ABOUT THIS EVENT

Event Category

Fitness & Wellness

Note: This is a multi-session event series. By purchasing the event package, you acknowledge that you can attend all event dates included below.

Event Overview

Different spiritual traditions follow some very similar methods to help their practitioners come to a better understanding of the world and of themselves. As a secular mindfulness teacher, I have many students who are both deeply spiritual and are also atheists, agnostics, or non-theists. I also have many students who believe in God but don't want a religious class. They want to learn the material in order to take it back and grow inside their own traditions. Since many spirituality classes are coming from a religious perspective it can be hard for students in both these areas to find classes that fit their needs.

This class works to provide the underlying tools for the four components of any spiritual practice (meditation, contemplation, prayer, and action) and, though we may talk about the origin of the practice from inside its religious tradition, it's not a religious class. It's really a tools based class that can be used by anyone looking to grow or examine their life in a more meaningful way. 

The class meets four times to cover each of the four areas and provide time for an overall review:

2/6 - Meditation (Being Still and Becoming More Aware). We cover focus vs. insight-based meditation, breath work, mindfulness meditation, and the benefits associated with meditation as a practice.  By using mindfulness meditation as our initial training and practice, we cover the basics of awareness of the body, emotions, and thoughts. Class one also covers the areas where people can often get stuck in their personal growth due to ways their own thinking is holding them back.

2/13 - Contemplation (Taking the Time to Think and Examine). We cover traditional contemplations as a spiritual practice through working with affirmations, selecting your five virtues, working with your wounds, gaining insight into your triggers, and finishing up with koan and parable work. Contemplation work is really about being able to grow your understanding and to choose better areas of focus in your thinking rather than dwelling on things that only serve to upset you, make you feel less, or don't really contribute to leading a more meaningful life.

2/20 - Prayer (Changing Your Heart and Increasing Your Gratitude). The research on prayer is rather interesting. In studies, prayer is not shown to have much of an effect on the person being prayed for but it is shown to have a tremendous effect on the life and heart of the person actually doing the praying. In this class, we explore what this means, talk about the research, and use the loving-kindness and forgiveness practices to build upon this tradition.

2/27- Action (Choosing How to Express Your Values in the World). When people neglect a part of the spiritual path it is most often action. Without action, the work done in meditation, contemplation, and prayer would be of much lesser value. In this class, we review the work of the previous classes and develop a plan of action to take what has been learned out into the world. We look at the research on longevity, service to others, and caring for yourself in addition to the other materials presented. The last half of the time functions as more of a social check-in to discuss how life has changed over the past month doing the work together.

The theist, atheist, non-theist, and agnostic will all feel at home in this series. I do ask that you respect the diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds in the room. The goal is  for participants to grow and learn together. Different people will embrace the material differently. There is no goal to decide what is right or wrong but rather only what is healthy, helpful, and skillful for each individual. 

 

What to Bring

Please bring a notebook and pen for taking notes

Minimum age

All ages welcome

What's Provided

We will be meditating using chairs for this class. There is no requirement to move to and from the floor.

Cancellation Policy

Location