MINDFULNESS

Cultivation of a Mindfulness practice

Mindfulness is the practice of living your life with greater awareness, attention and intention. It is a practice in which we can become centered in each present moment, anchored in your breath and body, and respond with curiosity to whatever is arising. When practicing mindfulness, we also cultivate gratitude, compassion and loving-kindness towards ourselves and others, allowing us to go through life with greater understanding of how live authentically and in alignment with our intentions.

Below are all of our class offerings, see our Calendar for class schedule

Introduction to Mindfulness
During this two-hour introduction class you will gain greater awareness of how to cultivate a mindfulness practice, as well as understand how its origins and the current neuroscience research validates its applicability in all areas of our lives. You will be guided through experiential exercises that show you how to slow down, connect with your breath and your body, and develop new tools for responding to life’s challenges with more attention and intention.

Fundamentals of Mindfulness, Level 1
This 6-week course will guide you through a series of mindfulness practices that will help you become more present and aware in all aspects of your life. We often go through life on autopilot, just going through the motions and not taking the time to slow down, connect with minds and bodies. When practicing mindfulness, you develop tools to be in the driver seat of your own life, as well as how to allow whatever is arising in the moment to exist without judging or reacting to it. Each class is a presentation of new material along with experiential exercises to support that week’s topic. The areas covered over the 6 weeks are: breath; body awareness; our senses (including mindful eating); gratitude, compassion and loving-kindness; mindfulness of our thoughts and emotions; and mindful communication with others. Additionally you will receive a packet of materials that augment each class, with take-home exercises and resources for you to maintain a continuity of practice.

Fundamentals of Mindfulness, Level 2
After completing Level 1, many people are ready for more. Level 2 Fundamentals of Mindfulness is a deepening of practice and is for those who have begun to bring greater awareness to their patterns and habits that were no longer serving them, and are ready to go deeper, both spiritually and practically. This class offers longer periods of guided practice along with delving further into ourselves to see where we are getting stuck, and how to develop greater alignment with your body and mind to allow life to flow in the direction you are hoping for.

Mindful Parenting
There is no rule book on how to be a parent. We go through a series of trials and errors that even if we find that elusive trick that works, our kids grow and continue to change, forcing us to change with them. However, with each new stage comes a whole new set of parenting struggles, and many of us can get stuck. In this 8-week course you will simultaneously develop your own mindfulness practice – learning how to live your life with greater awareness, attention and intention – while also receiving practical tools for how to create a mindful home environment. When you are able to draw upon your own breath, allowing you to create centering and calm, you will be able to be more present with your child, learn to respond and not react, and how to role model the very behaviors you are wishing to receive.

Mindful Parenting Workshop
This 4-hour experiential workshop will offer tools for you to parent with greater awareness, presence and calm, and become the parent you’ve always wanted to be. You will be guided through exercises that will help you decrease your yelling, frustration and ineffective discipline, all the while strengthening your connection with your child. Through the introduction of mindfulness you will be able to cultivate your own inner place of calm and peace, allowing you to find the joy amidst the chaos, respond and not react and let go of expectations of how you thought parenting was supposed to be and accept it as it is. Through greater interpersonal awareness and communication, you will have the tools for optimal co-parenting.

The Mindful Relationship
When meeting a new partner, you spend a great deal of time getting to know them, and to find out whether you are compatible in important areas of your life. When we can show up and be present with our partner in the here and now, we can develop a love that is rooted not only the idealized past of when you first met, but in how to carry your relationship successfully into the future. However, from starting a family, to developing your career, along with the daily nuances of everyday life, it is easy to become disconnected and distracted from the person that you love the most. It is very easy for complacency to set in, resentments to build and healthy communication to take the back burner. In this 4-week class, you and your partner will be guided through experiential practices to help you create the space for a grounded, connected, and mindful relationship. By increasing awareness of the patterns that no longer are working and tools for creating new healthy ones, you will find the connection and satisfaction that you have longed for.

Drop-In Meditation Classes
We always focus on our to-do list, but rarely focus on our “to-be” list. As humans, we are busy “doing” without having the opportunity for just “being.” When we create intentional time dedicated to slow down and disconnect from our digital devices, our busy and over-scheduled lives, it is then that we become grounded and in touch with ourselves, our intentions and be in alignment with our minds, body and spirit. Research shows numerous health benefits to a meditation practice, from stress and anxiety reduction, alleviation of chronic pain, and improved overall health. During this 45 minute meditation, you will be guided on how to provide structure for your sit, then you will be given the space and the gift of silence. After this period of stillness, your brain and body will be recharged, preparing you for getting through the rest of your to-do’s.