Meditation
Weekly meditation + breathing classes:
Thursdays, 2:10 - 2:40 pm, triyoga Camden
Saturdays, 11:20 - 11:50 am, triyoga, Camden
Thursdays, 2:10 - 2:40 pm, triyoga Camden
Saturdays, 11:20 - 11:50 am, triyoga, Camden
About meditation + breathing classes:
These 30-minute classes are designed to offer the space to students to explore and integrate meditation techniques and gentle breathing practices. The class can be attended on its own, though it is scheduled so that it can be taken before or after another class at triyoga as well. Meditation is defined many ways, but primarily fosters our capacity to attune to the present moment. Meditation asks that we meet ourselves as we are in each moment, however difficult or easy that might be. If you are someone who feels meditation is not for you and your mind is hopelessly busy, you are the perfect candidate for meditation because you understand that your mind is busy! If you have a seasoned meditation practice you will also understand that some days the mind is focused, and other days it can feel as wild as a raging storm. In the words of Pema Chödrön, “Meditation takes us just as we are, with our confusion and our sanity.” In this class, you will learn various techniques to bring mindful attention to the breath, body and senses. Some gentle breathing practices will also be offered, which can help centre and focus the mind and cultivate greater balance to the nervous system. All levels and every being welcome.
These 30-minute classes are designed to offer the space to students to explore and integrate meditation techniques and gentle breathing practices. The class can be attended on its own, though it is scheduled so that it can be taken before or after another class at triyoga as well. Meditation is defined many ways, but primarily fosters our capacity to attune to the present moment. Meditation asks that we meet ourselves as we are in each moment, however difficult or easy that might be. If you are someone who feels meditation is not for you and your mind is hopelessly busy, you are the perfect candidate for meditation because you understand that your mind is busy! If you have a seasoned meditation practice you will also understand that some days the mind is focused, and other days it can feel as wild as a raging storm. In the words of Pema Chödrön, “Meditation takes us just as we are, with our confusion and our sanity.” In this class, you will learn various techniques to bring mindful attention to the breath, body and senses. Some gentle breathing practices will also be offered, which can help centre and focus the mind and cultivate greater balance to the nervous system. All levels and every being welcome.
About Meditation:
My first yoga teacher, Erich Schiffmann, imparted on me the importance of a daily meditation practice. He taught me that meditation is the source and origin for the highest forms of creativity and clarity. If there is any single piece of advice I could give, it is to meditate every day even just for five minutes.
Meditation helps you be present, and being present makes you aware of what happens moment-to-moment. When we meditate, it helps us notice and perceive more of what is happening. It is the key to seeing clearly and keeping the information flowing in fresh ways. So often, we actually know far more than we think we do. It's just trapped and blocked beneath layers of stuff -- stress, thinking, conditioning, misperceptions. So often in daily situations we can find ourselves struggling to find the right words, feel anxious and confused, or so nervous that we become control freaks who police ourselves and our loved ones. Confusion can roll in like fog and obscure our thoughts, or intercept our ability to communicate clearly, like static interference on the line. When the free flow of information is interrupted, we’re less available to act with compassion, skill, awareness and confidence. Meditation clears the fog and static. It also frees our creative potential so we can live with greater enthusiasm and innovation.
A renown Chinese historian named John King Fairbank wrote in his last book, “China: A New History,” that our “libraries are littered with the pronouncement of writers who knew all about China but could not see how much they did not know. The expansion of our knowledge has expanded the circumference of our ignorance.” This is very true about life. When we are too certain about what we know, we risk being overconfident and trump the process of being open, curious and inquiring. Meditation opens us to experience the interplay of what we know and the object of our knowing, which is infinite and vast. Opening ourselves to watching and observing what happens in our experience fosters the capacity to begin listening to and responding from a place that’s free from our mental fluctuations.
In the yogic teachings, mental fluctuations are called vrtti, and are caused by obstacles such as ignorance, attachment, hatred, clinging, doubt, and disease. While there are many ways outlined by in the texts to move past these obstacles, meditation remains a central and key practice. In the Buddhist tradition, it is equally central as a means of liberating us from unskillful habit patterns, reactivity or doubt. In Daoism, meditation calms the mind and body, allowing us to enter into states of greater tranquility and reflection. In all traditions, it's what helps the wild and unpredictable mind expand and be freer to experience all that life unfolds.
My meditation teachers
My meditation teachers have also been my yoga teachers, who both place the practice of meditation centrally in their disciplines. They are Erich Schiffmann and Donna Farhi. More recently, I have been certified by the Mindfulness Training Institute (www.mindfulnesstraininginstitute.com) to teach mindfulness meditation. The MTI's main teachers are Martin Alyward and Mark Coleman, who come from the Insight Meditation tradition. I am also inspired by Tara Brach, Joseph Golstein, Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron from the Buddhist traditions, and practice forms of Daoist meditations learned primarily through my own study, self-practice and personal inquiry.
My first yoga teacher, Erich Schiffmann, imparted on me the importance of a daily meditation practice. He taught me that meditation is the source and origin for the highest forms of creativity and clarity. If there is any single piece of advice I could give, it is to meditate every day even just for five minutes.
Meditation helps you be present, and being present makes you aware of what happens moment-to-moment. When we meditate, it helps us notice and perceive more of what is happening. It is the key to seeing clearly and keeping the information flowing in fresh ways. So often, we actually know far more than we think we do. It's just trapped and blocked beneath layers of stuff -- stress, thinking, conditioning, misperceptions. So often in daily situations we can find ourselves struggling to find the right words, feel anxious and confused, or so nervous that we become control freaks who police ourselves and our loved ones. Confusion can roll in like fog and obscure our thoughts, or intercept our ability to communicate clearly, like static interference on the line. When the free flow of information is interrupted, we’re less available to act with compassion, skill, awareness and confidence. Meditation clears the fog and static. It also frees our creative potential so we can live with greater enthusiasm and innovation.
A renown Chinese historian named John King Fairbank wrote in his last book, “China: A New History,” that our “libraries are littered with the pronouncement of writers who knew all about China but could not see how much they did not know. The expansion of our knowledge has expanded the circumference of our ignorance.” This is very true about life. When we are too certain about what we know, we risk being overconfident and trump the process of being open, curious and inquiring. Meditation opens us to experience the interplay of what we know and the object of our knowing, which is infinite and vast. Opening ourselves to watching and observing what happens in our experience fosters the capacity to begin listening to and responding from a place that’s free from our mental fluctuations.
In the yogic teachings, mental fluctuations are called vrtti, and are caused by obstacles such as ignorance, attachment, hatred, clinging, doubt, and disease. While there are many ways outlined by in the texts to move past these obstacles, meditation remains a central and key practice. In the Buddhist tradition, it is equally central as a means of liberating us from unskillful habit patterns, reactivity or doubt. In Daoism, meditation calms the mind and body, allowing us to enter into states of greater tranquility and reflection. In all traditions, it's what helps the wild and unpredictable mind expand and be freer to experience all that life unfolds.
My meditation teachers
My meditation teachers have also been my yoga teachers, who both place the practice of meditation centrally in their disciplines. They are Erich Schiffmann and Donna Farhi. More recently, I have been certified by the Mindfulness Training Institute (www.mindfulnesstraininginstitute.com) to teach mindfulness meditation. The MTI's main teachers are Martin Alyward and Mark Coleman, who come from the Insight Meditation tradition. I am also inspired by Tara Brach, Joseph Golstein, Thich Nhat Hanh and Pema Chodron from the Buddhist traditions, and practice forms of Daoist meditations learned primarily through my own study, self-practice and personal inquiry.
