~~ This workshop is cancelled until further notice ~~

“Be Still and Know”
A Facilitated Meditation Experience for Mind, Body, and Spirit.

Meeting the first Sunday of each month

12:15 to 1:30 pm

This series grew from the work  Dr. Carol Penn and Rev. Patricia Dunkin, co-facilitators of the series, did in response to Hurricane Sandy and the workshops that followed in the aftermath of the storm’s devastation.  Based on the evaluations that were received from that original workshop as well as subsequent workshops, the vast majority of participants asked for more experience and time with meditation.

Meditation is the practice of relaxed self awareness.

We will be exploring the three major areas of meditation:

• concentrative,
• mindfulness
• expressive

From the Center for Mind Body Medicine’s Best of Stress Management Workbook and Journal: Most of the early research on meditation centered on concentrative meditation, which consists of focused awareness on a particular object, such as an image or sound. For example, Dr. Herbert Benson’s ground breaking bestseller, The Relaxation Response described the health benefits of a particular concentration technique: repeating a meaningful word or phrase, known in Sanskrit as a mantra.

Mindfulness meditation involves being relaxed and aware of thoughts, feelings, and sensations as they arise, without the focus on a articular object. Studies of mindfulness meditation have emphasized its value as a stress management technique and have included programs that combine mindfulness with psychotherapy and with conventional treatments for conditions like chronic pain and psoriasis.

Expressive meditation includes such active techniques as chanting, dancing, whirling, shaking, and fast deep breathing.  Though different from the other two, it helps to induce the same kind of relaxed, aware state. Expressive meditation has not yet been the subject of significant scientific research, but it has been used for thousands of years to mobilize the healing potential of body and mind.

From time to time we may have a guest facilitator, and  Dr. Carol Penn and Rev. Patricia Dunkin will lead individually and collectively as their schedules permit.