Mind Roads Meditation Center

Morning Sitting Meditation

When you arrive for early morning meditation, you can park in the back of our building, 2046 Saint Clair Avenue, and come in through the rear entry. If you arrive after the sitting period has begun, please wait until you hear the sound of the bell to enter the meditation studio.

"Easy Does It"-STARTS Oct 2

Living Recovery in Body and Mind

Explore the spiritual components of the first three steps of the 12-Step recovery program with a unique integration of mindful yoga and meditation practices. Savor the joy of each day...one breath at a time.

Learn simple meditation, breath, and movement practices, and gain a body-felt, deeper understanding of the essence of these three Steps.

In this seminar, you will:

Sense the great “We” of Step One, and through body-mind practices:

• Get grounded and connect to others
• Tolerate and ride-out distressing emotions

Cultivate the hopefulness of Step Two, and through body-mind practices:

• Anchor the mind and calm the emotions
• Connect to our steadfast, unchanging true nature

Contact the “Great Reality Within” of Step Three, and through body-mind practices:

• Release physical tension and anxiety
• Take refuge and receive grace

Participants receive a free copy of Thérèse's book, Mindfulness and the 12-Steps: Living Recovery in the Present Moment.

Tonglen Intensive, Part I-STARTS Oct 7

Deepening Loving-Kindness for Self

"Use what seems like poison as medicine."  Pema Chödrön

The ancient practice of tonglen is a method for overcoming our fear of suffering, dissolving the tightness of our heart, and awakening our inherent compassion. Originating in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, tonglen (translated meaning "giving and receiving") reverses our usual approach of avoiding suffering and seeking pleasure and, in the process, helps us use our own difficulties as a stepping stone to cultivating deeper love for both ourselves and others. By doing tonglen practice, we can begin to take better care of ourselves and others and learn how to let go of what we can't control.

This class is for people who:

• Want to develop a kinder, less judging inner voice
• Are prone to self-destructive or "co-dependent" behaviors
• Have loved ones who are ill, dying, or have just died
• Are in a helping profession and experience compassion fatigue
• Wish to help a person you know to be hurting

In this class you will learn how to use tonglen as a formal meditation practice and also "on the spot" in any situation.

This eight-week session is Part I of the Tonglen Intensive and will concentrate on deepening Loving-Kindness for self. Part II will begin in February 2011 and focus on developing greater compassion for others. Previous meditation instruction and mindfulness practice required.

Meditation Made Easy-Next class Oct 9

Join us for this 90-mn introduction to meditation. While this is a beginning level class, it is open to everyone who would like to revitalize their meditation practice. In this class, Jim will present:

• Instruction in basic sitting and walking meditation
• Practices for breath awareness and quieting the mind
• Suggestions on posture and sitting technique

Fundamentals of Meditation-STARTS Oct 12

An Introduction to Mindfulness and Loving-Kindness Practice

Create an oasis of calm by learning to meditate. This class includes instruction in breath awareness, mindfulness, and sitting and walking meditation, with an emphasis on including loving kindness in your relationship with yourself and others. Join us for a "hands-on," supportive approach to getting started with practice and integrating it into daily life.

See how mindfulness meditation can help you become more in charge of your health and happiness. Classes include lecture, discussion and guided meditations.

Living Kindness for Self and Others

Do you have a vigilant "inner critic"? Take the opinions of others too much to heart? Wish for deeper peace and contentment?

Open your capacity to receive goodness with this class on Loving-Kindness. We will look at the beautiful Eastern practice of "Metta" (loving kindness and compassion), meditations that revive hope and joy, remove tension and struggle, and build harmony in our relationships with others.

In this six-week seminar, you will:

• Practice mindfulness of your breath, body and feelings
• Develop awareness of your needs and desires
• Cultivate greater openheartedness and generosity toward yourself and others
• Deepen your acceptance of yourself "just as we are"
• Use the power of your intention to wish for our well-being and the well-being of others

This class introduces classic loving kindness meditation, a protection meditation, and practices for healing the inner critic. It combines silent meditation, guided meditation, mini-presentations, discussion, and class handout-outs.

Mindfulness and the Twelve Steps

This weekly practice group explores basic teachings of the Buddhist practice of mindfulness and their reflection in the twelve steps. The group supplements recovery and is designed to reveal to us that consistent mindfulness and meditation practice is vital to spiritual progress.

We begin each session with a period of meditation and follow with a brief presentation and discussion. Anyone who wants to support a 12-step recovery program with a deepened understanding of meditation and Buddhism is welcome.

Preamble

“We meet Monday evenings, one chapter in a nation-wide community of Twelve Steps and Mindfulness meetings. Our addictions are wide-spread: drugs, alcohol, food, gambling, cigarettes, or codependency. Everyone is welcome.

 We introduce ourselves by going around the circle, saying our first name and Twelve Step affiliation. We have a common interest in meditation practices and how they can inform our recovery from addiction. Each month, we discuss one of the Twelve Steps and how Buddhist thought, meditation, and mindfulness practice can inform its application to our life in recovery. We sit in silent meditation together, hear a talk by one of our members, and share our reflections.

 As with many Twelve Step meetings, we are a diverse group of people, yet we are part of the great stream of beings seeking deeper serenity in our lives, grounded in sobriety by the Twelve Step program, inspired to awaken and live in the present by the practices of mindfulness meditation. In our addictions, we were never here in the moment. We wanted to be gone. Now we are learning to wake up to the joy of being alive. Please make yourself at home.”

Adapted from Mindfulness and the 12-Steps by Thérèse Jacobs Stewart
(MN: Hazelden Publications, 2010.)

Download handout on Meditation Room (“Zendo”) Etiquette

Mindfulness and the 12-Steps Residential Retreat

Living Recovery in the Present Moment

Take a new, fresh look at recovery through the eyes of mindfulness: deepen your ability to live in the present moment, develop a kinder, more accepting inner voice, and touch the quietude of the "Great Reality Within."

Learn how to incorporate mindfulness into your path of lifelong recovery through a combination of experiential meditations, stories, and group reflections. No previous meditation experience necessary.

Open to people in all 12-Step recovery programs.

Spirit Rock Meditation Center

Dharma and Recovery class

Thérèse is the guest speaker at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, Woodacre, California, along with Kevin Griffin, author of One Breath at a Time. For more details, check www.kevingriffin.

Twin Cities Yoga Festival

Mindfulness and the 12-Steps

Details to follow, check: http://www.twincitiesyogafestival.com.

MARRCH Conference

Mindfulness and the 12-Steps

MARRCH Annual Conference: "Inter Disciplinary Perspectives: Mobilizing Community Resources"

(Minnesota Association of Resources for Recovery and Chemical Health)  www.marrch.org

Professional CEUs available for this conference.

Fall 2010 Speaker Series at Recovery Church

Mindfulness and the 12-Steps: Living Recovery in the Present Moment

Details to follow.

This is the second event in the Fall Speaker Series presented by The Recovery Church, MN Recovery Connection and Hazelden.

For further information regarding the Fall Speaker Series: call 651- 233-2080, or go to www.minnesotarecovery.org.

Common Ground Meditation Center

Finding Pearls in the Dustbin: Mindfulness and the 12-Steps

More information available at commongroundmeditation.org.

Groveland Fellowship Meeting

Finding Pearls in the Dustbin: Mindfulness and the 12-Steps

More information available at grovelanduu.org.

Groveland UU is a small, lay-led, open and affirming group for those seeking a liberal spiritual home and anyone looking to receive and share ideas basic to a philosophy free of creed and dogma

Interview with Patricia Raskin's "Positive Living" on Voice America

Mindfulness and the 12-Steps

Don't miss this live and informative interview with Thérèse Jacobs-Stewart on Monday, August 16th 1 PM CDT on Voice America.