Shambhala Training Level 1 – The Art of Being Human – A weekend retreat in the city

“What is meditation?  It is easy to imagine someone sitting cross-legged, breathing easy with a relaxed smile in ‘perfect bliss.’  This person doesn’t appear to be thinking or worried about what task they have to do next – in fact it seems like this person has all the time in the world!  You might even think that it takes a special and spiritual kind of person to meditate (and you may be thinking that person isn’t you), when in fact, it is a skill that can be learned.

The Art of Being Human: Shambhala Training Level 1 is an introductory to meditation retreat where participants new to meditation can experience it under the guidance of experienced meditation instructors.

Sign up for the next Weekend Retreat, December 2-3 in Eagle Rock >

Meditation to me is strengthening the mind. Just like you take care of the body, just like you need to sleep, at some point you can meditate. And that means a period in the day when one can strengthen, calm, and then you’re ready. Otherwise, life becomes overwhelming and the level of agitation and stress begins to reduce our energy.

Meditation really doesn’t have to take more than five or ten minutes. It’s better to do ten minutes than not to really focus and drag on for an hour. If you want to meditate longer, great. But really the notion is consistency —some time in the day when you just stop and sit.

We’re just trying to be at peace. Rest comfortably. And every time we rest, every time we follow the breathing, feel the breathing, our mind becomes stronger. Once we begin to strengthen and our mind begins to settle down, then we’re able to perceive things in a deeper way. We might start to ask ourselves, ‘What about love, what about compassion, what about the notions of egolessness or selflessness?’ Those insights don’t come very often.

The process of meditation is sort of like cleaning a window — you finally get to see through.”