Laughter and meditation are just two of many tools we can use to listen more deeply--listen to our bodies, listen to ourselves, listen to others, and listen to the world around us. As we deepen our practice of noticing, we nurture our ministry of presence and our relationship with the divine. As the 13th century Persion poet Rumi reminds us: “There is a voice that doesn’t use words. Listen.”

Informed by the arts, prayer, meditation, and the healing practices of Laughter Yoga, and Afro Flow Yoga, Simone Monique Barnes is an interdisciplinary artist, writer, educator, and lay minister. She currently works part time in community ministry for a faith-based non-profit supporting elementary school age children and their families in East Austin. She also teaches Laughter Yoga, a body-mind practice that began more than twenty-five years ago in Mumbai, India, knowing that a smile is the shortest distance between two people, and that joy practices sustain us in hard times. Simone was born and raised in New York City, and has called Austin, Texas home for over ten years. She is a certified Laughter Yoga Teacher and Afro Flow Yoga teacher-in-training.

Children and Youth will be meeting in person in their classes after being present in the sanctuary for the first part of the service.