Workshop shares information, benefits of mediation
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Photo: Participants received an instructional pamphlet and japa meditation beads.
By Dahlia Kraus,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff-
Mantra Meditation is a simple method of meditation involving focusing the mind and senses on a mantra, meaning a chant, according to the pamphlets Anna Matthews provided as she led Davis Meditation’s free introduction to meditation workshop.
On Jan. 29 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., participants gathered around a table in Mary L. Stephens Public Library to learn three easy mantra techniques. Matthews led the meditation, along with her husband Sam Diers. The workshop was a small group consisting of the two teachers and three participants.
The first method was gauranga breathing. Matthews instructed participants to plant their feet on the floor, breath deeply and relax their body while repeatedly chanting the word gauranga together.
Matthews then handed each person a beaded necklace for Japa meditation. While repeating a mantra, they moved their fingers over each bead until they were back at the bead they started with.
LISTEN to participants chanting a mantra for Japa:
For Kirtan meditation, Diers tuned his guitar, strummed a soft rhythm and began the group’s call and response singing.
LISTEN to the group repetitively singing for Kirtan meditation:
Afterward, participant Lisle Chenier said he enjoyed the meditation, and that it was his first time doing “one that is structured with a professional.”
Meditation brings out people’s happiness and reduces stress, Diers said. It is a common myth you have to be silent and think of nothing during meditation, Matthews said. The mind focuses when you engage your senses on chanting, feeling beads or singing, which “clears away the [mind’s] cobwebs [and] chases away the fears and anxieties,” she added.
Matthews suggested to participants to meditate about 15 minutes daily, especially in the morning to reduce body and mind tension when starting a chaotic day. This “practiced, tried and true” method of mantra meditation is a great step in nourishing your body and caring for yourself.
LISTEN to Matthews explaining the simple necessity of practicing meditation:
