20 Oct Nov 5 -Lunch & Meditation Series – 1st Wednesday of the Month

Lunchtime Monthly Meditation & Wellness Series – noon – 1:30pm

 Are you stressed out? Try Meditation.

This lunchtime meditation series is for beginners and anyone looking to de-stress, refocus and energize. Seated in chairs, you will be guided through 20-minutes of easy breathing and concentration exercises to bring your mind into a zone of tranquility and focus. At the end of the class, your mind will feel refreshed and energized. No prior experience or special attire is required. Meditation will be followed by a companion topic (see below) and Q&A. Lunch will be served at 1.

Meditation practices have been around for thousands of years, originally practiced by monastics, yogis and anyone seeking to journey into the realms of serenity or enhancing intuition. Today, leading business owners are rediscovering these ancient holistic practices for improving health, productivity and mental focus so they can consistently perform at peak levels. Visionaries and high achievers like Bill Gross (Pimco), Ray Dalio (Bridgwater Associates), Peter Ng (Government of Singapore Investment Fund), Larry Ellison (Oracle), Steve Jobs (Apple) and David Lynch (Film Director) are notable businessmen who practice regularly and are vocal promoters of the benefits of meditation.

Scientific studies have verified the benefits of meditation for right brain activity (the area linked to intuition and “big picture” thinking)¹ and for reducing stress/anxiety². A few minutes of meditation will calm your mind, reducing stress and promote clear, sharp thinking. If practiced consistently, meditation will help with many imbalances such as: insomnia, impatience, anger, irritability, fear, digestive issues, anxiety, lethargy, depression, chronic pain, etc.

Meditation will help you stay ahead of the competition. Come check it out and feel the difference!

MONTHLY TOPICS FOR MEDITATION & WELLNESS SERIES

November 5th– Finding Happiness in the Present Moment

“If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.” ~Lao Tzu

Meditation: Meditation on the present moment to bring happiness.  Lecture: We will discuss the mind-body connection and how to be with difficult experiences without judging or rejecting. We will also discuss how to train the mind to be present with happiness (i.e., to not turn happiness into worrying about it not lasting).

December 3rd – Improving our Digestion by Eating Mindfully

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future; live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Meditation:  Mindful meditation practice and mindful eating practice. Lecture: We will discuss the mind-body connection and how emotional stress can cause physical problems with our digestion such as acid reflux, inflammation, food allergies, IBS, etc.

THURSDAY January 8th (this month only)– Meditation for mental clarity and focus; balancing our left and right hemispheres of the brain

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh

Meditation: Nadi shodhana breathing practice; then mindful meditation. Lecture: We will learn an ancient breathing technique to balance the left (solar, heating, masculine, type-A) and right (lunar, cooling, feminine, nurturing) hemispheres of the brain. Keeping these energies in balance will promote good health, mental stability and happiness.

February 4th – Awakening Compassion to Improve Relationships

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”  ~ Rumi

Meditation: Heart Chakra Meditation. Lecture: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we will learn a meditation to open the energy channels of our heart. We will learn about the chakras (energy centers in our body that correspond to major nerve plexuses relating to the endocrine system) in general with a focus on the heart chakra.

March 4th – Can Unresolved Emotions be Making You Sick?

“Keeping your body healthy is an expression of gratitude to the whole cosmos — the trees, the clouds, everything.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh

Meditation: Intentional Healing Meditation. Lecture: We will discuss the mind-body connection and marma energy points. Marma points are junctures in the body where muscles, veins, ligaments, bones or joints intersect. They are doorways to the nervous system and the mind; the ancients believed that subconscious memories are stored in our deep connective tissues, which can be dislodged by opening the marmani doors. Activation of the energy center is as simple as paying attention to the marma chakra.

¹ Meditation Training Program Shows Brain Effects Even Outside a Meditative State. Desbordes G, Negi LT, Pace TWW, et al. Effects of mindful-attention and compassion meditation training on amygdala response to emotional stimuli in an ordinary, non-meditative state. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. November 1, 2012. Epub ahead of print. http://nccam.nih.gov/research/results/spotlight/110112

²Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis, March 2014. JAMA Intern Med. 2014;174(3):357-368. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018. http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1809754