Tuesday, January 28, 2020
Week two -- continuing to broaden and deepen
This week we explored Walking Meditation and Gatha Meditation on Tuesday, and we continued to develop concepts and practices around yoga-based 'bodyfulness' meditation on Thursday. Our goal continues to be to expand our repertoire by adding options while deepening our experiential understanding of the basic aim of all forms or types of meditation.
Thursday, January 16, 2020
Week one of body-mind work is in the books
IMO we had a very solid first week of body-mind sharing of information and skills.
On Tuesday in class we completed the first set of Koru lessons -- including basic information about breathing itself, two breathing exercises (Belly Breathing and Dynamic Breathing), and one meditation (the Body Scan).
On Thursday in class we broadened our scope -- first to gather information about the premises of education (which we did in part by taking a comparative look at a kindergarten in Japan) and second to gather information about human physiology (which we did in part by listening to a TED talk by Herbert Watzke entitled "The Brain in Your Gut").
We concluded our Thursday meetings with a short yoga sequence in which we called attention to the potential of meditation to provide us with the type of "language" Watzke asserted we needed to develop in order to communicate better with the brain in our gut.
For homework leading into week two, we read parts one and two of the Holly Rogers Koru text "The Mindful Twenty-Something."
Looking ahead to week two, we will introduce Walking Meditation and Gatha Meditation on Tuesday, and we will extend our forays into education and physiology, and yoga, on Thursday.
On Tuesday in class we completed the first set of Koru lessons -- including basic information about breathing itself, two breathing exercises (Belly Breathing and Dynamic Breathing), and one meditation (the Body Scan).
On Thursday in class we broadened our scope -- first to gather information about the premises of education (which we did in part by taking a comparative look at a kindergarten in Japan) and second to gather information about human physiology (which we did in part by listening to a TED talk by Herbert Watzke entitled "The Brain in Your Gut").
We concluded our Thursday meetings with a short yoga sequence in which we called attention to the potential of meditation to provide us with the type of "language" Watzke asserted we needed to develop in order to communicate better with the brain in our gut.
For homework leading into week two, we read parts one and two of the Holly Rogers Koru text "The Mindful Twenty-Something."
Looking ahead to week two, we will introduce Walking Meditation and Gatha Meditation on Tuesday, and we will extend our forays into education and physiology, and yoga, on Thursday.
Friday, January 3, 2020
Welcome to class!
The goal of Mindfulness Meditation and Education (MME) is to provide a thorough and varied introduction to meditation that includes an explicit critique of education.
The first four weeks of the semester feature instruction, discussion, and skills-practice in the Koru Mindfulness framework. Tuesdays are primarily devoted to instruction and discussion, and Thursdays are primarily be devoted to skills-practice. This phase of the course includes the close-reading of a required text, The Mindful Twenty-Something by Holly Rogers.
The following three or four weeks of the semester feature instruction, discussion, and practice in 'bodyfulness' meditation rooted in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or MBSR. Tuesdays feature instructor-delivered dharma talk presentations, and discussion. Thursdays feature skills-practice. This phase of the course includes the use of free samples of Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living, with additional content carried in the dharma talks.
The remainder of the semester features student-generated and delivered dharma talks and discussion on Tuesdays, in tandem with practice-intensive work on Thursdays. In this phase of the course, content is contained within the dharma talks, with no additional assigned readings.
Throughout all of the above phases, the focus of the MME course remains on the individual person. The value of the course is that it provides an opportunity for each person to fully explore whether or not meditation, and/or contemplative practices more generally, have anything to offer them. Each person plots and executes their own path or course through the course, building their own contextual and skills-based understanding of meditation and contemplative practice more generally.
Welcome aboard!
The first four weeks of the semester feature instruction, discussion, and skills-practice in the Koru Mindfulness framework. Tuesdays are primarily devoted to instruction and discussion, and Thursdays are primarily be devoted to skills-practice. This phase of the course includes the close-reading of a required text, The Mindful Twenty-Something by Holly Rogers.
The following three or four weeks of the semester feature instruction, discussion, and practice in 'bodyfulness' meditation rooted in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction or MBSR. Tuesdays feature instructor-delivered dharma talk presentations, and discussion. Thursdays feature skills-practice. This phase of the course includes the use of free samples of Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Full Catastrophe Living, with additional content carried in the dharma talks.
The remainder of the semester features student-generated and delivered dharma talks and discussion on Tuesdays, in tandem with practice-intensive work on Thursdays. In this phase of the course, content is contained within the dharma talks, with no additional assigned readings.
Throughout all of the above phases, the focus of the MME course remains on the individual person. The value of the course is that it provides an opportunity for each person to fully explore whether or not meditation, and/or contemplative practices more generally, have anything to offer them. Each person plots and executes their own path or course through the course, building their own contextual and skills-based understanding of meditation and contemplative practice more generally.
Welcome aboard!
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