LOCATION: Studio 85, Calgary
DATE: June 14-15, 2019
TIMES: Friday 6pm-9pm; Saturday 1:30-5:30pm
Registration now open: click HERE
Think of this day-long workshop as “Being Human School.”
It’s a relaxed and practical distillation of what meditators have been learning for 3,000 years. There are no PowerPoint slides, no theory memorization, and no incense, although you may hear a wind chime in the distance.
Instead the day focuses on practice, on the exploration and common-sense application of four key meditative skills: concentration, clarity, equanimity and compassion. We explore how each of these skills works, and how each is developed both in a simple seated practice, and as we move around in life.
This means you’ll be meditating, and you’ll be listening to each other share insights and experiences, and some of you may nod off in the back. Which is fine as long as you don’t snore.
Open to all experience levels. Attendees will receive an overview of meditation booklet, with links to audio versions of free guided practices.
Why bother with meditation?
Because it makes life better. As my own teacher Shinzen Young often says, a meditation technique is said to “work” if, in a reasonable time frame, it delivers at least one of the following:
· Reduction of stress and reactivity
· Elevation of fulfillment and connection
· Deeper knowledge of who you are
· Positive behavioural change
· Increased spirit of friendliness and service
Meditation can improve energy levels and help us remain relaxed throughout the day. Our state of mind at home and at work directly impacts others. The practice helps enhance stress management skills, and leads to improvements in mood, focus and creativity.
Meditation can be ridiculously helpful, and it doesn’t have to look anything like the stereotypes, nor do you need to buy into a particular worldview to enjoy its benefits and perspective.
What’s more, when we understand how the practice works in our own nervous systems, we can begin to be our own teacher. We make a practice our own by finding an object and a style and an approach that works for us. And then we pass it on, so the practice can find its unique expression in someone else. This is how sanity becomes a social movement.
About Jeff
Jeff Warren is a meditation instructor and journalist, celebrated for his accessible and pragmatic style of teaching. He is the co-author of The New York Times bestselling Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, and founder of The Consciousness Explorers Club, a nonprofit meditation educational group based in Toronto. Jeff has successfully taught meditation to police officers, young offenders, social workers, and Google executives, among many others. His meditations are featured on the popular 10% Happier app.
His agenda:
