Tag: meditation and the mind

6 week hybrid Meditation Course in Berlin

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Meditation course in Berlin

We all need to find ways to touch base with our Self regularly. In this six week course we will look at different aspects of meditation and learn how to create our own practice.

How does the Berlin Meditation Course work?

Each class will consist of:

  • an introduction explaining the aspect of the meditation we will look at that day
  • short stretching session to move the body before we sit in stillness
  • 20 minute guided meditation on the topic
  • space for questions and comments (optional)
  • this class is both live on a Thursday and online for the whole weekend. The 20 minute meditation remains online till the following Saturday so that you can practice it daily throughout that week.

Berlin Meditation Course Topics:

  • Lesson One: Realizing we are Lost in Thought -Finding Our Anchor
  • Lesson Two: Detaching without Repressing
  • Lesson Three: Use the Door that is Here: Introducing RAIN
  • Lesson Four: Sticky Thoughts- what lies underneath?
  • Lesson Five: Identifying deep held beliefs and understanding their power
  • Lesson Six: What is the Here and Now.

For Whom?

This meditation course is open to everybody, from complete beginners to advanced students.

What to bring?

Mats, blankets and chairs are provided at the studio. If you use a meditation cushion or bench when you meditate, then please bring that with you.

When?

September 14th to 19th of October, 2023

Thursdays starting 8pm.

Duration: 45 – 60 minutes.

The recorded version of this class will get streamed on the weekends (from Friday evening to Sunday night) The 20 minute meditation will stay available online for the whole week.

Price

65 EUR incl. 19% VAT for the 6 classes

Where?

English Yoga Berlin Görlitzerstr. 39 – Berlin

How to Sign up?

Write an email to pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

About the Teacher:

Beginning her yoga journey in 1999, Pinelopi completed a 600 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher and Vedantic Philosophy Training course over a period of two years in Valencia, Spain.  For the last decade, she has worked as a full-time yoga teacher in Spain and in 2010 she founded English Yoga Berlin. Currently she is deepening her knowledge through Leslie Kaminoff’s Yoga Anatomy Course,  David Moore’s “Injury-free yoga” applying the Alexander Technique postural alignment to all yoga poses. She is now an Alexander Technique teacher and is studied with Jorg Asshof in Berlin.  Her workshops and retreats are inspired by Tara Brach‘s teachings.

Meditation Course: Mindful Care-giving

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How can we bring mindfulness in our care-giving with children? In what ways can we help children through difficult emotions even when we are going through difficult times ourselves? How can we create more presence in such a high speed world? Let’s explore all these questions together in this six week course on Mindful Care-giving.

How does the “Mindful Care-giving” Meditation Course work?

Each class will consist of:

  • an introduction explaining the aspect of the meditation we will look at that day
  • short stretching session to move the body before we sit in stillness
  • 20 minute guided meditation on the topic
  • space for questions and comments (optional)
  • this class is both live on a Thursday at the studio and online for the whole of Saturday and Sunday. The 20 minute meditation remains online till the following Saturday so that you can practice it daily throughout that week.

Meditation course topics:

In this course we will explore:

  • the RAIN meditation and how to apply it to ourselves
  • share stories on how we can guide children through RAIN
  • practice bringing awareness to the beliefs that could be fueling certain reactions in us
  • learning to wonder about what the child is believing and how that is fueling their reactions
  • ways for all of us to slow down in our interactions and allow for spontaneous connection

For Whom?

This meditation course on mindful care-giving is open to everybody who has a relationship to children and teenagers. This can be parents, teachers, kindergarten teachers, grandparents, aunties, uncles and auncles, health practitioners, and grown-up friends of children and teenagers.

What to bring?

Mats, blankets and chairs are provided at the studio. If you use a meditation cushion or bench when you meditate, then please bring that with you.

When?

Every Thursday 8pm starting on January 12th to February 16th, 2023.

Duration: 45 – 60 minutes.

The recorded version of this class will get streamed on Saturdays and Sundays. The 20 minute meditation will stay available online for the whole course.

Price

55 euro for the 6 classes

Where?

English Yoga Berlin Görlitzerstr. 39 – Berlin

How to Sign up?

Write an email to pinelopi (at) englishyogaberlin (dot) com

Mastering the Monkey: Is Peace of Mind Impossible?

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“You don’t think thoughts but rather thoughts think you.”

The mind often creates a natural barrier to inner peace. If you were to sit down, right now, and say to yourself, “For the next 5 minutes I will only think of a star,” you would find it is impossible to do so. The nature of the mind is for it to wander, to work with associations and to jump from thought to thought. In some ways, that’s its job. And in others, it ends up keeping most people feeling restless.

 

The mind is often compared to a monkey- jumping from one branch to another with no control.

Let’s follow the “monkey” and use the example above of focusing on the star; soon, I realize that the star reminds me of all the falling stars I have seen in my life. This thought brings me onto all the wishes I have made on those stars. That, in turn, makes me think of unfulfilled wishes, which reminds me that I’m unhappy. When I think about being unhappy, that tenses up my chest. Feeling the tightness in my chest reminds me that I have to buy an inhaler for my asthma- and why am I unhappy anyway?…

This is how the mind works. Within just a minute or two of thoughts, I have not only had mental fluctuations but I also have had emotional reactions from serene to sad. Every emotional reaction has produced a physical reaction, in this example my chest tightening, which has taken me through so much in such a short period of time.

My yoga teacher used to say, “When the mind can be fixed on the same thing for 3 seconds- that is called attention. When the mind can be fixed on the same thing for 12 seconds- that is called concentration. If you can concentrate 12 times (12 sec x12=144 seconds) then THAT is called meditation.”

Photo by Rob from Cambridge MA

Practicing concentration techniques are very important for one to feel centered and grounded. Meditation is a great tool to make the most of the minds power by making sure it is not wasting it’s energy. In our berlin yoga classes, we practice these techniques by observing the body during the Asanas, by using the practice of Tratak and through Yoga Nidra. Because the mind is so important, it is vital to learn how best to use it. Once we have mastered these techniques, then we will be able to take the practice to a more advanced level in which we can find a way to master the monkey!

Mastering the Monkey: Is Peace of Mind Impossible?

  By

“You don’t think thoughts but rather thoughts think you.”

The mind often creates a natural barrier to inner peace. If you were to sit down, right now, and say to yourself, “For the next 5 minutes I will only think of a star,” you would find it is impossible to do so. The nature of the mind is for it to wander, to work with associations and to jump from thought to thought. In some ways, that’s its job. And in others, it ends up keeping most people feeling restless.

The mind is often compared to a monkey- jumping from one branch to another with no control.

Let’s follow the “monkey” and use the example above of focusing on the star; soon, I realize that the star reminds me of all the falling stars I have seen in my life. This thought brings me onto all the wishes I have made on those stars. That, in turn, makes me think of unfulfilled wishes, which reminds me that I’m unhappy. When I think about being unhappy, that tenses up my chest. Feeling the tightness in my chest reminds me that I have to buy an inhaler for my asthma- and why am I unhappy anyway?…

This is how the mind works. Within just a minute or two of thoughts, I have not only had mental fluctuations but I also have had emotional reactions from serene to sad. Every emotional reaction has produced a physical reaction, in this example my chest tightening, which has taken me through so much in such a short period of time.

My yoga teacher used to say, “When the mind can be fixed on the same thing for 3 seconds- that is called attention. When the mind can be fixed on the same thing for 12 seconds- that is called concentration. If you can concentrate 12 times (12 sec x12=144 seconds) then THAT is called meditation.”

Practicing concentration techniques are very important for one to feel centered and grounded. Meditation is a great tool to make the most of the minds power by making sure it is not wasting it’s energy. In our berlin yoga classes, we practice these techniques by observing the body during the Asanas, by using the practice of Tratak and through Yoga Nidra. Because the mind if so important, it is vital to learn how best to use it. Once we have mastered these techniques, then we will be able to take the practice to a more advanced level in which we can find a way to master the monkey!