Mindfulness Is...
Mindfulness training dates back more than 2000 years, but in recent time, Jon Kabat-Zinn, a molecular biologist, is most well-known for creating Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and teaching mindfulness skills in a secular manner. The training of mindfulness involves learning how to purposefully place our attention in the present moment to whatever is happening, and learning how to have kindness and compassion for whatever emerges. As we learn mindfulness skills, we become more in charge of our minds rather than our minds being in charge of us.
"Learning to concentrate is like focusing the mind's lens -- it allows us to see clearly whatever we turn our attention to. Once this skill is developed, we can use it to examine whatever might be happening at the moment", Susan M. Pollak
"Learning to concentrate is like focusing the mind's lens -- it allows us to see clearly whatever we turn our attention to. Once this skill is developed, we can use it to examine whatever might be happening at the moment", Susan M. Pollak
Elm Community InsightElm Community Insight is a meditation group ("Sangha" is the Pali word for like-minded community) that I help to co-lead. We are based out of the New Haven Public Library, meeting in person and online on Saturdays from 10:30am-12pm EST. Once a month on a Saturday I will lead meditation, give a talk, and provide opportunity for discussion. On the remaining Saturdays, my co-leaders take the helm. Additionally, we meet online Monday - Friday from 7:30-8:30am This is a silent practice and you're invited to come and go as you like. For more information about Elm Community Insight, please go to www.elmcommunityinsight.org |
Individual Mindfulness Training
Perhaps you want to learn how to begin a mindfulness practice and you prefer one-to-one work versus a group setting. Or perhaps you've already taken a group class and are coming up with questions around your own practice, and you're looking for a place to reflect on those questions. Individual sessions are 50 minutes long, and scheduling is flexible without any minimum amount of sessions required.
I believe that mentorship along the spiritual path is helpful for anyone who is serious about this practice. I have always had teachers I meet with regularly, and they have helped me understand my experiences in ways that keep me moving forward. My root tradition of practice is within the Theravada lineage. However, my own teachers pull from a variety of ancient lineages, and I do this as well. I have learned and continue to bring the Shamanic practices into meditation practice, and I am open to sharing this when it feels right for you. *Call for appointments |