Dear Meditator,

Lots of news this month, with a whole raft of special events to announce.

First up, Denis Kelly will give a talk this Tuesday March 2 on Zen Meditation and Yoga. The following weekend I'm running a 3 hour 'How to Meditate' workshop in Clifton Hill.

Then on Sunday the 28th Jason Siff, from the Skillful Meditation Project, will be running a day-long workshop in Balwyn. Jason is one of the most intelligent and thoughtful meditation teachers I've come across. He's one of a very few meditation teachers offering a fresh, contemporary understanding of meditation and he's well worth listening to. His is the one workshop this year I'll be sure not to miss.

Finally, the full program for the 2010 Australian Meditation Conference has been announced and tickets go on sale, at an early-bird rate, this Monday March 1.

See below for full details on all the aforementioned events.

New Venue

From next term we'll be expanding into Yarraville, where we'll be running a Tuesday evening class. Meanwhile Thursday night classes in Port Melbourne will be reduced to two courses per year.

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

In This Issue...

• Spot Meditation
• Meditation Podcast
• Course Schedule
• Events
• Meditation Article: What do Google and Martin Luther King have in common?

Spot Meditation — Take your Pulse

Here's a one minute meditation that I used to teach at the beginning of every course but haven't done for some time. It combines elements of touch and listening with mantra-like counting, and it's something most of you have probably done before, but not necessarily meditatively.

Simply find your pulse and count it up to 60, focusing on the sensations beneath your fingertips.

Hints: Don't worry whether the pulse gets faster or slower. Try focusing on the pulse itself, then on the gap between each pulse. For extra comfort use your thumb to take the pulse on your wrist, or if it's too weak there, you can always try the carotid artery along the outer edge of your trachea (windpipe).

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.

Meditation Podcast

Help yourself get cool, calm and collected, courtesy of the Monash University department of Health, Wellbeing and Development, who have a podcast page with various meditations and visualisations.

Course Schedule

Our next term of meditation courses for 2010 commences in May. You can register online for any of the following.

Term 2, May/June 2010

Meditation Events

Zen & Yoga Master Denis Kelly Australian Tour

Pete Roberts, who ran one of our Simply Silence sessions in Elwood late last year, has invited one of his teachers to Australia. Pete is organising the tour of Zen & Yoga Master Denis Kelly during February and March.

Interested in bringing his Zen lineage into western culture without the Japanese cultural bindings, Denis Kelly founded a centre for non-monks and teaches Zen meditation in combination with the physical practices of yoga. More Information.

How to Meditate Workshop

Saturday March 13, 2.00 - 5.00pm, Clifton Hill

A condensed form of our Basic Meditation Course, this workshop is designed as an introduction to meditation and will help you get started with a range of simple techniques.

Meditation Master Class with Jason Siff (U.S.A.)

Sunday March 28, 9.00 - 5.00pm, Balwyn.

A meditation workshop using chapters of Jason’s upcoming book, “Unlearning Meditation: What to do When the Instructions Get in the Way”. The workshop will consist of four meditation sittings, each followed by a talk and Q & A.

Australian Meditation Conference

The Australian Meditation Conference this year will be held at RMIT Story Hall on Saturday July 30th, with Meditation Master Classes to follow on the Sunday. Presenters will include David Michie, author of Hurry up and Meditate, as well as Pauline McKinnon, Marc Cohen and Arian Young, with more to be announced soon. More information...

Simply Silence

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

Elwood Schedule

• March 8 - TBC
• March 22 - Jarek Czechowicz

Northcote Schedule

• March 4 - Rita Cattivera
• March 18 - TBC

Meditating our Emotions: Finding Martin Luther King

Meditation's reach has recently gotten significantly broader. Over the last couple of years, Google's Chade-Meng Tan has teamed up with the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society to develop a successful course for Google employees called "Search Inside Yourself." It is a key part of the School of Personal Growth at Google University, and combines research into emotional intelligence as presented by Daniel Goleman with meditation, which is taught by Zen master Norman Fischer and the Center's senior fellow Mirabai Bush. But Meng's vision is much greater... Read more...

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