Meditation
Why meditate?
Meditation has been helping humans find more peace, equanimity, compassion, and connection for thousands of years. Here’s some of the reasons why I love meditation and what it has to offer.
Practical
Medical research is finally catching up to what meditators have been experiencing for millennia, with studies showing that meditation benefits can include: stress reduction; decreased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and PTSD; less pain; better memory; improved ability to adapt and overcome emotional problems; increased willpower; more self-awareness; increased immunity; lower blood pressure and heart rate; lower levels of stress chemicals; better sleep; and more compassion.
Mystical
Though meditation absolutely helps us connect with our mind and body in secular and scientific ways, meditation’s roots are deeply intertwined with spiritual traditions and experiences of self-transcendence. Here at Cosmic Reflections, it’s important to honor these roots and offer meditation’s connections to the mystical. Together we’ll explore practices and wisdoms that deepen our connections with our inner Self and with Life in experiential and supportive ways. We bring an attitude of mystical exploration to meditation: “Try it out, have your own direct experience of it, and decide what works for you.”
Community
In Buddhism, the community in which you practice meditation, or sangha, is a precious and necessary source of refuge in life. A meditation community offers deep and authentic connection with others who are striving towards the same ideals, who are walking the meditation path alongside you, who can support and inspire you in your goals, and who can relate to your struggles and celebrate your successes along the way.
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Most of my meditation studies and meditation teacher trainings have been through Hamsa Meditation Center, whose lineages include Mindfulness, Stress Reduction, Vipassana (insight meditation), Kriya Yoga, and Tibetan Buddhism, along with various other types of meditation. In practice, the meditations I lead often focus on mindfulness, the breath/prana, guided visualizations, and mantra meditations. Most of the meditation tools we explore include a somatic, or body-based, aspect as well. We are guiding the body+mind+spirit into loving awareness, balance, and harmony. I strive to keep all of my guidance trauma-sensitive.
All teachings and practices are shared from a place of genuine enthusiasm and desire to share the tools that have helped me so much in my own life, and that I’ve witnessed helping others too. I share the teachings and techniques that I myself use as an offering and invitation for you to try them out for yourself, but never from a place of dogma or expecting you to “buy in” just because others have gotten benefit from it. This journey is yours, and you are fully encouraged to take any teachings and practices with a healthy dose of questioning, and to find and use what works for you.