In the midst of our many concerns, what can we hold on to?
In our current climate of divisiveness, one likely point of agreement may be that we are living in difficult times. Besides the challenges of everyday “ordinary” life, we face considerable uncertainty. What will be the impact of shifting political ideologies here and abroad? Will the impact of Artificial Intelligence serve our well-being or lead to greater vulnerability? Will our planet sustain future generations?
How can we maintain some sense of equanimity when unsettling emotions are being elicited on a daily, and sometimes hourly basis.
Key to the popularity of mindfulness in the West was the development of the Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction course at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Jon Kabat-Zinn solicited referrals from physicians whose patients had reached the end of benefitting from what conventional medicine had to offer. He trained these patients in the “special medicine” of mindfulness so participants could discover for themselves the transformative power of meditation practices.
These time-proven practices are not simply for health challenges, but for anything that “ails us” in living what Zorba the Greek called “the full catastrophe.” In such challenging times, cultivating mindfulness has taken on a “now more than ever” importance.
What will be included in the course?
- Review the fundamentals of formal practice and address common misconceptions that can make meditation unnecessarily difficult (“I can’t meditate, my mind is too busy.”)
- Discuss the importance of intention and posture in formal practice. Explore the difference between awareness and attention.
- Discuss some of the current challenges we face personally and culturally (“What’s going on?!”) with insights offered by contemporary neuroscience and models of psychological development
- Explore ways of working with difficult states such as grief, sorrow, fear, anxiety, and (very popular of late) outrage.
- Discuss ways of carrying and sustaining the benefits of formal practice into our everyday lives; embodied awareness and the peace of “single-tasking.”
What to expect during each session?
Each session will begin with a short meditation. There will be one or two talks on the topics noted above. Time will be allotted for participants to discuss their experience of meditation practice and to ask questions. Each session will end with a longer period of guided practice. The aim of these sessions is to offer an array of practical, “user-friendly” and adaptable practices to facilitate living with greater awareness and compassion.
Participants will receive a collection of recorded guided meditations to utilize outside of the sessions.
Prior to registering, participants should plan to attend every session and practice mindfulness “on and off the cushion” at least 30 minutes per day throughout the program.
Meet the teacher, Michael LaValle, PhD
Michael has served the Dallas community as a licensed psychologist, health service provider, and meditation teacher for the past 40 years. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and completed his doctoral studies in psychology at The University of Dallas. He is certified by The Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center where the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course was originally developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. He is also certified to teach by the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion. He has served on the faculty of the nine-month certificate program offered by the Institute of Meditation & Psychotherapy. Michael teaches Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), and he facilitates evening communal meditations and silent retreats. He also has extensive experience with Centering Prayer.