As a peer-led, open access community, Southsea Sangha embraces all people regardless of age, race, class, culture, nationality, ethnic origin, religious/spiritual background, gender identity, sexual or affectional orientation, marital status, family structure, social identity, physical ability or appearance, mental health, and educational or socioeconomic status.
As such, we strive to speak to each other in a compassionate way using wise speech and communication, avoiding hate-speech, intimidation, and violence of any kind. If you seek refuge in our community, we hope you feel welcome and safe
Earthworm Sangha
A monthly meditation group run by and for disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill people
When: Last Monday of Every Month
Time: 7pm – 8.15pm UK (2pm EST, 11am PST)
Cost: Freely offered
Where: Online via Zoom (Register here to join online)
“Hold on to your anger and use it as compost for your garden.” — Thich Nhat Hanh to bell hooks
Earthworm Sangha is a monthly meditation group run by and for disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill people.
We meet monthly, online over Zoom, to practice half an hour of peer-led silent meditation, followed by community sharing. It’s free to attend from your sofa, sick bed or meditation cushion, and there is no expectation to speak in the group or have your camera on, your presence with us is a gift. For those who are newer to practice we will share links to resources such as guided meditation although our main practice is silent.
What is it?
Earthworm Sangha is a monthly meditation group run by and for disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill people.
When is it?
We meet on the last Monday of the month, at 7pm, for a half hour of practice and some optional community sharing.
Who is it for?
Our community is for anybody who is disabled, neurodiverse or chronically ill. 20% of the population is disabled, so we are a very large and diverse minority. Please don’t worry about being ‘disabled enough’ or about how much experience you have with meditation. If your disability affects your life in a mild or minimal way, you are still very much welcome, alongside those of us who are profoundly affected by our disabilities.
What about accessibility?
We are guided by the principles of Disability Justice and welcome additional access requests, which you can let us know about when you sign up. We don’t currently offer British Sign Language interpretation but we’re looking into funding for it and hope to offer it in the future. If this is a barrier to attending for you, we’d be grateful if you could let us know. As a group of disabled volunteers, we’re trying to provide the best access we can with the resources we can gather to support the needs of our community.
Here are our current access offerings:
- Automatic captioning integrated with Zoom
- Join via phone (dialup) if internet or computer access isn’t available to you
- Audio description available on request.
- Free participation with donations welcome
- Funded Personal Assistant hours for committee members who need help to participate in the committee.
- Image descriptions provided for all online communications.
- Individual access needs can be shared at the point of booking, with a reply via email within a week.
- We check our group culture and policies against the principles of Disability Justice and the Social Model of disability by formally reviewing accessibility once per year and asking feedback from Sangha members during this process.
“We grieve together, we breathe together, we empower and strengthen and heal ourselves by connecting through Beloved Community together.” — Mushim Ikeda
Mission Statement
Earthworm Sangha was founded by and for disabled, neurodiverse and chronically ill people to practice meditation together. We especially invite those at the intersections of other underrepresented communities such as people of color and members of the LGBTQI+ community. Guided by the principles of Disability Justice, in sangha we practice together and share our wisdom, joy and struggle, learning to build Beloved Community on the path towards collective liberation.
Earthworm Sangha is funded in part by the Local People project in Brighton supported by Scope, funded by People’s Health Trust with money raised through The Health Lottery South East.
Dharma Den
An open access, weekly online meditation space and community check in
When: Every Tuesday Online
Time: 7pm – 8pm UK (2pm EST, 11am PST)
Where: Online (Register here to join online)
Dharma Den Online is a great way to connect and sustain your individual meditation practice. Each week is facilitated by Sangha Volunteers, offering guided meditations and an opportunity to practice together and discuss your practice with others in your community.This group is suitable for all levels of experience. Perfect for beginners or those just curious.
What is it?
Dharma Den Online is an open access meditation group from Southsea Sangha for anyone interested in meditation and practicing in community. This group runs for 1hr and is freely offered, run on dana / donation. You are welcomed into the space with music and a chance to meet and greet others from your community. There is no expectation or requirement to have your camera on when joining.
There is a short welcome and orientation from the volunteers, a guided meditation for approx. 30 minutes, sometimes a dharma reflection and then an invitation for a check in with others from your community.
Who is it for?
Some groups from Southsea Sangha are open access and some are offered as an affinity group / self identified space. Dharma Den Online is an open access group. Open access means this Southsea Sangha group is open to anyone and everyone interested in what the group freely offers. Volunteers are on hand to help with access or tech issues.
How Do I Join in?
Online: To Register for the online community stream, click here.
More info on Dharma Den Online
Dharma Den moved from an in person meditation group to online at the start of the pandemic and has been growing and running online since Summer 2020.
This group welcomes in community members from all over the world, into our dharma hall without walls, and offers support and guidance for those wishing to support their regular meditation practice, doing so by practicing with others. There is no obligation to share or check in with those you practice with and we always allow time for the opportunity to do so.
Checking in with your community is a great way to ground our practice and our experience in the real world and in the reality of a world we all share and the way our practice can support that or sometimes how life can feel as though it gets in the way of our practice. Normalising the experience with others can be very very helpful.
Southsea Sangha is committed to creating spaces for us to start understanding how to practice loving ourselves and loving our communities and groups like Dharma Den Online are great ways to cultivate such qualities and to feel connected into our community of practitioners no matter where in the world we find ourselves.
Connection is not about a particular structure, but about values, love, attention and care. Access, as Mia Mingus shares, is intimacy, is love.
Our online community provides captioning and soon BSL access too.
We hope you will practice with us.
Beyond Patriarchy
An Online Meditation Space for Men and Masculine Identified Folk
When: First Monday of Every Month
Time: 7pm – 8.30pm UK, (2pm – 3.30pm EST, 11am – 12.30pm PST)
Where: Zoom (click here to register and sign up to our mailing list via our homepage)
This new online meditation space will meet monthly, on the 1st Monday of every month. You can register to join and get updates on the group here.
Who is it for?
This group is for all cis, trans, gender queer and non binary masculine identified folks. With an awareness of the many ways gender can take shape, our focus is on examining our relationship to masculinity beyond toxic and patriarchal models.”
What is it?
This meditation space is born out of seeking connection, love and care beyond the dominant culture’s definition of what it means to identify with masculinity.
We need to reclaim our sense of self from the patriarchal model which we know, which we’ve been taught, and which we practice and participate in.
We need to reclaim ourselves from patriarchy.
This new space is somewhere we can cultivate a love around bodies and people identified with masculinity, where everyone has a voice and place to get involved, to unpack how patriarchy has shaped our expressions of masculinity and the self more generally.
It is a meditation space which is fed and co-created by all its participants and community.
This group will, through a dharmic lens, hold space for and celebrate the many expressions of ourselves through gender and sexuality, and examine together our relationship to themes such as violence and domination, power, femininity, love & sexuality, with the intention to unveil and honour the non-patriarchal expressions of who we are, as human beings.
Community Dharma
A meditation space for everyone interested in meditation and community
When: Last Sunday of Every Month
Time: 6pm – 8.30pm UK (1pm EST, 10am PST)
Cost: Freely Offered (Run on dana / donation and generosity)
Where: The Coastguard Studio, Southsea + Streamed Online (Register here to join online)
What is it?
Community Dharma is an open access meditation group from Southsea Sangha for anyone interested in meditation and practicing in community. This group runs for 2.5hrs and is freely offered, run on dana / donation.
There is a refreshment and comfort break after the first hour where folks can meet others from the community over a warm drink or leave before the next half begins. The first hour is usually a guided meditation and dharma talk.
Who is it for?
Some groups from Southsea Sangha are open access and some are offered as an affinity group / self identified space. Community Dharma, like Dharma Den Online is an open access group. Open access means this Southsea Sangha group is open to anyone and everyone interested in what the group freely offers.
Volunteers will also be holding the online space for those wishing to practice and participate online while practices and dharma talks are streamed.
How Do I Join in?
In-Person: Due to covid-19 we are limited to a capacity of 20. We are running a first come first serve system, reflecting on the fact that not all community members local to Southsea have access to book ahead, online. Doors will be open from 5.45pm and shut at 6pm.
Online: To register for the online community stream, click here.
What Do I Bring?
Masks: If you would feel more comfortable during our in person meditation groups wearing a mask, then please add that to your list of things to bring, however masks are not mandatory.
Mask wearing is a personal choice. We look forward to seeing you at Sangha.
Cushions / benches: these will be supplied, you are welcome to bring your own.
Dana / donations: please bring both cash and card as we hope to have contactless payments working but cash is welcomed also.
More info on Community Dharma
After 18 months of connecting in with our communities online or, for some us, being limited in how we stay connected throughout the pandemic, our new monthly practice group, Community Dharma centres an emphasis on re-gathering ourselves in proximity to others with a gentleness, a spaciousness and openness to meditation practice and community building.
Southsea Sangha is committed to creating spaces for us to start understanding how to practice loving ourselves and loving our communities. The intention behind this new in-person and online meditation group, is to co-create something which through a dharmic lens, through practice, ritual, dialogue and movement to hold space for and deepen our self awareness to support our ability to be in relationship with others and ourselves.
Community practice allows us to hear ourselves into our own wisdom. The pandemic revealed many truths some of us have known for a long time. One such truth is, community is the future. Connection is not about a particular structure, but about values, love, attention and care. Access, as Mia Mingus shares, is intimacy, is love.
Our in-person offering will also be streamed, for our online community to access, with captioning and soon BSL access too.
Community Dharma will offer guided meditation practices, dialogue and sharing exercises and plenty of space to rest and connect with others with refreshments and to relax into the restorative sense of community… a community which is open to and welcoming of all bodies and all minds.
We look forward to celebrating new and re-imagined models of being in right relationship to ourselves and others, in sharing a space with you where we learn and practice together, knowing we do not exist entirely singularly, neither do we exist completely merged, but more in a fluctuating space in-between.
Being free is achieved, in part, by being connected.
The kettle is on, the space is open.
We hope you will practice with us.
Dana (What Do the Groups Cost?)
No advanced booking is needed for any of our regular groups. All our groups are open access, which means you can just show up and sit! All our groups are run on a Dana basis.
We welcome dana (generosity/donations) at the end of each group, to keep our community growing. If you feel supported by what our community offers you, please support us. Many people have asked what to give to support us within the context of our overheads and growing costs. We kindly suggest £5 – £10 as appropriate.
No-one is ever turned away for a lack of funds.
What is Dana?
This is not a common practice in the west, but we are continuing this radical tradition of Dana, or generosity, in our community. Dana, translated from Pali, points towards the act of giving or simply generosity, and is a cornerstone teaching within the Buddhist tradition and a personal practice in of itself.
In the act of giving we develop our ability to let go of our craving or clinging tendencies, cultivate a spirit of caring and the quality of open handedness, helping us to acknowledge the inter-connectedness that we all share. The generosity of our community in supporting us, allows us to make the teachings of the Buddha available to all who are interested.
On behalf of the whole team at Sangha, we thank you for your generosity and your help in carrying on this radical and heart-centric tradition.