Meditate

- Bring Your Mind -

Meditation instruction is a huge part of what we do and it is an integral partner to our movement practices. The earliest yogis lived in ancient India, which is the birthplace of both yoga and meditation.

Meditation was known as Dhyana and it traveled with The Buddha from India to China where it became known as Chan, then migrated to Japan where it is most commonly called Zen.

There are many ways to meditate:

· Chanting: such as repeating a mantra, like Om Mani Padme Hum, which means “there is enlightenment in everything” just as fast as you can, focusing on enunciating all the syllables precisely, such that you cannot dare think of anything else.

· Walking: where the practitioner walks mindfully, heel-to-toe, feeling the transfer of weight from the calcaneus to the phalanges, counting a set number of steps around a circle or back and forth.

· Working: wherein the student focuses 100%, only on what he or she is doing, with such ferocity, that there is no hope of entertaining stray thoughts.

· Koan: when the aspirant wrestles with a paradoxical statement, like, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” or “The hair of the boar has teeth” in order that the ever-moving mind can at least momentarily be brought to an abrupt stop and for a moment they can attain clear-mind.

· Sitting: shikantaza, when the student “Only sits!” and focuses on an object a few feet away (like a shiny penny or candle), practicing bringing his or her mind back, every time it drifts away, without judgment, as they breathe in a measured fashion.

We'll engage all the above methods (and more). Join us as we find the still point. Bring your mind.

Check out our schedule to learn more.

- Bring Your Mind -

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