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Meditation and Yoga: A Road to Recovery

Four of the founding members of this area’s Converging Paths Meditation Center travelled to Lennox, Massachusetts for three days of training during the first week of November. The retreat was held at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health <http://www.kripalu.org> in the rustic Berkshire Mountains. Key presenter was Tara Brach, clinical psychologist and director of the Insight Meditation Center in Washington, D. C. The theme “Radical Acceptance” (the title of her book} focused on meditation practices that can lead to “Emotional Healing.”

So, what would move four Erie County citizens us to drive 1000 miles Lennox, Mass. to participate in a 3 day program on meditation as a way of “embracing our emotional life.” Tara Brach in part; she’s a remarkable person and gentle and intuitive teacher. We had read her book Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha and listened to many of her free podcasts from her web page  <http://www.tarabrach.com>. Our Converging Paths Meditation Center had been operating for 3 years now with weekly meditation sessions and monthly “Wisdom Talks.” It was time to refresh ourselves and get connected to a teacher. What I continue to admire about Tara Brach is how generous she is with her time and teaching. In the sessions that housed 200 people, she made you feel as though she were speaking just to you, and she took time in each to have us put into practice some of the ways of meditation in our lives. As she said at the opening, “This is an experiential training. We’re going to do it so you can take it home with you.” And so we all sat on meditation cushions or chairs and worked to face our emotional lives with loving kindness, the key to it all. One exercise near the end that proved memorable was to have a room full of people walk in circles as we would in a crowded subway station, but then to stop, face another, extend your hand to them, and look into their eyes really seeing them. It sounds so simple, and yet it was profoundly moving bringing tears to most of us. It was the deep connection we can have with others and ourselves. That was why we took the journey and what we hope to bring back with us.

From Tara Brach:

“What is Meditation? Meditation is commonly described as a training of mental attention that awakens us beyond the conditioned mind and habitual thinking, and reveals the nature of reality. In this guide, the process and the fruit of meditation practice is understood as Natural Presence. Presence is a mindful, clear recognition of what is happening—here, now—and the open, allowing space that includes all experience. There are many supportive strategies (called “skillful means”) that create a conducive atmosphere for the deepening of presence. The art of practice is employing these strategies with curiosity, kindness and a light touch. The wisdom of practice is remembering that Natural Presence is always and already here. It is the loving awareness that is our essence.”

The four area members in the training program were Ann Smith, Jan Young, Sherry Bradshaw, and Larry Smith. Dr. Ann Smith, Clinical Nurse Specialist of the Reiki and Counseling Center in Sandusky plans to use the training in her counseling and energy therapy http://centerforhealth.smithdocs.net/. She explains, “Our training with Tara Brach included daily yoga practice, various ways to meditate, and practice in embracing our emotional life. And the food was primarily vegetarian and amazing.”

Converging Paths Meditation Center has been providing weekly group meditation on Tuesday evenings for 3 years now in Room 405 of the Feick Building, 158 Market Street, Sandusky, Ohio. The group has also done group sessions for classes at BGSU Firelands College and at Betty Rinderle and Christie Lane Training Centers. Lou Young, one of the founding members, states, “We are here to provide a peaceful and healthy place for group meditation. ” Jan Young explains, “At the center we do a guided meditation, walking meditation, some standing yoga stretching, and finally stillness sitting. It’s simple yet can make a difference in people’s lives. It has in ours.”

(For further information, contact Jan Young at Jccyoung@aol.com or Larry Smith at botdog313@yahoo.com)

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