"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it." - George Moore
Simple Step #1 - The Eyes are the Window to the Soul
At a recent seminar entitled “Living Fearlessly,” I was asked to select a partner, another student in the class who I did not know, and sit face to face with him, knees touching, and take five minutes to simply stare into his eyes. In the scheme of my daily tasks, this did not seem to be a hard request. However, I soon found that it was almost impossible. I could not stare into his eyes for an extended period of time without looking away. I felt like I was intruding on his personal, private space, as if I was creating an uncomfortable intimacy with a total stranger by peering right into his soul, and allowing him to look into mine. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul and this exercise seemed to have given me powerful evidence of the truth to that popular proverb. After that class, I was intrigued and began my own personal experiment. I decided to make a conscious effort to make clear and lasting eye contact with people throughout my day. The results were quite amazing. To simply look into my husband’s eyes in the morning and wish him a good day, had a completely different effect than my usual routine of yelling good bye to him while making the children’s lunches as he walks out the door. Next, I took the time, only a few seconds, to look into my children’s eyes as they went off to school, wishing them a wonderful day. This was an incredibly loving gesture that warmed my heart, and hopefully warmed theirs as well.
I also noticed that by taking the time to look into my children’s eyes while they were speaking to me made those moment so much more intimate and meaningful. It allowed me to be present, to truly listen and let them know that they were being heard. That is an incredible gift that you can give another person, especially your children, just by looking into their eyes. Of course, this required me to stop texting, to take a break from checking my e-mails or reading the newspaper or cleaning the kitchen. It required me to be in the moment and truly connect with those around me. In doing so, I made those daily interactions much less mundane and routine, and much more meaningful and loving.
I didn’t stop there. I quickly realized that it is quite simple to go through my daily routine without making eye contact with the strangers that I encounter throughout my day. I could go to the bank, shop at the grocery story, sit through a meeting and never make meaningful eye contact with anyone. So, I decided to look into the eyes of everyone I came in contact with that day. The results were amazing. At my local grocery store, for example, I looked right into the eyes of the cashier and found that she looked right back at me. That moment was very powerful. On most days I would help bag the groceries, swipe my card and be on my way. By taking the time to look into her eyes, I made a brief connection with another human being and saw that she was a loving, caring person with an incredibly rich and complex life. For that one moment, she saw me and I saw her. In those few seconds of eye contact, it seemed like everything else stood still. I can’t accurately describe the feeling I got, but it was quite moving. When you look into someone’s eye and they look into yours, there seems to be a connection that goes straight to your heart.
We are all moving through life at such a rapid pace that taking a moment to acknowledge the existence of another human being who crosses your path, to truly look at them and acknowledge them, brings greater joy to those seemingly ordinary moments that fill our days, and who wouldn’t want more joy in their lives?
It’s not easy. I know that I often do not look into other people’s eyes, not because I don’t want to see them, but because I don’t want to be seen. Allowing someone that access creates a great feeling of vulnerability. You open yourself up and it can feel scary, intense and awkward. My meditation teacher asked us to do an exercise that was a little odd, but very telling. She asked us to go to a mirror, and stare into our own eyes for a while, and tell ourselves, “ I love you.” It feels very strange and a bit silly, but it is an interesting lesson in learning to love yourself and in really looking inward. If you cannot do this exercise, then perhaps you should ask yourself why.
So, give it a try and let us know what you find. I hope it will be a simple step to help you be in the moment, and to truly connect with yourself and all of those amazing people in your life!
This is the first article in a series entitled Simple Steps. Simple Steps are little things that we can all do that can really make a difference in our lives. Check out our complete list of Simple Steps.
Peace Despite the Stick
For those of you new to our blog here is a little information about my home life. I have two amazing dogs. They are both labradoodles....Chip is 3 years old and has a very old soul...He weighs about 70lbs. Taz is a puppy and still is full of all of that frenetic puppy energy and he weighs about 25lbs. Chip loves to lay on the lawn stretched out with his face resting on the grass. Today I took a look out of the window and saw Chip laying peaceful as he usual does all stretched out. This was not an unusual sight for me or anyone who lives near us to see, but what struck me as so odd was that he wasn't moving despite the fact that Taz had a long stick half resting on his back and half on the grass that he was stepping on and biting. Each time Taz climbed onto Chips back to bite the stick more I expected Chip to turn around and snarl at him. It never happened, Chip was so at peace even while Taz was climbing and jumping on him. It struck me as so powerful that he could be so peaceful with this annoying young puppy jumping and poking him with this stick. As I think about my day ahead and all of the pokes I will invariable experience with "Sticks," I will summon my inner Chip to carry me through each of these situations.
Put Your Own Oxygen Mask on First
We have all been on an airplane and listened to the flight attendant give safety instructions to parents with small children. In the case of an emergency, those parents traveling with small children should put their own oxygen masks on first before assisting their children in putting on their oxygen masks. This important instruction is essential not only in airplane emergencies, but in life. I have slowly, over time, learned to apply these instructions to my own life. Although it took many years for me to realize the value of my own oxygen mask, I finally understand that taking care of myself is not a selfish act, but a necessary one. I cannot be the person or the parent that I want to be without giving myself permission to spend some time on me.
I remember the first time I left my son with a babysitter. When he was 6 weeks old, my husband and I decided to take a much-needed break from dirty diapers, feeding schedules, and sleepless nights. We were completely overwhelmed and exhausted by being new parents and we needed a break. So, we went all the way across the street to have a quick dinner together, no interruptions, no babies crying, just the two of us. Or was it? As I sat in the restaurant, feeling anxious and nervous about leaving my newborn baby at home, I realized something profound – it was no longer just the two us. From that time forward, no matter where I would go, no matter where my son’s journey in life would take him, we would always be connected. There was no taking a break from being his mom -- not at dinner, not on vacation, not when he goes off to college or when he gets married. Elizabeth Stone described being a parent quite well when she said, “Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. “
Since there is no “vacation” in sight from the intense love and incredible responsibility of parenthood, it is easy to become overwhelmed by that role and to lose yourself in it. As parents, we become so busy taking care of our children, that we quickly forget about ourselves -- who we are and what we need. When we constantly put the needs of our family before our own needs, we begin to feel emotionally, physically and psychologically depleted. We feel exhausted, inpatient and irritable, instead of calm, loving and nurturing. We forget our own oxygen masks, and that crucial instruction that we must take care of ourselves first in order to take care of those around us.
Not only is taking time for ourselves important for us, it is important for our children to see and to learn from. Our children look at us as examples, and our behavior serves as a model to them. We cannot teach our children to be relaxed, to be present in the moment, to be joyful human beings, if we are not relaxed, present and joyful parents. What better lesson can we give our children than to teach them by example to look carefully at their own needs, to pay attention to those needs and to take the time to nurture those needs? We will not always be there to nurture them, they must learn to nurture themselves, just as we must nurture ourselves.
The easiest excuse in the book, one that I used for years, is, “I just don’t have the time.” If it is important, we can always make the time, and it is important. Whether it is a quiet walk alone, making time to meditate, or taking a yoga class, whatever you need to reconnect with you, to relax and to just breathe, you must take that time for yourself. You deserve it and your children deserve it. By taking the time to put your own oxygen mask on, you will be better able to take care of yourself and all of those around you.
Being Wrong
I love being wrong. I know that sounds so strange and counter intuitive, but my last post was about the garden being finished for the season and I was wrong. Big time wrong. Let me explain, it was a sunny day on Monday and I looked out at the garden that I had yet to clean up and decided not to delay. The sun was shining, the kids where at school and the moment was mine. I ventured into the garden which looked so sad and wilted. All of the energy and life seemed to have been picked from it. I began my ritual of ripping out all of the plants that I had so tenderly planted with such promise and hope. Some had yielded their full potential of edible gifts while others hadn't. As I carelessly walked on top of the raised bed ignoring where I was stepping and hastily making my way through the task of bending and pulling out all of the tomato stakes and remnants of tomato plants this huge patch of lush green weeds caught my eye on the other side of the garden. I couldn't believe I had such a large cluster of weeds that were such a brilliant green color. When I walked over to it to examine it more closely and I was in awe of what I saw. It was a full crop of Broccoli Rabe. One of the crops that I have struggled with the most. Despite the most carefully executed planting, watering and carrying routine time after time I had failed to grow this beloved family favorite. Each year I had experienced another failure from this crop. When I examined it more closely and looked back at my garden notes that I had kept from the start of the season I was even more amazed. It was all completely wrong. It wasn't supposed to be there, that wasn't where I had put it or intended for it to grow. This made the discovery even more profound and perplexing to me. As I contemplated how seeds or plants take root and choose to succeed, I pondered on how some times the things we are sure are right for us do not take root, and the others we are convinced are not right for us on our path take root and thrive. It is so often that a different path appears or something grows where it is not supposed to, but being open to being wrong allows you to see that what was once thought of as a weed is now a luscious gift in life.
Weekly Wisdom #2
"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."- Henry David Thoreau
Weekly Wisdom #1
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Just Breathe
When I told some friends that the secret to inner peace and calm is to just breathe, my great discovery was met with skepticism and disbelief, and even a few chuckles here and there. But I am sticking to my guns and promise that it is all about the breath. We all breathe every day, all day, from the moment we are born until the moment we die. We think that we are pretty good at it given the fact that we don’t even need to think about it 99% of the time, it just happens. So, how can breathing be the magical key to calm?
To understand how profound the link is between breathing and finding our inner peace, we must first understand a little more about the breath. In many cultures, the process of breathing is considered to be the essence of being. In yoga, the breath is known as the prana or the universal energy that balances the body and mind, the conscious with the unconscious, and the sympathetic with the parasympathetic nervous system. The breath is rather unique, because unlike other bodily functions, we can control it. It is both voluntary and involuntary. The breath offers us the ability to influence the sympathetic nervous system, which regulates digestion, blood pressure, heart rate and other bodily functions. Therefore, controlling our breath offers us an incredible tool to help regulate our bodies in ways that otherwise are much more difficult to control.
Getting the most out of each breath
So we know that the breath is incredibly important, but are we making the most of each breath we take?
Have you ever watched a baby sleep or a dog stretched out, lying on the floor? If so, notice their breath, notice what is moving? When the baby or the dog (any animal will do) is breathing, it is not their chest or their shoulders that are in motion. Rather their belly, just below the rib cage and above the pelvis region, moves out with each inhale and in with each exhale. Now think about when the doctor asks you or your child to take a deep breath, what do you do? Most of the time, when asked to breathe deeply, we puff up our chests, raise our shoulders and suck in our stomachs, as we gasp in and then lower our chests and shoulders, and release our abdomen as we force our breath out.
This type of chest breathing is not our deepest or most natural breath. It is not our best breath. It is not the breath that we were born with. It is not the breath that allows us to fill our whole lungs with that much needed oxygen. Instead, it is our conditioned breath. It is our response to years (and sadly only a few short years in children and teenagers) of teaching ourselves how to breathe incorrectly. It is the result of stress, anxiety, worry and fear. It is the result of losing that amazing ability that babies and animals have to not stress out. They don’t sit around stewing about something someone just said to them, or fearing failing at a new endeavor, or worrying about a child. They are divinely connected to their inner calm.
So why do we resort to chest breathing so often, particularly in stressful situations?
Think caveman times. In caveman days, an important part of human survival was the fight or flight response, when we needed to sense fear and respond to it, so as not to be eaten by a lion. It was a vital survival mechanism. But in 21st century living, we are almost always far removed from an actual life or death situation, yet this fight or flight response is often triggered in our daily lives. Once the fight or fight response is activated by a stress trigger, we may experience increased heart rate, rapid and shallow breathing, tensing of muscles (abdominal, chest, shoulders, etc.), perspiration, tingling in our fingers and toes, and digestive problems (just to name a few). We may experience these when we can’t find our keys, when we are running late, when we are worried about a child, when we make a mistake at work, or when we have to speak in front of a large crowd. This physiological response to a perceived danger may have helped the caveman fight off a lion or run away from a charging tiger, but in modern times it usually does not save our life, but rather causes us great discomfort and dis-ease. (Yes – disease, much more on that later.)
Chronic stress and the continual trigger of the physiological responses associated with the fight or flight response can lead to a restriction in the muscles surrounding the lungs, limiting the range of motion in the chest wall. When the chest can no longer fully expand, the breath becomes shallow. This chest breathing is much less efficient than belly breathing because it limits the amount of blood flowing in the lower lobes of the lungs, less oxygen transfers into the blood and poor nutrients go to the tissues.
Just by initiating good belly breathing -- slow, steady abdominal breathing -- you can greatly influence your body during stressful situations causing a stimulation of the parasympathetic nervous system resulting in a reversal of those negative physiological responses that can be so harmful to our health and well being. Proper breathing helps to relax the muscles in the abdomen, chest, back, and all over the body. Creating a greater passage for air to fill the lungs, allowing the diaphragm to fully expand and contract.
What we all experience each day, and have accumulated countless moments of throughout our lives, is the negative effects of the fight or flight response. The good news is – you can relearn to breathe properly! You can practice taking slow, deep, abdominal breaths and regain that amazing ability to reconnect with your calm, peaceful self, much like that sleeping baby. (And by the way, sound sleep is an important byproduct of learning to breath properly)
Meditation and mindfulness are intricately related to the breath. If you can sit still, and simply follow your breath as it moves in your nostrils, down into your lungs and abdomen, and back up and out your nose, guess what – you are meditating! Simply by sitting still and paying attention to your breath (and only your breath), you are automatically clearing your mind. That’s all you need to do! So, the first step to finding your inner peace and calm is to simply practice breathing. I promise, if done correctly, you will feel better almost instantly. The great news is that you can practice breathing anywhere, at a stop light, in a carpool pick up line, in the subway, in a movie theater, on an airplane, anywhere! You have all of the tools you need with you at all times. Pretty cool!
Many people pull breathing out of their bag of relaxation tricks when they are faced with a stressful situation. I would encourage you not to save these breathing techniques for moments of stress and anxiety, but practice this breathing every day. Just as we need to train our muscles to run a race, we need to train our muscles to breath correctly. The amazing thing is, if you practice your breathing regularly, the benefits are incredible! Not only can you avoid those nasty physical effects of the fight or flight response, you are actually creating a new, calmer and more peaceful you. The new you will have a greater capacity to shrug off many of those slightly annoying or even highly anxiety producing triggers of the fight or flight response. You may even find that the trigger that normally sets you off, may no longer bother you at all. You can breath right through it!
The House is Still
Its as quiet in my house as it can be. The kids and my spouse have not awakened. The dogs are still groggy from a night of sleep and have not yet started to bark at the frequent squirrels who appear in our yard. The only noise in my kitchen is the whooooing sound of my electric tea pot warming my water for my much anticipated cup of green tea. This is one of my most favorite times of the day. It is peaceful and my mind is quiet. The day has yet to unfold and I find myself working hard to keep it at bay while these precious moments fuel my body and mind for whatever may cross my path. The water is now boiling and can hear the noise of the water bubbles bursting onto each other. Then, I hear the click that indicates that the water has completed its cycle of transformation from cold tap water to liquid gold that penetrates the tea bag as it transforms itself into my cup of tea. During a recent Dharma talk I attended with Thich Nhat Hahn in New York he talked about how your tea is not just tea. How it has the essential elements of the earth, water, the clouds and sun and everything in the universe. So while you are sipping your tea you are sipping the clouds. Today, I will drink my cloud tea and be present in the day. It is a rare gift today, a weekday during the school year when my kids and spouse all will be home. My attention has only now moved from the inside of my house and how peaceful it is to the noise of the last fall leaves rustling on the tress as the autumnal breeze blows through them. What a sensation to be able to be moved by the wind. Right now they are all aligned and dancing to the left, but as the wind shifts the movement of the leaves becomes more erratic. Just as the energy shifts cause us to become more erratic during the course of our days. How can we navigate our way through our windy days and maintain our connection to the tree as we fall to the earth at time? Through meditation and breath work. Meditation provides me with this tool. Meditation is not something that was a natural fit for me. I have spent years in constant motion not sitting down to breath for a moment. Always racing to get one more thing done, but lately I find that sitting and breathing has taken on new meaning and that the need to get one more thing done doesn't seem as important.
Today in the Garden
Today marked what I think is the final day of harvesting from my fall garden. It's time to say goodbye to lettuce, chard, kale, eggplant, brussell sprouts, dill and rosemary grown in the organic garden and return to buying produce from the farmer's market or traditional market. I am hopefully the my stock piles of greens will carry us through a few more weeks. As I picked my last few items with the sun shining down on my garden, I thought back to the success we had this growing season. This was our first year of the fall planting and it yielded so many gifts as the weather turned cooler by the day. Our normal planting routine always takes place on Mother's Day. Each year my family endures the Mother's Day ritual of planting our families garden together. It is a gift we work on giving to each other. As the primary farmer in the house I require full attendance on planting day. No organized sports or religious school are allowed to interfere with this sacred time together. It is a tradition that we have established and it is wonderful to all be outside together in the garden. We all have our required parts and roles that we play. My husband makes sure that we don't plant things to closely together, my son works the pick ax through the soil to loosen it for easy planting and my daughter plants the marigolds to keep the pests away and then always disappears to swing her way through the rest of the planting of the swing set I consider getting rid of each spring.
While the sun is shining brightly now, the over night temperatures where at the edge of frost and the garden had seen better days. While the fall harvest is over, the fall clean up and preparation for next years garden are just beginning.
Each year the garden has grown and so has our pleasure from having it as part of our family. What once seemed like a herculean task now is a normal part of our spring ritual. I often meditate while I am watering or working in the garden. It is so peaceful and serene to be one with nature. People often ask me what causes everything to grow so well in the garden....I always remark that it is gods work...Sun, Water, Air and the beauty of another day transforms both the garden and us.
2bpresent and the Voracious Reader partner to bring Priscilla Warner and Learning to Breathe to a morning for Moms
Hello, We hope you can join us at the upcoming event that we are co-hosting at the Voracious Reader. Please contact the Voracious Reader to register for this event. Space is limited so please register early.
Tea & Tranquility... a morning for moms Wednesday, Nov. 30th 11am-12:30pm
Come and unwind before the busy holidays! Meet local author, Priscilla Warner (The Faith Club) for a "proper cup" of tea and scones. She'll discuss and sign her latest book, Learning to Breathe.
Joining us are Joanna Wolff and Cheryl Brause, founders of 2bpresent, committed to creating awareness of the benefits of mindfulness and meditation. They will lead a brief demonstration.
Cost for the event, which includes book, tea, and scone, is $30 per person. RSVP asap as space will be limited.
The Voracious Reader ... for young people with an appetite for books
1997 Palmer Ave Larchmont, NY 10538 (914) 630-4581 www.thevoraciousreader.com
2bpresent founder's to Attend Dharma talk with Thich Nhat Hanh October 14th
2bpresent founder's to join Thich Nhat Hanh's NYC for an evening of mindfulness
Global Ethics for Our Future October 14 Manhattan Center Hammerstein Ballroom New York City
Join Omega and poet, peace activist, and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in New York City for an evening and a day of mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present moment. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment. To be mindful is to be truly alive, present, and at one with those around you and with what you are doing.
Together we practice cultivating the energy of mindfulness as a community as we explore what it means to practice mindful sitting, listening, eating, and resting, and how to take this practice into our everyday life to become more joyful, relaxed, and steady. We cultivate peace, joy, and compassion within and around us, which ultimately is a gift to our family, community, and society.
"Every day and every hour, one should practice mindfulness," says Thich Nhat Hanh. "That's easy to say, but to carry it out in practice is not. That's why I suggest... that each person should try hard to reserve one day out of the week to devote entirely to their practice of mindfulness."
Ready? 2bpresent hosts intimate screening of YOGAWOMAN on 10/4 and 10/12
2bpresent is pleased to be hosting an intimate screening of the feature film YOGAWOMAN on 10/4 and 10/12 at a private home.
YOGAWOMAN is a groundbreaking feature film about the powerful impact of yoga on women's health, fitness, emotional well-being, and personal growth.
In record numbers, women are finding strength, vitality, peace and power through yoga. Reclaiming this ancient spiritual path from its traditionally male form, the result is a radical transformation of modern yoga as we know it.
YOGAWOMAN gathers 50 of the world’s leading yoga experts in an exploration of this global phenomenon that has changed the face of yoga forever.
Yoga was brought to the west from India by a lineage of male teachers. Now there’s a generation of women who are leading the way. They’re strong, they’re inspiring, and they’re radically changing people’s lives. From the busy streets of Manhattan to the dusty slums of Kenya, from the golden beaches of Australia to the serene piazzas of Italy, YOGAWOMAN uncovers a global phenomenon that has changed the face of yoga forever.
A quiet revolution brews in yoga studios, hospitals and living rooms around the globe. In record numbers women are discovering their own strength, vitality, peace and power through yoga. Reclaiming this ancient spiritual path from its traditionally male form, the result is a radical transformation of modern yoga as we know it.
Led by a new generation of dynamic female teachers, this “new” yoga replaces the male-centered, more rigid style with a distinctly feminine practice that honors intuition, family, flow, connection, community, activism and the cyclical nature of women’s lives.
YOGAWOMAN is a groundbreaking film that captures this fascinating time of awakening female power.
Through rich personal stories, YOGAWOMAN reveals how yoga has utterly transformed the lives of millions of over-stimulated, overscheduled multitasking modern women. With vivid detail and poignancy, YOGAWOMAN shows how women have embraced yoga for easing health conditions like breast cancer, infertility, heart disease, anxiety and depression. A, and given a lifeline to women in prison, cancer abuse survivors and those struggling with body image or eating disorders.
YOGAWOMAN bears witness to millions of women who have integrated yoga into their daily lives so they are happier, healthier and more fulfilled - allowing them to give back to others with full hearts and creative minds.
In intimate interviews with the world’s leading experts, many who have become worldwide icons with rock-star status, YOGAWOMAN captures how these teachers have blazed a new trail for women. World-renowned teachers appearing in YOGAWOMAN include Patricia Walden, Sharon Gannon, Shiva Rea, Angela Farmer, Cyndi Lee, Seane Corn, Donna Farhi and forward-thinking medical professionals such as integrative physician Dr. Sara Gottfried and world-renowned research scientist Dr. Shirley Telles. YOGAWOMAN is the first film of its kind to bring together these luminaries, distilling their wisdom and spreading their message of peace and empowerment for the benefit of women everywhere.
http://www.yogawoman.tv/_webapp_1340426/A_Short_History_of_Women_in_Yoga_in_the_West
A $10 contribution per attendee will fund future programing events and help sponsor Yoga and Meditation classes for those in need of assistance in our community.
Ready? 2bpresent join our Founder's at a Kirtan led by Krishna Das
Join 2bpresents founder's Cheryl Brause and Joanna Wolff at a Kirtan led by world famous Krishna Das
What is Kirtan?
Kirtan is a form of devotional chanting whose roots go back over 500 years to India. It is a form of Bhakti Yoga (yoga of devotion) and has the power to open the heart. The singing is accompanied by musical instruments and rhythmic drumming and the audience is encouraged to participate by chanting, clapping and dancing. You will not be able to resist the urge to join in! In its heartfelt expression kirtan can induce profound states of meditation, bliss and ecstasy. (source. http://www.gauravani.com/download/kirtan)
Who is Krishna Das? (http://www.krishnadas.com/)
Layering traditional Hindu kirtan with instantly accessible melodies and modern instrumentation, Krishna Das has been called yoga's "rock star." With a remarkably soulful voice that touches the deepest chord in even the most casual listener, Krishna Das – known to friends, family, and fans as simply KD – has taken the call-and-response chanting out of yoga centers and into concert halls, becoming a worldwide icon and the best-selling chant artist of all time, with over 300,000 records sold. His first studio recording in a decade, "HEART AS WIDE AS THE WORLD" invests KD's magnetic chanting with an electrifying rock 'n' roll sensibility informed by a lifetime of experience and musical love.
Here is a link to a clip of a performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lQ1oWIQoAo&feature=related)
Krishna Das will be performing at the Church of St Paul and St. Andrew on Saturday November 19th at 7:00pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Tickets are $30. This concert usually sells out in advance. For tickets follow this link. http://www.krishnadas.com/tour_schedule.cfm
Let us know if you buy tickets and we can meet before the concert and sit together.
Please feel free to forward to your friends.
2bpresent
2bpresent is a collaboration between 2mindfulmoms (Cheryl Brause and Joanna Wolff). 2bpresent's goal is to inspire, motivate and encourage heightened awareness into daily life through meditation, mantra and mindfulness
Cheryl & Joanna
2mindfulmoms
2bpresent
Ready? 2bpresent Hosts Meditation Class
Ready? . . . 2bpresent? Join us for a Meditation Class
Foundations of Meditation - This class starts with an introduction to meditation, followed by an in-depth course on the Foundations of Meditation. The course will help establish the participants in the daily practice of meditation to experience the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits. Discussed in the course, such benefits include anxiety, stress and pain management, normalizing blood pressure, deep, calm peaceful sleep, improved personal satisfaction, contentment and inter-personal relationships, and sharpened decision making ability. Additional topics included in the course are: meditation posture; the relationship between breath and mind; the power of mantra; the evolution of consciousness; Kundalini Shakti; and the mind and attention. Each class is 90 minutes and includes a 20 minute meditation.
Foundations of Meditation - Evening Session - Join us for an evening workshop that will introduce you to meditation and demystify this important practice. You will gain an understanding of how to meditate and the important benefits meditation can bring to your life. This session will meet on Thursday evenings, from 7:30 pm to 9 pm. Through the kindness of Sean Fitzpatrick, owner of One2One Bodyscapes, we will be hosting this evening workshop at One2One BodyScapes, 516 West Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, NY. The course will run for 6 weeks.
Instructor Janaki Pierson has taught silent, sitting, yogic meditation using mantra for over 30 years. She has been established in her own daily practice for 36 years. She teaches throughout New England and Pennsylvania in medical, educational, corporate and community settings. She has taught up to six meditation classes weekly through various departments of Greenwich Hospital over the past 18 years, as well as weekly classes at the Woodbury Yoga Center for 30 years.
New Winter classes starting soon! Please check back as we are currently working on our Winter/Spring Class schedule!
