This 6-week Zen and mindfulness course is focused specifically on improving your overall health and wellness. We'll be covering simple and effective techniques from the Zen tradition that improve concentration, help you deal with stress, pain, and difficult emotions, and boost your overall health, energy, and vitality. This course is geared towards anyone interested in an introduction to Zen and mindfulness practice, and/or anyone looking for a way of working with some of the things mentioned above.
6-Week Zen and Mindfulness for Health and Wellness Course
Dates: Fall of 2023. Dates TBD.
6 Thursdays from 7-8:30pm in Eugene. In-person and online.
Place: Blue Cliff Zen Center
Teacher: Shinkai
Cost: Please pay what you're able. We have a 3-tiered system.
Supported: $120
Sustaining: $195
Supporting: $270
To Register/Questions: Send us an email at bluecliffzen@gmail.com. Please specify this event in the Subject Heading. We’ll email you a registration form. Also feel free to call us with questions.
Instructor:
Shinkai has led courses and retreats in the US, Europe, and East Asia for over 10 years. One of his primary focuses is the on-going dialogue about what it means to be awake and alive in the busy modern world.
Topics:
Plan to meditate for 25-30 minutes each day!
Over the 6 weeks we’ll be exploring a variety of topics including:
- Stress and time pressures
- Physical pain
- Difficult and strong emotions
- Promoting good health, and taking care of yourself
- How to live and function at an elevated level
The meditation techniques we cover include:
- A Zen Body Scan
- Counting the breath
- Following the breath
- Mindful movement including walking meditation
- Incorporating presence and mindfulness in daily life
- The practice of dwelling in a state of open awareness
Feedback: Health and Well-Being Course
“The course served as an excellent start to making meditation and mindfulness a part of my life. It was truly a transformative experience for me”
“My sleep quality improved over the course of the eight weeks and I feel more able to handle the irritation and stress that I have been feeling at work.”
“…a whole life tool for well-being was made available to students.”
“I felt calmer/less prone to quick emotions or actions. I felt more able to process things and let them slow down and go through me rather than hit fast and knock me down. [My] focus was improved, also my patience.”
“I thought it was extremely beneficial to my state of mind and helped me to maintain sanity during an extremely stressful time in my life.”
[Any benefits?] “Yes! Enlivening, activating (spiritual(y)), discoveries and insights with each practice. I enjoyed and felt nourished by the group. Overall, increased awareness and equanimity, less stress and pain.”
"Class was fantastic, enlightening. So glad I came. Proud of everyone."
“I really enjoyed the Zen meditation course. I have a better picture of where the weaknesses are in my practice and the steps I need to take to stay on course…I have found it to be immensely beneficial practicing with others in a group setting."
“I am calmer despite the hurricane around me. I never thought the time was right to begin a practice.”
"Worth the price."
"Overall the course was great. I struggled to get into a daily practice but I know that I gained skills that I will be able to use for the rest of my life."
“My life is completely different than [it was] months ago.”
“It has been a great experience for us to be in [the] class. Thank you.”
"Meditating 49 days in a row really allows you to learn what works, what doesn't, and helps to develop a life long meditation practice."
“[the course helped me] really get to know myself, be okay with who I am.”
“Overall [this was] a very encouraging workshop and I hope to dive into a retreat and other group meditation [events].”
"Loved the course. Nice balance of discussion and practice. Homework keeps us on track, as well as journaling. Loved the camaraderie."
“…I have been practicing mindfulness in everything. It has had a profound effect, not only in how I live my life day-to-day, but how I consider the future. I am much less stressed and anxious because I know I don’t need to be and that I can pull myself out of those places…”
“I was able to truly enjoy meditation in a new way, where in the past it felt more like drudgery.”
“…good sequencing and building to more complex and subtle meditations. Helped people to be less fearful.”
“I feel calmer and less stressed. I also feel as if my mind is more ordered, more in place.”
"I felt this course showed me a path to being calmer and more at peace in my daily life. I found it tremendously valuable in coping with my anxiety."
"I liked the idea of planning where I go from here. I think I have realistic goals set to include meditation as part of my daily routine."
"Better than Xanax."