Research shows that a regular meditation practice can restore emotional balance, reduce stress, improve health and actually change the brain’s gray matter. Practitioners report a greater sense of well-being, contentment, and feeling of connection to others. Mindful meditation helps one awaken to the richness of each moment in life. With practice, one can become aware of habitual reactions to stressors and discover new ways of responding to life’s challenges.
Mindfulness and Compassion: a Path for Transformation: Drop-in Sessions
Date: Thursday evenings, ongoing
Time: 7–8 p.m.
Location: Online
Cost: $14 drop-in fee (Discount with class card)
Please register at Yoga for Living
Would you like to become part of a diverse community of mindfulness practitioners seeking to live with more awareness, compassion, purpose and openheartedness?
Are you ready to let go of a disconnected life driven by to do lists, stress or anxiety?
Are you willing, through personal transformation, to advance the culture towards a more awake and compassionate way of being?
Mindfulness meditation is a path proven to change your relationship to painful emotions and stressful events and to foster compassion for yourself and others. Through mindfulness practice and contemplation, it’s possible to relax your physical and mental patterns of rigidity, resistance and contraction, and to enter into a state of greater openheartedness and peace. Your own evolution positively impacts those around you.
Under the guidance of a professionally trained, experienced instructor, these sessions include guided meditations, poems or inspirational readings, discussions and, sometimes, gentle movement or visualizations.
Practicing with others who have similar intentions forges deep connections. We support each other’s growth and development as we cultivate higher states of awareness and compassion. Through inner transformation, we transform the outer world.
We recommend that you start your journey by taking a 4 or 8-week mindfulness class series, but this is not required.
Grateful for You
What are the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation
Tapestry’s Community Conversations
Date: Sunday, December 6, 2020
Time: 4-5 p.m.
Facilitators: Vandana Nittoor & Lori Volpe
Topic: Giving versus Receiving/ Thinking beyond the material – What do we really need?
Cost: $0 or $5 donation (Benefits local charities- PayPal button can be found at the bottom of this page)
Location: Online
Pre-registration Required. Register (Space is limited, early registration recommended.)
As we navigate these turbulent times, do you long to connect with others who share your vision of a kinder, more compassionate world? Would you like to learn, discuss and perhaps act on current issues affecting our communities, forging bonds with people from diverse backgrounds? If so, please drop into a bi-monthly conversation hosted by Tapestry, a Charter for Compassion based organization.
Vision Statement
Tapestry is a group formed to build community, share experiences, and discuss issues. We embrace people of all races, ethnicities, religions, sexes, gender identities, sexualities, ages and socio-economic statuses. We aim to increase love, justice, compassion and understanding in the world we all share.
These challenging times hold great potential for inner and outer evolution. Having a safe space to connect with an open heart and mind supports positive individual and community growth.
We invite all residents of South Jersey who seek wholeness and meaningful interaction to come join us in creating a mindful, compassionate presence in South Jersey and beyond. Together, we can use our struggles for the betterment of ourselves and humanity.
The links below contain documents relative to Community Conversations:
The Charter for Compassion
Rules of Engagement
4-Week Mindfulness for Beginners Course
Dates: Tuesday, January 5, 12, 19, 26, 2021
Time: 7 pm–8:15 pm.
Cost: $135 for the series, including materials. Register here
Location: Online
If you would like to learn more about mindfulness and how to begin or deepen your commitment to a meditation practice this is the course for you. You will learn the following basics in these four weeks:
- What mindfulness is and isn’t and how mindfulness practice can benefit you
- How living in automatic pilot affects your life and how to become more present
- Practices to stabilize your attention
- Practices to manage difficult situations and emotions
- Practices to incorporate into daily living
- How to interrupt rumination about the past and worry about the future
- How to manage through stressful or anxious times
- How to “be with” challenging physical sensations and our busy minds.
Each class will include
- A guided meditation
- Instruction
- Group discussion
- Valuable tools to start implementing the practices right away
Tergar Dharma Practice Group
Dates: Sundays, November 29 & December 13, 2020
Time: 3 – 4:30 p.m.
Locations: Online
Kindly pre-register by Saturday morning prior to each session by emailing Lori.
Cost: $Free
World-renowned Tibetan Buddhist teacher Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche developed the Joy of Living curriculum as a secular approach to meditation. Please join us in this Level 1 program as we gain an understanding of how awareness meditation can be used to create a peaceful mind and joyful heart.
Awareness meditation allows us to use any situation or experience, even difficult emotions and physical pain, as a gateway to inner peace. As this level is already underway, we suggest beginning with a 4-week Intro to Mindfulness or 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Management course if you don’t have basic meditation experience. But you’re welcome to participate without this additional training.
In this level, you will learn:
- How to rest in open awareness, a state of spacious and alert presence
- How to use visual objects, sounds, tastes, and other sense objects as supports for awareness in meditation
- How to transform your relationship to physical pain, difficult emotions, and destructive thought patterns using the practice of awareness meditation
- How to deal with distractions and obstacles to meditation, such as excessive thought activity, sleepiness, and discouragement
- How to start a daily meditation practice, including the correct meditation posture and the ideal length of a meditation session
Through practice, discussion and the bonds that forge in community, we can establish or deepen a meditation practice, and gain a clearer understanding of what leads us away from suffering and into a more joyful state. Our community is diverse, and includes both beginners and experienced meditators. We benefit from the presence of a Tibetan Lama who has completed a 3-year retreat. All are welcome, regardless of religion.
The atmosphere of these sessions is informal, open, and warm. Regular attendance will allow you to benefit most from the curriculum. We are currently reading the bestselling book Joy of Living, by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche. Tergar Resources
Mindfulness Based Stress Management 8-Week Course
Winter series: Tuesday evenings, Feb. 9, 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16 & 23, 30, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Mindfulness Retreat included – Sat., March. 20, 2021, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Online
Cost: $395 by October 1, $425 after. Full-time students with ID: $199. Price includes all materials. Pre-registration required. Register here
Learn to better manage stress, calm a racing mind, and deal with disturbing emotions through this 8-week Mindfulness Based Stress Management taught by a certified, experienced instructor. Discover more joy, sense of wellbeing and appreciation of life as you increase your ability to be mindful.
The original mindfulness program was developed more than 40 years ago by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn to help people cope with chronic physical and emotional pain. Since than, numerous clinical studies show the benefits of participation in an MBSM program, including
- Reduced stress
- Sharper focus
- Improved memory
- Reduced chronic pain
- Enhanced immune system
- Lower blood pressure
- Reduced anxiety and depression
- Improved sleep
- Improved communication
Read more in What Does Mindfulness Meditation Do to Your Brain? in The Scientific American.
Eight weeks to a Better Brain – Harvard Gazette
During our time together, through experiential learning, discussion and daily practice, you can develop the ability to make positive changes in your life. As you become familiar with your “inner landscape” and deepen the connection with your innate wisdom, you will learn to take better care of yourself and choose more effective ways of responding to life’s stresses and challenges. Rather than living in the past or worrying about the future, you will learn how to engage in life with openness, compassion and ease.
Questions about Mindfulness Meditation classes?
A sampling of comments from recent course evaluations:
Fantastic journey (guided) of self-discovery and spiritual development: Look forward to each new moment and day of awareness and unlearning of things from the past 15 years. Very grateful. – Julie S.
“I found this class awesome and life-changing.” – Lauren P.
Lori was outstanding. Skeptical going in but discovered a higher purpose when finished course. Never finished growing, learning, improving.” – Steve B.
MBSM/MBSR 8-Week Refresher Course
A Journey of Mindful Connection, Renewal, & Support
Fall series: Tuesday evenings, Feb. 9, 16, 23, March 2, 9, 16 & 23, 30, 2021
Time: 7 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Mindfulness Retreat, Sat., March 2o, 2021, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Retreat is not required, but suggested.
Location: Online
Course Tuition: Price: $179 by October 1, $198 after. Preregistration required. Please Register here
MBSM/MBSR Alums: Let’s recommit to waking up to the fullness of life. Repeating the 8-Week Course at a greatly reduced rate is a fantastic opportunity for anyone that has taken any 8-week MBSR or MBSM course anywhere or at any time. If you’d like to reignite, reinvigorate or deepen your personal practice and your capacity for kindness, compassion, and peace, this Spring course is for you.
The reinvestment in your practice includes 22 hours of in-class time, and online audio recordings for at-home practice. You may use your original written course materials or purchase our current 39 page MBSM guide book for just $12.
Mindfulness Retreat
Date: March 20, 2021
Time: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Location: Online
Fee: $35. Pre-registration required. Register here
Note: Some meditation experience is required.
Are you ready to experience the luxury of just being rather than doing? To discover what lies behind your busy mind? To break free from life’s chaos and allow your body/mind to settle?
This retreat offers six hours of mindfulness practices, allowing you to deepen your meditation experience and become more in tune with your true nature.
Guided sitting, walking, lying down, gentle movement, mindful eating and compassion-based practices will enable you to strengthen your attention and open your heart. Toward the end of this retreat, we will break the noble silence to share reflections on the day. Please join us in this rare opportunity to become more familiar with what lies within.
Mindfulness Based Stress Management Introduction
Special: Coming soon
Cost: $15. Please pre-register here: Yoga for Living
Location: Online
Want to learn more about mindfulness, but aren’t sure if you’re ready to commit? This workshop will provide you with an overview of mindfulness and the important role it can play in reducing stress and improving the quality of your life.
Lori will review the fundamentals of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and, through meditation and awareness exercises, you will become familiar with this practical time-proven approach that has helped thousands of people achieve greater balance, vitality and health. In this introductory program you will learn:
- What mindfulness is and how it can reduce stress and enhance well-being
- Basic mindfulness techniques
- Applications of mindfulness in day-to-day living
Introduction to Mindfulness in the Workplace – 4 weekly hour-long sessions at your place of business. Covers the basics of Mindfulness Meditation and includes guided meditations for at-home practice. Or, tailor the instruction to your workplace and any issues taking place (stress, tension between staff, etc.).
Private Instruction available. Please contact Lori for more information.
Hundreds of peer-reviewed studies verify that mindfulness can reduce stress, improve attention, boost the immune system, reduce emotional reactivity, and promote a general sense of health and well-being. It is no surprise that this practice has steadily grown in popularity.
Not sure where to start? Set up a free 15-minute phone consultation.