Introduction to Meditation

 

Course Overview

If you want to start a meditation practice or deepen the meditation practice that you already have, then this class will help you to understand meditation in clear and understandable language as, well as experience different opening and calming techniques.

In this class, you will:

• Learn how meditate regularly and effectively, so as to have a calmer and clearer mind, and experience life in a richer way
• Experience and practice twelve powerful meditation techniques
• Get explanations as to why and how to do them in a way that you can understand
• Get solutions to the challenges that come up in your practice
• Get structured support around sitting regularly – ie walking the talk
• Gain skills that will help you to know yourself more authentically, feel greater spaciousness and self-awareness, and feel more real and alive.

People have told me that they have found the classes to be informative, spiritually deep, and fun. The class is designed especially for those beginning meditation, but has also been valuable and informative for people who have been meditating and sitting retreats for years.

The class consists of eight sessions, with each session meeting for three hours. Each session contains guided meditation practice, lectures that help you understand how to meditate, class discussion, question and answer, and individualized attention on posture. There are also handouts and mindfulness assignments for daily life between meetings.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

I invite you to register, if that feels right to you.

Upcoming Courses:

No classes currently scheduled. Please be in contact if you are interested in being contact the next time a class is scheduled.

 

Course Outline

Lecture Subjects :

• The general guidelines for developing an upright, relaxed, and open meditation posture
• Why breath meditation is such an universal practice
• Awareness – noticing what you put your attention on
• “Samatha”, the tranquility practice of concentrating the mind
• “Vipassana”, the wisdom practice of being aware of exactly what is so
• How samatha and vipassana practices work together to bring you depth and liberation
• How to best do the practice of “noting” your experience
• Tips on how to best work a regular sitting practice in your schedule
• Mindfulness as you go about your everyday life
• How to work with sleepy sensations so you can stay alert
• Positive and negative outcomes you can expect to encounter on the path
• “What does ‘Life is suffering’ mean? My life isn’t suffering!”
• The three poisons of our minds that create our suffering – what they are, and how to recognize them
• The five hinderences to clarity that many meditators encounter, and what to do about them
• How to cultivate compassion and loving-kindness

Experiential Meditation Techniques: