In This Issue...

• Spot Meditation
• Meditation in the Gardens
• Course Schedule
• Forthcoming Events
• Latest Eric Harrison CDs
• Meditation for Women

Spot Meditation

Arnold Schwarzenegger and meditation are not words that you'd usually see in the same sentence, and yet, some commentators have pointed out that one thing Schwarzenneger brought to the world of bodybuilding was the ability to focus — "to direct attention to the internal workings of the muscle, to the point where the concentration became a form of meditation".

Lifting weights, in fact, is an activity that can be very simply and effectively turned into a form of spot-meditation.

It's ideally suited to the development of body awareness, and you can develop this awareness in a variety of ways:

• As you lift, you can ensure that your breath remains loose and relaxed.
• You can focus on making long, smooth strokes, with an even tempo, rather than hurried, jerky movements.
• You can lift to your comfortable maximum, tuning into the messages of the body, rather than insisting on doing a certain number of repetitions (or lifting a certain weight) regardless of how you feel on the day.
• You can focus on the muscles that get activated in a particular movement, and
• You can ensure that inactive muscles (face, legs etc.) remain soft and relaxed.
• You can take lovely, deep breaths in time with each stroke.
• You can focus on remaining mentally centred, still and present while you exercise.

Try it out, and see if you don't feel a little more relaxed and energised following a mindful workout — as opposed to the workout where you remain preoccupied with what's on TV, what you did at work, or who has the best butt in the gym.

Meditation in the Gardens Summer 2011

Course Schedule

Our first term of meditation courses for 2012 kicks off towards the end of January. You can register online for any of the following.

Term 1, Jan/Feb/Mar 2012

Meditation Events

Meditation Events Xmas Concert

Wednesday December 14
7:30pm - 9:00pm

The Augustine Centre
2 Minona Street Hawthorn

Meditation Events invites you to a Christmas Meditation Concert — a relaxing and uplifting blend of contemplative music and guided meditations.

More info and tickets at meditationevents.com.au

How to Meditate Workshop

Sunday January 22, 2.00 - 5.00pm, Elwood

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.

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.

New Eric Harrison CDs

Check out Eric Harrison's new selection of meditation CDs, including the revised and streamlined 2CD edition of his How to Meditate course, and double CDs for advanced meditators and those interested in short, active meditations, as well as audiobooks explaining the mechanics of meditation and the details on how meditation can positively effect our health.

Meditation for Women

Some people seem to think that men and women are the same — almost as though their roles are interchangeable —and that men should be able to nurture a newborn baby just as well as a woman, and that women are perfectly suited to going to war, or playing rugby.

I think the confusion arises because we mistake equality for sameness. Equality might actually mean that each sex has specific roles to play — but that these very different roles are equally important to the functioning of a family or indeed, a society.

So what does this have to do with meditation? It means that just as there are considerations unique to a woman's health and diet, there are considerations unique to a woman's psychology. There are ways of meditating that are more and less suitable for women.

Meditation, however, is a practice that has traditionally been the domain of men. Many of it's techniques have been designed by, and for men, to meet the needs of men. Of course, many of these needs are shared with women, but some are not. Furthermore, sometimes meditation techniques may actual deny or prohibit a woman from meeting her own genuine needs. A woman may feel the need to move, think, or express herself in some way that is discouraged within a traditional meditation framework. She may find meditation constraining or difficult, she may lose interest in meditation, or she may simply feel that she's misunderstood in some way — that she doesn't fit into the meditation mould.

If this is you, or if you're interested in meditation designed for the needs of women, stay tuned for one of our Women's Wellbeing Workshops, or check out Camille Maurine's fascinating book on this topic: Meditation Secrets for Women.

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