Dear Meditator,

A new term of 6 week meditation courses begins next week. There are places available in all courses including the Daytime course in Elwood, and the Intermediate course in Clifton Hill, which are run just once a year.

Also, join me for the next five Tuesday mornings for FREE Meditation sessions in St Kilda Botanic Gardens; put October 19 in your diary if you'd like to join Adelaide's entertaining and inspirational meditation teacher, Graham Williams', at his Melbourne workshop and read below for some of the latest neuroscience, as well as free podcasts you can download.

I hope you enjoy the newsletter. Feel free to email comments, questions or suggestions to: matt@melbournemeditationcentre.com.au

In This Issue...

• Spot Meditation
• Stress - Portrait of a Killer
• Forthcoming Workshops
• Course schedule
• Forthcoming Events
• Free Podcasts

Spot Meditation - Stretch your mind.

Where is your mind when you stretch? Keep it in the present by counting your breaths (half a dozen should do). As you count relax the shoulders and face while you focus on the muscles being worked.

Thanks to Heather Wood for this suggestion, who says: " Not only does it work really well as a ‘spot’, but finally I am holding my stretches for a reasonable time because I have something else to focus on and, into the bargain, am finding the whole activity quite satisfying!"

How and where do you meditate when you've only got a minute? Send your own spot meditations to matt@melbournemeditationcentre.com.au

The best suggestion each month will be published here.

Stress - Portrait of a Killer

Neuroscience is revealing interesting things about the brain, particularly with regard to the functions of attention and awareness in learning, creating new habits and health. Insights derived from recent research are helping us to understand how the brain works and how to use it for our own benefit.

As Jeffrey Schwartz (Associate Research Professor of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, UCLA) says:

"When you understand how the brain works somewhat better you can use that information to literally enhance your own perspective, broaden your own sense of your capacities and, with that awareness, learn to focus on other things knowing that if you focus on other things consistently you can change what's there. You can change the way that real estate is used."

In other words, meditation literally rewires your brain. Practice focusing your attention consistently enough on those things that bring you peace, health and wellbeing and you actually start producing the chemicals and neural pathways that contribute to mental health.

Meanwhile, Stanford University's Robert Sapolsky is helping us to understand the dysfunction of contemporary stress. This information too, can help us to recognise and learn from our habits. Visit STRESS - PORTRAIT OF A KILLER for answers to questions such as:

• Why does psychological stress turn on the stress response?
• Does the stress response differ in men and women?
• Are 21st Century humans more stressed out than our predecessors?
• What are the most common health problems, caused or worsened by stress

Forthcoming Workshops

Meditation Master Classes - Graham Williams' Workshop

The basics of meditation are easy to learn and do. However, many people are unaware of the incredibly rich tradition behind it and the profound psychological insights meditation can provide.

In this workshop Graham will demonstrate how both beginners and experienced meditators can benefit from understanding that different kinds of meditation suit different types of people. He will outline the different personality types, the way these types learn and the meditations which suit them best.

Graham will also explain the deepening levels of meditation and how to recognise them, and the 'weather patterns' of the mind. Knowing how your mind and emotions work provides strength and confidence in both meditation and your daily life.

There will be plenty of time to meditate, and to explore and discuss your meditation experience. Graham will present formal, informal and spot meditations so you can integrate meditation more fully into your daily life.

October 19, (10am - 4pm) Balwyn

Graham Williams, Ph.D., is the founder and director of the Lifeflow Meditation Centre. He is an adjunct lecturer in the School of Medicine at Flinders University and a consultant to a national corporate psychology company. He taught at The University of Adelaide for 15 years.

Originally a concert pianist, he then trained for over ten years as a teacher in both the Burmese and Tibetan meditation traditions, and spent six years in intensive retreat. Graham has concentrated on bringing the advanced techniques of these incredibly rich traditions into an accessible Australian form.

The Lifeflow Meditation Centre (founded in 1981) has a team of seven teachers, has taught thousands of people how to meditate and trained hundreds in the more advanced practices.

The third edition of Graham's book Insight and Love is due out later this year, and his new book Balancing Life has just been released. In collaboration with the ABC, the Lifeflow Centre has released The Joy of Being, a set of meditation CDs.

To book, visit: http://www.meditationevents.com.au/

How to Meditate Workshop

The last of our popular Introduction to Meditation workshops for 2009.

Sunday, November 9 (2.00 - 5.00pm) Prahran.

Course Schedule

Term 6 Courses commence the week beginning October 5. You can register online for any of the following.

Term 6 October/November

Meditation Events

Meditate in the Gardens Spring 2008

Start your day with a relaxed and clear mind. Join me on Tuesday mornings from 7.00 - 7.45am at the Rose Garden Rotunda in the St Kilda Botanic Gardens for a series of free guided meditations, presented by the City of Port Phillip. There's limited seating available so arrive early or bring a yoga matt, rug or cushion to sit on. Sessions run on September 23 & 30, and October 7, 14, 21 & 28.

Simply Silence

Get your regular dose of relaxation and calm at one of our Simply Silence sessions in North Melbourne or Elwood. It's a great way to discover and explore meditation in a friendly group environment.

Elwood Schedule:

• October 13 - Adam Nicholl
• October 27 - Jarek Czechowic
• November 10 - Yvonne Anderson
• November 24 - Debbie Ling
• December 8 - Sarah Fletcher
• December 22- Matthew Young

North Melbourne Schedule:

• October 2 - Garth Stone
• October 16 - Paul Majewski
• November 6 - Rita Cattivera

Unlocking the Power of the Focused Mind

During the spring and fall of 2007, 70 people participated in two 3-month, intensive meditation retreats, during which the effects of their 8-10 hours per day of practice were meticulously studied by a team of psychologists and neuroscientists. With a wide array of psychological and physiological measurements taken toward the beginning, middle, and end of this training, this was the first longitudinal scientific study of its kind. Alan Wallace originally conceived of this project and has been working closely with this team of cognitive scientists for four years, and he served as the resident instructor for these retreats. In this lecture he will give a preliminary report of the findings of this historic study.

Alternatively, if you'd just like to meditate, here's a selection of Alan Wallace podcasts you can download and listen to.

Know someone who could chill out?

Do you have friends who are perpetually stressed or anxious, have trouble sleeping or could just do with learning how to relax? Do them a favour and forward this email to them. (Or if this is you, subscribe here.)