This 6-week Zen meditation course is focused specifically on helping you become more grounded and centered in your life and on guiding you into looking deeply at who you really are. We’ll be covering a variety of Zen practices excellent for increasing energy and vitality, as well as for strengthening overall resiliency. This course also places a particularly strong emphasis on investigating who you really are, on genuine insight, what the Zen tradition has been firmly grounded in for centuries. The practices covered in this course come from the Japanese Rinzai Zen tradition. This course is geared towards anyone interested in discovering a deeper basis to their life and also for anyone interested in learning time-tested grounding practices and energy cultivation.
6-Week Zen and Mindfulness for Grounding and Insight Course
Dates: April 6 - May 11, 2023. 6 Thursdays from 7-8:30pm in Eugene. In-person and online.
Place: Blue Cliff Zen Center and via Zoom.
Teacher: Shinkai
Cost: Please pay what you're able. We have a 3-tiered system.
Supported: $120
Sustaining: $195
Supporting: $270
To Register: 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.
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 how to work with it
- Emotional pain and how to work with it
- Mental and physical benefits of meditation
- Living at a level of elevated function
- Impermanence
- Understanding the stages of insight – knowing who you really are
Meditation techniques we cover include:
- Mindfulness of the breath
- Fusho – the unborn mind
- Meditating with a koan (a question or paradoxical statement used to point to the true nature of reality)
- Healing with the soft-ointment method
- Cultivating the energy in your belly (“hara”) and legs
- Energy transformation
Feedback:
“[benefits I experienced:] increased awareness, aliveness, insights, deeper connection in relationships, less reaction to stress, gratitude, deeper appreciation for my life just as it is, inner strength, love…”
“Very helpful, supportive, and integrating. Much better than a university course…”
“Life changing. My anxiety has improved and I no longer fear my anxiety…”
“[I was able to] deepen my practice/learned quite a bit about my consciousness and how my mind works. More peace. Great class. I learned so much. I wish that it didn’t have to end.”
"I found it to be far more awakening than anything else I've tried."
"It was a great introduction to meditation and I look forward to going more in depth with some of these practices."
"I feel much calmer, more grounded, less anxious and more trusting of the future and that things will be fine. More at peace with myself and the world around me. Happier."
"I feel more connected to myself (especially my emotional reactions) and I feel more empathetic. During my walking meditation I would often "send light" to people, trees, crows, etc."
"I now have a variety of doable practices to choose from that will allow me to experience relaxation, calm, [and] grounding."
"Highly recommend this course. Also a great venue!"
"Excellent experience. I am very motivated to continue meditation and make it part of my daily routine. The facility offered a peaceful, safe, warm space in which to practice in wonderful community."
"I enjoyed sharing this new experience with family."
"A+++. Thank you."
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More FEEDBACK from on our 6-Week Health and Well-Being Course page.