NOTE:  This month we will be working with a body-scanning meditation technique that is highly useful when working with physical pain.  This particular practice also points to the profound connection between the body and the mind.

Often times, when we hear the term "mindfulness," or "meditation" it conjures up images of religious ritual, requiring robes, holy bells or beads, weird mantras like "ohm," or "ho-hum," or whatever.  We assume that meditation is inherently a religious or covertly spiritual practice, but nothing could be further from the truth.

I am a life-long humanist, and have had a daily meditation practice for nearly 15 years...in that time, I have come to discover what so many have discovered about meditation, who have applied themselves to it with discipline....at it's core....it's science or perhaps, more specifically, neuroscience:  http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/how-to-meditate.  Even secular celebrity Sam Harris has written about the topic, extensively.  

Meditation is less about "getting somewhere," or "transcending," or "awakening" or any other number of esoteric notions that are difficult to wrap the mind around, and more about simply being very much awake and aware in the present moment.  It is a practice...a practice in concentration, in learning how to NOT be enslaved by one's mental or emotional processes.  

As a result, there is much to be gained from a meditation practice, there can be freedom....freedom from compulsive behavior, from reactionary behavior, from mental suffering.

If none of this sounds appealing to you, then perhaps it will simply just make you a bit more comfortable when we take those few minutes of silence during Assemblies (come on, you know what I'm talking about).

This is an introduction to "mindfulness," in essence, and introduction to meditation.  

YOUR HOST:  I've had a meditation practice for about 15 years and have been on several long, silent retreats.  This exploration has yielded much for me, and I hope to help de-mystify it for you....at it's essence, it's a very practical and pragmatic practice.  

I must ask that you please not RSVP if you know you can not arrive on time.  Due to the nature of this class, once we begin the practice, I won't be able to grant anyone access to our space, as it will disrupt the nature of what we're trying to do here.  

That being said, I do hope you can join us, and I look forward to demystifying what is a very pragmatic and practical mental practice to our members!

Hope to see you there!

Cheers, 
Sarah Barker