7:00 a.m. In order to care for and serve the world, I practice caring for my body. I love my morning practice of yoga, meditation, and weight training. They help me start the day with joy.
9:00 a.m. I love my opportunities to (virtually) teach the key elements of New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care’s contemplative medicine model to palliative care teams across the country.
12:00 p.m. Taking the subway is a place of practice for me. It’s not my favorite activity—which allows me to work with my clinging to preferences and opinions. Here, I am heading downtown to care for the New York Zen Center.
2:00 p.m. We perform a chanting service and dedicate the merits to our lineage, to those who have died in the last 49 days, to those who are ill, and to the guardians of the dharma.
9:00 p.m. To close out my day, I relax with my husband and co-founder of the Zen Center, Chodo Sensei, and our cat, Bodhidharma, who keeps us entertained with his shenanigans.
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See more of Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison’s day on Instagram @tricyclemag.
Check out previous installments of “A Day in the Dharma” featuring the members of the Village Zendo, dharma teacher Valerie Brown, and six Buddhist teachers in quarantine.
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