Mindfulness Workshop Programs

May 18: Tonglen - A compassion practice (Jan Snyder).

Tonglen practice, also known as “taking and sending,” is an ancient Buddhist practice to awaken compassion.  It reverses our usual patterns of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure, by encouraging us to take in others’ pain with our in-breath, and send them relief with our out-breath.  As we do this practice, we become liberated from habits of selfishness, and being to feel love for ourselves and others.  In fact, we develop a larger view of reality, and we begin to connect with ourselves and others in a more open and caring way. In this session, we will discuss Tonglen and do it together as a formal practice, learning its four stages.

June 1: Compassion and resilience fatigue (Sabine Grunwald).

So many of you have stepped up into helping roles over the last few months, for example – spending extra time to support others who feel anxious or stressed, helping family members in need, volunteering in the community, spending additional time in the online classroom, being kind to yourself while studying at home, and more. Being compassionate to others and ourselves may drain us over time.  In this session we will explore compassion fatigue, sometimes known as “secondary traumatic stress”. Compassion fatigue is a condition characterized by emotional and physical exhaustion leading to a diminished ability to empathize or feel compassion for others, often described as the negative cost of caring. Compassion fatigue may also be associated with resilience fatigue – to bounce back. We will practice mindfulness and giving ourselves permission to feel fatigued, surrendering to the moment as it is, and opening to what makes us feel whole and resilient.

June 15: Mindfulness in everyday life (Angie Brown). 

Mindfulness practices can serve as an anchor during turbulent times, strengthening us through a deeper sense of connection to ourselves and what we most value. In this session, we discuss the difference between mindfulness and meditation and explore some ways to apply the principles of mindfulness to our daily lives. We’ll end with a 15-20 minute meditation on the breath.

June 29: Consciousness in the times of Corona (Emi Lenes & Anthony Cortez). 

Through music, mindful journaling, and guided imagery meditation, we explore consciousness during this very intense time. Countless people are experiencing heightened collective and individual suffering.  We will provide a space for you to pause and witness the metamorphosis of this period.  This is an era of profound changes, letting go, and new beginnings. 

July 13: Yoga Nidra practice (Kim Holton). 

This practice session offers a brief introduction to the practice of yoga nidra, a guided meditation usually done lying down. We will then take some gentle movements to release tension and connect with the body and then you will be guided through a half hour of yoga nidra. The practice of yoga nidra was designed to allow the body to deeply restore and ease into a deep state of relaxation, like sleep, but with wakeful awareness.

July 27: Guided body scan practice (Kim Holton).

This practice session offers a brief introduction to the body scan, one of the practices used in the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. We will take some gentle movement connected with breath and then move into a guided practice focused on being with sensation (or lack of sensation) as it is. This practice is a nice way to cultivate the power of acceptance through intentionally being with the body in this way.

Aug. 10: Becoming a mountain: Guided imagery for cultivating stillness in uncertainty (Ana Puig). 

Based on the seminal work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, this session guides participants through a guided imagery experience that likens grounding ourselves in the midst of shifting times, to a mountain- to nurture stillness and peace of mind and heart.