...

Thoughts are always just thoughts, but if we follow them and believe them they quickly turn into story. In today's Sit Club gathering, Davin explores the practice of noticing our thoughts so as to give up our story, which is often the cause of our suffering. In addition, he considers the safety that stories provide and what it means to honor them as a necessary part of human connection while not n...

What is the nature of "This?" What is the experience of "Thisness?" drawing on the non-dual teachings of Richard Rohr and John Duns Scotus, in this gathering Davin explores "This" and "Thisness" as a path to deeper connection and breaking through the illusion of separation. The guided practice relies heavily on contemplation and is meant to be an experience not knowing, which is then the ultimate...

Generosity is the path to and from abundance. Abundance is a the truth that is revealed with our Buddha nature. In this gathering we explore these themes with a guided meditation that calls into focus those who have been generous with us and offering them loving kindness. From there, we engage a reading from Sharon Salzberg and some thoughts on Buddha nature and the 10 perfections. -- If you would...

Throughout time, great teachers have pointed to the goal of meditation being "clear seeing" or "increased clarity." But, what does it mean to see more clearly? And what is it that illuminates what we see? Further, who is seeing? In this sit, Davin explores exercises in non-duality around clarity and luminosity. He shares a reading on clarity from Open Heart, Open Mind by Tsoknyi Rinpoche. -- If yo...

What sits beneath the "you" that is experiencing? What is the nature of You that exists with, in and around your experience? In this practice we explore that, and offer a framework of Happiness with which to explore it. Rupert Spira's book You Are The Happiness You Seek serves as inspiration and Anthony DeMello's book Awareness provides the reading. -- If you would like to join live, please visit:...

The zen buddhist teacher, Charlotte Joko Beck says that there is "only one thing we need to know," and it is that our job as humans is to pay attention. Beck lays the framework for our Sit Club gathering this week where we pay attention in both practice and conversation to the fullness of our experiencing. We ARE experiencing and this is the gift if we can notice. Of course it's not easy. That's w...

In the final week in our series on Practices for Openheartedness we pull apart the layers of gratitude. Davin shares his recent realization that gratitude is the inevitable response to awareness. He shares the words of David Whyte from his book Consolations and invites a physiological metaphor for breathing and the diaphragm as a way of understanding the relationship between gratitude and awarenes...

In this Sit Club gathering we engage a practice around forgiveness. We utilize readings from Sharon Salzberg and Jack Kornfield, and explore the subtle mystery of what it is to actually forgive. -- Born out of the pandemic, Sit Club began in September of 2020 and continues every Sunday morning at 10am CT. Typically an hour in length, an intimate group of all ages, genders and races, from all over...

In this Sit Club gathering we engage a practice meant to cultivate compassion. We also hear readings from Sharon Salzberg and Thich Nhat Hanh. -- Born out of the pandemic, Sit Club began in September of 2020 and continues every Sunday morning at 10am CT. Typically an hour in length, an intimate group of all ages, genders and races, from all over the world gathers on Zoom to sit in guided meditatio...