Tag: beginner meditation

Happiness

June 28, 2013
Posted by Sharon
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Happiness

~Deborah Warren

 

You think of it as a summer that’s somewhere else,
where the insects are rubies and emeralds in the trees,
flitting through hymns you’ll be able to hear–tomorrow,
where petals quiver out on the air like flames.
And plumed birds flash around it, scarlet peacocks
waiting there, tricked out for your arrival:
Music and beauty;  that’s what you want from it.

 

What it is is the opposite of that.
It’s here already, here in your local April–
what did you picture? A bauble from the sun?
A star come down and planted in a garden
(up the road) and even at noon the dew
hanging like beads of heaven on its leaves?
No. It’s more like burdock, say, or vetch.

 

You want it to be the color of sherbet;  strange;
a tulip in blue or melons with violet flesh,
or a tree with arpeggios where the fruit should be,
tended by gods who amuse you while you eat–
who fan it with gold-hinged wings and delicious antics;
sweeter, really, than you can believe.  Instead,
it’s plain–it’s too plain even to be noticed,
as plain as the grass you’re walking in today.

 

This poem is a profound inquiry into mind, desire and being present and aware of our reality.  These exact themes are explored in my new online course, The Four Noble Truths.  What is not offered in the poem above is a method for dealing with the suffering that arises in the difference between what we desire and what happens.  This suffering from the desire for things to be any other way than how they actually are is a shared human experience.  The Four Noble Truths course is a “book club style” online course that provides a reading guide to Phillip Moffitt’s beautiful and insightful book, Dancing with Life and worksheets and meditations to help you bring these insights into your practice and daily life.  The tuition for this 5-week course is $25.  If you are looking for a meaningful summer read and a way to create or re-inspire a daily meditation practice, please consider joining this supportive and intelligent book club community.

Here is more information on how this unique book club style course came to be:

FREE GUIDED MEDITATION

And, I hope you will either join me LIVE or listen to the recording of a guided meditation on interdependence.  The live guided meditation is on Monday, July 1st from 7:30 to 8:30 pm.  It is FREE.  Completely FREE with no registration or strings attached.  Due to space limitations, I highly recommend showing up for the call at least 5-minutes before it is supposed to begin.  Absolutely no experience with yoga or meditation is required.  Just get comfortable, sit back, listen and relax!  Here is the link to the event page: http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=43192956

SIGN-UP

Every week I send out love notes to everyone on my mailing list.  Yes, that’s right.  Love notes.  The kind that make you all excited and a little giggly and nervous because you just can’t wait to open them and see what’s inside!  Of course, you will also have access to exclusive meditation and yoga events and get the first notification on new programs and projects.  And, as a little treat, I will also send you a mini-booklet of short meditations that you can do right now to feel less stress.


Interdependence Meditation

June 20, 2013
Posted by Sharon
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HiRes.jpg

Guided Meditation on Interdependence

 

In honor of Independence Day, I have decided to host a guided meditation on interdependence that you can experience from anywhere by calling-in on your phone.  This will be a live guided meditation experience.  All you need to do is dial-in to the conference call and then put your phone on speaker, get comfortable and enjoy the meditation session.  It doesn’t matter if you fall asleep and start snoring because the callers are muted.  You can even listen as you wash dishes or take a bath.  I am requesting a $10 karmic offering for the meditation, but payment is not required. There is a payment button below the sign-up if you do wish to make an offering for the meditation.

Date:

Monday, July 1, 2013
Time:

8:30 pm Introduction and basic meditation instructions for beginners
8:45-9:15 pm Guided Meditation
9:15-9:25 pm Closing (all times are Eastern USA)
Access Code:

Sign-up below and you will receive an e-mail with the dial-in number and access code on Friday, June 28th

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A Pep Talk for You!

May 20, 2013
Posted by Sharon
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Click HereA Little Pep Talk Just for YOU

How many flexible people do you know?  Let’s be honest here—you don’t actually KNOW anyone who is flexible.  If yoga required flexibility, then 15 million people in America wouldn’t have been practicing last year.  But, they did.

How many thin people do you know?  If yoga required you to look fabulous in stretch pants, then 15 million people in America wouldn’t have been practicing last year.  But, despite the fact that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, they did. And, by the way, I bet you look awesome just as you are.

Don’t think you have enough money for yoga?  Yes, studying yoga and meditation is an investment.  But, in 2010 the cost of heart disease in the United States was $444 BILLION DOLLARS (source).  This is a no brainer.  Invest now in practices that immediately improve the quality of your life at a fraction of the cost that chronic illness and disease imposes on your life later.

Stop making excuses.  Making an investment in yoga and meditation will bring you greater returns through your lifetime than almost any other class, exercise or weight loss program or activity.  The benefits of yoga are 100% proven and have stood the test of time.  You aren’t going to get any more flexible sitting here at your computer.  Maybe you aren’t flexible and you have a few extra pounds you carry around with you.  You and everyone else.  Buy a mat, put on your stretch pants and show up for class.

If you are breathing, you can do it.  No matter your age, physical fitness, education, size, weight, flexibility, health status—-you can do this.  Yoga and meditation are just words for a variety of simple techniques for using what you arrived here on earth with–your body and your breath—to bring you relief from tension, stress and fear.  The tools of yoga are free, but you must use them to receive the benefit.

Yes, you need your own mat.  Yes, you need your own meditation cushion. No, you don’t need to buy $140 yoga pants.  A quality mat that is made out of non-toxic materials is going to cost you about half of what a new pair of sneakers cost.  If you care for it well, then it might last you 10-years.  Your meditation cushion is a lifetime investment.  Mostly, you just need your body and your breath—free.  Don’t get tripped up by all the commercialism around yoga and the advertisements that would lead you to believe that all yoga practitioners are 16-year old former acrobats.  Real people, with real bodies and real budgets do yoga all over the world every single day.  And, if you happen to be a 16-year old former acrobat, great—yoga is for you too!

Beginner Meditation Course

May 11, 2012
Posted by Sharon
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Click Here!

We recommend this beginner meditation course.  There is a 60-day 100% money-back guarantee.

This is not a Yoga Matrika product, but we know that there are a lot of people in our community who can’t come and take a class, but really want to learn how to meditate or need some support for their daily home practice.

Spring Meditation Series with Bhante Pema

January 23, 2012
Posted by Sharon
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Believe it or not, Bhante Pema’s Spring Meditation Series at Yoga Matrika is almost full already and it is not even February!  This is a very special opportunity for all adults who are interested in meditation in Pittsburgh to gather in this intimate space and learn from this most wonderful teacher.  If you are interested in practicing with Bhante Pema on Monday nights, please register soon to save your place in this series.  If space is available, we will open the class to drop-in students, but please do not count on this.  Pregnant students are welcome to attend as meditation is a beautiful and supportive practice while you are expecting.  Chairs are provided for anyone who would be more comfortable sitting in a more supported way during class.

Spring Series:
Monday Nights from 7:30 to 8:45 pm
March 12 through May 28th
12-classes in the series for $130
REGISTER HERE

Join Bhante Pema, the current Abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center, for this 12-week mediation course. The cost for the series of 12-classes is $130. Everyone is welcome—from absolute beginners to more experienced practitioners—to this course that will cover a variety of meditation techniques, how to find your seat, movement, breath and ways to face common challenges in meditation. Although the instructor is a Buddhist monk, the meditation techniques that will be taught are secular and are appropriate for all adults regardless of your other beliefs or religious affiliations. Please note that there are no make-up classes, refunds or tuition transfers. If you know you will miss multiple classes in the series, please know that a portion of your tuition is donated to the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center to help maintain their efforts to share the healing power of meditation in Pittsburgh.  We ask that you bring your own meditation cushion, bolster, pillow or blanket to sit on for your comfort. We are happy to provide folding chairs to students who are not able to sit on the floor.