Private or group meditation courses are available upon request, please email me at eoldanissapicard@yahoo.com or call 740-338-9152
I will travel to conduct classes to groups
The following are some of the different meditation techniques that I teach:
“Vipassana” is a Pali word that means “insight” or “clear seeing”. It is a traditional Buddhist practice, dating back to 6th century BC. Vipassana-meditation, as taught in the last few decades, comes from the Theravada Buddhist tradition.
“Samatha” means “calm”: This path from calm to insight was followed by the Buddha himself, and is a central tradition of Buddhist meditation. There are many kinds of Samatha meditation techniques: this one is based on attention to the breath, a subject which is said to be suitable for all types of people.
By regular daily practice the chattering, unruly mind gradually becomes calmer and develops clarity. The way our mind works becomes less confusing to us and we begin to understand the habits of mind that hold us back from happiness and freedom. We become kinder to ourselves and those around us. Meditation is a practical matter: increased awareness brings an ability to make the most of ourselves in our daily lives.
“Metta” is a Pali word that means kindness, benevolence, and good will. This practice comes from the Buddhist traditions, especially the Theravada and Tibetan lineages. “Compassion meditation” is a contemporary scientific field that demonstrates the efficacy of metta and related meditative practices.
Demonstrated benefits include: boosting one’s ability to empathize with others; development of positive emotions through compassion, including a more loving attitude towards oneself; increased self-acceptance; greater feeling of competence about one’s life; and increased feeling of purpose in life (read more in our other post).
Walking meditation is a form of meditation in action.
In walking meditation we use the experience of walking as our focus. We become mindful of our experience while walking, and try to keep our awareness involved with the experience of walking. Actually, there are several different kinds of walking meditation. We’ll just be looking at one of them in detail, although we’ll touch on the others. Once you’ve mastered one form, you’ll easily be able to pick up the others.
Meditating on a passage is the first point in Easwaran’s eight point program of Passage Meditation, and he recommends practicing it for 30 minutes each day on first rising. The other seven points are to be woven in at various times throughout the day or week. Each of the book’s eight main chapters are dedicated to explaining one of the eight points:
- Meditation on a passage
- Repetition of a mantram (mantra, or prayer word)
- Slowing down
- One-pointed attention
- Training the senses
- Putting others first
- Spiritual fellowship
- Spiritual reading
All editions of Passage Meditation contain a chapter dedicated to each of the eight practices or “points” of Easwaran’s method of meditation. Each edition also contains a preface by the author in which he explains how he discovered the passage meditation method.
In Vedic tradition, “Bija Mantras” are used as tools for the expansion and widening of one’s mind by utilizing the power of sound vibrations. “Mantra” is a Sanskrit word made up of two syllables: “man” (mind) and “tra” (liberate). Thus in its most literal translation the word “Mantra” means “to liberate one’s mind”. In Sanskrit a “seed” is called “Bija.” The word “Mantra” when translated by virtue of its practical use relates to a sound that can “create transformation.”
Certain sounds which cannot be translated into a literal meaning but have the power to create great transformative growth and expansion in humans at the physical, emotional and spiritual levels are known as “Bija” or Seed Mantras.
LAM-VAM-RAM-YAM-HAM-KSHAM-OM
Use the bija mantras, or one-syllable seed sounds, to stimulate and unblock each chakra. Respectively, each sound aligns with the seven major energy centers. Chant these mantras when you’re feeling out of balance in any area of your life.
***I also use guided imagery and creative visualizations
References:
https://liveanddare.com/types-of-meditation
https://www.wildmind.org/walking/overview
https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5930/The-Transformative-Powers-of-Bija-Mantra-Meditation.html