So many of us have so many things pulling us in different directions, whether it’s external forces – the people in our lives, work, obligations, stresses, microagressions, the list goes on – or internal – thoughts, emotions, sensations, cravings. Often our minds are in a different time and space than our bodies, replaying something that happened in the past or planning for something that will happen in the future. Meditation gives us a chance to gather our minds and come home to our bodies, to align our minds and our bodies in the same time and space. This is healing, this is self-care.

The instructions for meditation are usually quite simple, for example keep coming back to the breath in the case of mindfulness awareness (aka concentration) practice. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. For beginners, it’s helpful to have someone guiding the practice, as well as someone to explain why we practice in this way. For experienced meditators, it can be easy to develop our “meditation habits” (dozing off, anyone?) or to think that we already know how to do it so we can skip our practice or gloss over it.

“Beginner’s mind” is something that many experienced meditators aspire to. I aspire to awaken beginner’s mind in myself in situations outside of meditation as well. The idea of beginner’s mind is that often beginners approach a new endeavor with an enthusiasm and a freshness that is curious and energetic. They don’t make assumptions, they pay attention. In Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, Shunryu Suzuki writes “If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything, it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”

Our Back to Basics class is a perfect class for folks new to meditation to come learn how to meditate. It’s also a great class for experienced meditators to come to refresh their practice. And it’s an opportunity for us to be in community together and share our experiences. In the class, we have a guided meditation and group discussion, with an emphasis on being curious and asking questions, as well as how to maintain a home practice beyond the weekly sessions. And so we do this together, in community. We look forward to seeing you there! Here’s our page with more info.

Jennifer Wang

Instagram @jennifer.sits.still