Blog
Mindfullness Workshop
Mar 8th, 2010 7:44pm
An eight week program offering an introduction to meditation
and an approach to working with stress, pain, and illness
I attended this workshop in Victoria with Beth Trotter last spring and cannot say enough good things about it. The course is modelled after the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre.
Mindfulness meditation is a practice which involves cultivating a gentle, caring, nonjudgemental awareness toward all of our experiences moment-to-moment. It can help us reconnect with our inner resources of acceptance, calm and insight even in the face of difficulty. This can be helpful to those of us living with stress from work, our relationships, our healing of childhood wounds, our mid-life transitions, our chronic pain or illness. During the course you will learn a variety of mindfulness meditation techniques based on paying attention to your breath, physical sensations, thoughts and feelings.
Eight week mindfullness stress reduction course: The program consists of eight two hour sessions once a week and one full day retreat. It allows each person to explore their individual experience with group support, but it is not a therapy group.
New class begins: Tuesday March 23rd ~ 7:15 – 9:15 pm
Full Day Retreat : Sunday May 9
Location: Wilna Thomas Cultural Centre at Camosun College, Lansdowne Campus
Cost: $375 (some subsidies available) including pre-course telephone interview, audio cds and handouts
Registration: To register send $50 non-refundable deposit to Beth Trotter, 25 Dock St.,
Victoria, BC, V8V 1Z9. Class size is limited so please register early.
Facilitator: Beth Trotter, M.A., Registered Clinical Counsellor, has practised in the Buddhist Vipassana tradition for twenty years and has been a psychotherapist in private practice over the past eighteen years. She brings a commitment to creating a safe, supportive and respectful learning environment. She also brings her experience of working in a meditative way with her own chronic fatigue syndrome and historical trauma.
For further information please call Beth Trotter at (250) 386-7805 or
visit the website www.bethtrotter.com
Wandering Yogi
Jan 20th, 2010 9:27am
The Wandering Yogi Event is a community building wellness event and fundraiser offering affordable, convenient access to ten of Victoria’s most amazing Fitness,Yoga and Dance studios.
Purchasing a Wandering Yogi Passport will grant you ten classes to ten amazing locally owned facilities. They all offer wonderfully unique classes and are ready to help you achieve your Health and Fitness goals…Body, Mind and Spirit!
The passport is available for purchase at Base Lounge and lululemon athletica for $25 (that’s only $2.50 a class and only one (1) class per studio). The passport is valid January 1st 2010 – February 28th 2010.
All proceeds go to KidSport., a wonderful organisation that believes that no kid should be left on the sidelines and all should be given the opportunity to experience the positive benefits of organized sports. KidSport™ provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing.
Reflections for 2010
Jan 7th, 2010 12:46am
I spent some time over the holidays with a book I have really enjoyed reading called “Radical Acceptance” by Tara Brach. Much of the book addresses what Tara calls the “trance” of our internal dialogue. The constant chatting of our minds directly influences our experience of our lives and she offers insight on how to tune in and connect with ourselves and the world more deeply. So often, our resistance to what is creates an enormous amount of suffering for ourselves and the planet.
I would like to share a few paragraphs that have moved and inspired me as I have reflected on my focus and intention for 2010.
“May my life be of benefit to all beings” is a powerful tool for remembering our belonging and widening the circles of our compassion. If we see ourselves as small and separate individuals trying to take on the world as our responsibility, we set ourselves up for delusion and failure. Rather, our aspiration to be of benefit arises from the radical realization that we all belong to the web of life, and that everything that happens within it affects everything else. Every thought we have, every action we take has an impact for good or for ill. An aboriginal woman from Australia speaks from this sense of relatedness in a powerful way: “If you have come to help me, then you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your destiny is bound up with mine, then let us work together”.
When we feel our togetherness, there are countless ways to express our care. Some people focus their lives on creating a loving home for their families: others on changing laws that will help poor children get better nutrition and education. Some people pray for hours in solitude and others are always on the phone. While it is easy to get caught up in believing we should be doing something more or different, what really matters is that we care. As Mother Teresa teaches, “We can do no great things – only small things with great love.”
Just as a bright sun causes ice cubes to melt, the moments when we feel connected and kind, we create a warm environment that encourages others around us to relax and open up. Each time we widen the circle of caring – with a smile, a hug, a listening presence, a prayer – the ripples flow out endlessly. When we offer comfort to the person sitting by our side, our kindness spreads through the world. Whether offered inwardly or to others, compassion is a gentle rain that touches, without bias, all of life. (page 241-242)
Note: Tara Brach also has a website with excellent lectures you can download as well.
Wishing you all a new year of good health, peace and a widening of compassion within your lives and in the world.
Yoga for Fertility
Dec 12th, 2009 10:30am
Yoga for Fertility is a therapeutic style of practice designed to release stress and improve circulation to the areas of the hips, pelvis and reproductive organs. This yin style of practice blends postures, meditation and affirmations. It is appropriate for women who are preparing for pregnancy or those who would like a holistic compliment to medical treatment. In Victoria, Yoga for Fertility classes are being offered by Megan Tomlinson at a beautiful new centre called Westside Yoga Studio. More details for January class registration can be found here
Another option for practice at home is a new DVD series called Restoring Fertility. This series of exercises and yoga postures was developed by colleagues who specialize in oriental reproductive medicine at the Eastern Centre of Complementary Medicine
Ethical holiday choices
Dec 2nd, 2009 7:18pm
A good friend of mine has recently been volunteering with a new group called Fair Trade Vancouver and has forwarded me some great ideas for the holidays. These holiday shopping suggestions offer opportunities for you to make your Holiday dollars go further. This is only a sampling of organizations that carry ethical Holiday choices - hopefully this inspires you to check out other local sustainable, fair trade and direct trade companies and organizations. Consider this idea as kindling - you can light the fire. And if you are inspired, certainly send this list of shopping suggestions along to others that matter to you.
