A series of one-hour mindfulness and meditation classes will be offered at the Ridgefield Library this summer on four Mondays: July 10, July 17, July 31 and Aug.7 at 7 p.m. Meditation offers countless benefits, including improved emotional regulation, focus, resilience, compassion, and mental and physical health.

The library is pleased to host the Community Mindfulness Project a local, secular meditation group dedicated to the study and practice of mindfulness meditation for people of all religious backgrounds. CMPs teachings draw from a variety of meditation traditions, and in addition to regular, dedicated practice, the group supports new and veteran practitioners with discussion and peer-to-peer learning.

This program is part of theBody, Mind and Spirit: Holistic Health and Wellnessseries that is made possible thanks to the Noreen L. Papa Fund. This program is also part of the Build A Better World Adult Summer Reading program that is made possible thanks to the Friends of the Library. Registration is recommended for each class.

For more information visit ridgefieldlibrary.org or call 203-438-2282.

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Summer mindfulness and meditation classes - The Ridgefield Press

Written by Siddhartha S | Singapore | Published:July 2, 2017 8:41 pm You just need to find the form of meditation to which you can relate to the most. (Source: Thinkstock Images)

I am yet to meet a working professional who does not like to take a shower or brush teeth before coming to office. Yes, sometimes crazy working hours or sub-zero winter temperatures may occasionally make us miss these necessary daily rituals, but I am sure there is no need for me to establish the importance of personal hygiene.

However, it surprises me a lot that such little importance is given to what is happening inside the human body other than the sensations of hunger or pain. People now consider stress, anxiety, anger issues and panic attacks as normal happenings in life. I do not wish to use statistics as a crutch to establish the need for internal emotional cleansing. There are ample of studies by reputed medical institutes published in world famous journals which prove that meditation is even more powerful than medication for sound emotional health.

Five benefits in your work life if you meditate.

I will not prescribe you any particular kind of meditation because all of them are effective. Do not let your untrained mind give you excuses like lack of knowledge and proper technique is the reason why you cannot meditate. Buy a book on the subject of meditation or read a dozen of articles on the Internet and then you are all set to start. If your employer does not sponsor a meditation class for you, you can do it yourself. It is free, easy to do and a great habit that you must gift yourself.

You just need to find the form of meditation to which you can relate to the most. I follow a combination of mindfulness, thoughtlessness, gratitude-based meditation, deep diaphragm breathing and concentration exercises.

You can read books and watch videos online about each of these techniques and adopt the one which works best for you. I would only like to prescribe a minimum duration of 30 minutes per day to start with. You can meditate in a standing posture, seated position or in the most crowded places but make sure you do not compromise your physical safety. Allow me to share certain professional benefits that you can manifest in your life through the habit of meditation. I can vouch for these benefits because I have personally experienced them in one way or the other.

A mind conditioned through meditation always responds to a situation calmly rather than reacting to it. The nasty client email or a rude email from a colleague will not blow your mind easily. You will now operate from a position of planned response rather than an unplanned execution. It is a powerful position to be in and very useful skill for business leaders. Your inner wisdom will navigate you to choose better projects and colleagues to work with.

There are various forms of meditation techniques that can unleash your creativity. One of them is the constant questioning method. I always calmly command myself what is the best, fastest and most effective way to complete my work. The fact that I communicate with my inner self through questions, it comes up with a lot of creative answers. As spooky as it may sound, but meditation grants you access to collective consciousness of the world. You will get strangely powerful ideas which you cannot attribute to your own knowledge seeking efforts. It is the universal consciousness sending you signals to improve your life. Be receptive and open to these creative sources.

People who meditate are very choosy about their professional battles. They know that some issues and people should be avoided rather than confronted. They have understood the futility of micromanagement in life and intervene only when the stakes are high and when action is the best plan. As a result, they are quiet beings who do not mess up their relationships or annoy people around them. Some people will always be annoyed with you even if you do not do anything. However, most of the bad relationships at work are a result of an ugly confrontation, a poorly worded email or phone call made with a rude tone. Meditation can help you direct and channellise your anger on issues rather than people. You will attack wrong behaviour rather than people and your relationships will get better in a significant manner.

When you practise mindfulness or thoughtlessness, you reach a state of now. You fall in love with action and do not get anxious about the results or outcome. This is the age old concept of work-therapy or living in a state of flow. When you learn to still your mind through certain breathing techniques, you take charge of your attention and the number of distractions in your professional life decrease too. You understand the difference between urgent and important and engage in high impact tasks. Your productivity zooms up and you get more accomplished in a day than most people do in that time frame.

Meditation releases energy of calmness and positivity that can be harnessed at your workplace. After every 1 hour at work, I take 10 deep breaths and exhale any negativity or stress which might have built up during the past one hour. Just takes a couple of minutes but it keeps me super productive for the hour. While coming back from work, I use certain breathing techniques to release any kind of stress and negativity that I might have unknowingly accumulated inside my mind. As surprising as it may sound, but I feel energetic and charged up at the end of the day too.

Meditation is one practice that I prescribe to all my readers and seminar participants because it has no side-effects. It clears your mind and oxygenates the body. Meditation is not just meant for the monks of the Himalayas. The truth is they need it less than us who live a professional life full of targets, deadlines and challenging situations.

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Aura delivers guided meditation for any attention span - Mashable

The Needham Farmers Market has a new location this year.

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The Needham Farmers Market has moved to a new location on Garrity Way, a paved driveway between Needham Town Hall and the Town Common. The market will be open every Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. until Nov. 19. There will be plenty of in-season produce as well as pasta, maple syrup, seafood, and gourmet treats for sale. Each week will bring new seasonal selections, crafts and gifts from local artisans, live music, and a visit from a nonprofit organization. For details, visit needhamfarmersmarket.org.

Learn to meditate at the Acton Memorial Library Wednesday, July 5, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Certified yoga instructor and trained meditation leader Lina Shastri will teach a session with an introduction to mindful breathing and meditation. Participants will learn guided meditation and how to practice breathing techniques to quiet the mind. Shastri will also answer questions afterwards. No registration or prior experience with mediation is required; however, you must be above 14 to join.

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A farmers market and a meditation class - The Boston Globe

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Transcendental Meditation for Everyone Wall Street Journal (subscription) Bob Roth knows his field sounds a little like woowoo spirituality, as he says. But as a teacher of transcendental meditation, he now works with a wide-ranging clientele that includes celebrities such as Katy Perry and Jerry Seinfeld, hedge-fund ...

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Transcendental Meditation for Everyone - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Ever wonder what your body is going through when you deliberately shut it down for 10 to 20 minutes during a nice, solid bout of meditation?

Believe me, you're not alone, girl.

Those deep breathing exercises you're instructed to do during meditation aren't just for show.

As you sit still and demand your mind to calm the f*ck down, your psyche is actually undergoing some major positive changes.

Here are five things that happen to your brain not before or after, but exactly while you're meditating.

Cortisol is a hormone your body releases when you're stressed, so if your cortisol levels are low, that means you are #TooBlessedToBeStressed.

Astudy published by the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health involved 30 medical students who had their blood tested to measure their cortisol levels before meditation.

After four days of mindful meditation, their blood levels were checked again. The findings revealedthat the average level of cortisol significantly lowered post-meditation.

When you're meditating, your brain produces theta and alpha waves.

Theta waves usually occur when you are in your deepest phase of dreamless sleep.

Alpha waves occur when your mind is in an idle state, like when you're daydreaming.

This means that, though you are awake, meditation induces brain activity that happens when you are either in your most relaxed state, or when you are sleeping.

That is honestly beyond incredible.

Like, think about it: Even though you're technicallyawake, your brain is so ridiculously relaxed, it produces activity as if ityou're freaking asleep.

I'm sorry, but you cannot tell me meditation is nota gift sent down from the heavens.

After all of that, you are in an ultimate relaxed state.

This is basically what people mean when they say that they feel zen.

You feel light, and free from worry you feel happy.

And you can thank good ol' dopamine for those positive vibes.

Dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitter, is released into the body during pleasurable situations.

Meditation, my friend, is indeed, a very pleasurable situation.

The gray matter in your brain is located in the hippocampus, a part of the brain that is crucial for learning and memory.

Gray mattercan also be found in other parts of the brain associated with self-awareness, compassion, and reflection.

In a 2009 study published in the journal NeuroImage, Eileen Luders, a researcher in the Department of Neurology at the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, compared the brains of 22 meditators and 22 non-meditators of the same age.

Her results showed that the meditators had more gray matter in regions of the brain that are imperative for attention, emotion regulation, and mental flexibility.

Increased gray matter is needed to ensure that the brain is efficiently processing information.

Luders believes that the increased gray matter in the meditators' brains should make them better at controlling their attention, managing their emotions, and making mindful choices.

It's safe to say, with all of that goodness listed, as you wipe your mental slate clean, your brain is literally re-configuring it self.

Your cortisol levels are lowering, gray matter is increasing, and alpha and theta waves are flowing.

Honestly, your brain sounds like a kickass, naturally high work of art.

So continue breathing in deep, and exhaling anything that doesn't serve you.

Your mind is undergoing a major glow-up!

#NewBrainWhoDis?

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Imani Brammer is a writer, on-air talent and YouTuber, where she produces videos on how to navigate the nuances of adulthood. Subscribe to her channel at YouTube.com/ImaniBrammer.

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This Is What's Actually Happening Inside Your Body When You're Meditating - Elite Daily

CRYSTAL LAKE The McHenry County College Continuing Education Department is offering students two classes next month to teach individuals self-defense and how to reduce stress.

In the Womens Self Defense class, participants will be taught awareness and how to protect themselves. The course is designed for beginners. Participants are asked to wear comfortable pants and a T-shirt.

The self-defense class costs $29, and will be from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. July 13 in the MCC Gym, Room A107. When registering, use course code NHE S09 002.

MCC also is offering a class called Meditation for Stress Reduction and Concentration to teach participants methods for stress reduction. The instructor will teach participants daily meditation practices such as mantra meditation and loving kindness meditation.

The meditation class costs $25, and will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. July 13 at Yoga Seva, 407C E. Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake. When registering, use course code: NHE S68 003.

To register for either course, call the MCC Registration Office at 815-455-8588. For information, call Renee Erling at 815-455-8759.

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MCC to offer self-defense class for women; meditation course - Northwest Herald

Futurism only supports companiesthat we trust. Aura Premiumis one of those companies. We may collect a share of the sales from the items featured on this page. Sign up for Aura Premium here. A New Way to Think

Mindful meditation is becoming an increasingly popular tool, one that people use to manage both their emotional and mental health. The practice is,in essence, the art of not reactingthe art of finding inner stillness through the use of external stillness. Its taking the time to close your eyes, turn your focus inward, and put all of your energy into just breathing.

Its an incredibly simple practice that doesnt take much time at all, and it is incredibly helpful. Ina study published in Clinical Psychology Review,researchers at Boston University and Harvard Medical School found that the technique helps alleviateanxiety and allows individuals to better cope with stressfulsituations. Similarly, in a study fromFrontiers in Psychology, researchers found that individuals who meditate have more gray matter volume in their brains than those that do not.

Yet, only 18 million Americans report their participation. Unfortunately, the reality for many overworked Americans is that relaxation is a luxury. Indeed, 92 % of the country still hasnt caught onto the trend. Its a surprising statistic considering the fact that meditation has been proven to increase concentration, decrease anxiety, and even help to preserve the aging brain.

Over the last few years, there have been a variety of apps that have aimed to close the gap between people who make time for meditation and the people who dont know how to fit it into their lives. And while many of the apps that have hit the market have effective qualities, few are as impressive and progressive asAura Premiumthe app created by meditation teachers and therapists that actually gets to know you, so it can help you better.

The AI-infused app is programmed to take post-session feedback information and use it to become a dynamic tool that assists with your mental health. Each time you use the app, it creates more pathways for you to get better at finding your zen.

And while anyone whos into mindful meditation will appreciate the app for its relaxation enhancers, its most appealing for people who are new to meditation and need guidance. All users need is three minutes a day to practice, though you can also choose 7 and 10-minute meditation durations as well.

The app is mostly geared towards helping its users get into a better headspace through exercises, breathing routines, and key spoken wordsthough it also has the ability to track users moods to help them see patterns and form connections.

Aura is essentially like having a portable guide in your pocket. And its been so successful in helping its users find inner peace, it was rated the best new app for February 2017 with thousands of nearly perfect ratings. For $59.99 on StackSocial, you can get a lifetime subscription to the app and start your journeyto better mental health.

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There's A New Way to Use Meditation to Reshape Your Brain - Futurism

Reva Seth is a bestselling author and the founder of The Optima Living Lab, an initiative making the case for public investment in the personal infrastructure of individuals.

Pro athletes, celebrities, Fortune 100 CEOs and Silicon Valley billionaires have rhapsodized on how meditation and mindfulness are the most effective tools for health, personal performance and well-being since, well, exercise. Like yoga and running before it, mindfulness tools and meditation programs are now big business with popular apps like Headspace, the Mindfulness App and Buddhify receiving tens of millions of downloads.

Mindfulness and meditation are simply about regularly exercising the ability to be, deliberately and calmly, fully in the moment. This requires an individual to still his or her mind, control emotions and breathe regularly and deeply. Its a simple habit that produces incredible (data-based) results which is why leading global companies such as Google, Target and General Mills are incorporating it into their organizations.

Research shows regular practice reduces both physical and mental-health costs and improves emotional quotient (essential for social cohesion and success in a knowledge economy) and resilience to stress, as well as employee focus, concentration and productivity.

Researchers from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., found that meditation and mindfulness reduce anxiety, depression and pain.

Similarly, a study in the Journal of Health Psychology found that meditation and mindfulness lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Scientists at the University of Oregon found that meditation techniques actually result in physical brain changes that protect against mental illness by increasing the signalling connection in the brain and the density of protective tissue.

From a public-health perspective, Canada should be experimenting and implementing what research suggests is a cost-effective, non-invasive means of helping to address our national mental-health crisis.

Mental illness and addiction affects one in five Canadians in their lifetime. Canada is also the second highest per capita consumer of opioids in the world and, according to the International Narcotics Control Board, these numbers are rising.

Data show that Canadas youth are also suffering from rising levels of anxiety, stress, depression and suicide. A large-scale 2016 study tracking Ontario students for the past 20 years found that one-third had moderate to severe symptoms of psychological distress an increase from two years earlier.

The economic costs of these numbers are significant. Mental illness broadly costs the Canadian economy more than $50-billion (from health care, social services and income support) and Canadian businesses lose $6-billion annually as a result of lost productivity, absenteeism and turnover.

Even more staggering is the ripple effect that our national mental-health crisis is having on our families, workplaces and communities. Statistics Canada in 2012 found that approximately 11 million Canadians had a family member with a mental-health or addiction problem. More than one-third reported that their own lives had been directly and adversely affected by their family members mental issues.

The traditional frame of reactive acute care is no longer sufficient or optimal.

Its time for public-health officials, policy makers and the public to get behind a commitment to scaling up access to meditation and mindfulness programs. These practices shouldnt remain the stronghold of the affluent who have the time and resources to invest in cultivating stronger mental wellness. Information and opportunities to practice meditation should be available to all Canadians with schools, hospitals, workplaces and even public transport or the CBC as possible points of delivery.

Successful models that could be scaled up are already operating across the country, and the first step should be to survey these existing success stories for templates that could be nimbly offered more widely. For instance, in the Toronto District School Board, the Dr. Norman Bethune Collegiate Institute introduced lessons in mindfulness with six workshops over two months. Similarly, the Vancouver School Board offers teachers mindfulness training through the MindUp program.

This is not a replacement for better medical care, improved social services or pharmaceutical intervention its a supplement or augmentation to existing treatments and a pro-active means of strengthening the ability of more individuals to personally invest effectively in their mental and emotional wellness.

A national strategy and commitment to promoting mindfulness and meditation would also positively nudge forward our collective ability to better navigate other social and health priorities. For instance, meditation has been shown to alleviate loneliness among seniors, reduce stress among caregivers and help promote focus and reduce anxiety among youth.

Much like ParticipAction was launched by the Canadian government to promote healthy living and physical fitness (and to battle exorbitant health-care costs), the next frontier is to do the same with our countrys mental well-being by publicly scaling up education, understanding and access to meditation and mindfulness.

Follow us on Twitter: @Globe_Health

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Mindfulness and meditation need to be part of Canada's mental-health strategy - The Globe and Mail

Alexander C.N., et al. Treating and preventing alcohol, nicotine, and drug abuse through Transcendental Meditation: A review and statistical meta-analysis. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 13-87, 1994.

Aron E.N. and Aron A. The patterns of reduction of drug and alcohol use among Transcendental Meditation participants. Bulletin of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors 2: 28-33, 1983.

Clements G., et al. The use of the Transcendental Meditation programme in the prevention of drug abuse and in the treatment of drug-addicted persons. Bulletin on Narcotics 40(1): 5156, 1988.

Gelderloos P., et al. Effectiveness of the Transcendental Meditation program in preventing and treating substance misuse: A review. International Journal of the Addictions 26: 293325, 1991.

Gelderloos P., et al. Effectiveness of the Transcendental Meditation program in preventing and treating substance misuse: A review. International Journal of the Addictions 26: 293325, 1991.

Orme-Johnson D. W. Transcendental Meditation as an epidemiological approach to drug and alcohol abuse: Theory, research, and financial impact evaluation. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 11, 119-165, 1994.

Royer A. The role of the Transcendental Meditation technique in promoting smoking cessation: A longitudinal study. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 219-236, 1994.

Shafii M. et al. Meditation and marijuana. American Journal of Psychiatry 131: 60-63, 1974.

Shafii M. et al. Meditation and the prevention of alcohol abuse. American Journal of Psychiatry 132: 942-945, 1975.

Wallace R.K. et al. Decreased drug abuse with Transcendental Meditation: A study of 1,862 subjects. In Drug Abuse: Proceedings of the International Conference, ed. Chris J.D. Zarafonetis (Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger): 369-376, 1972.

Walton K. G., and Levitsky, D.A. A neuroendocrine mechanism for the reduction of drug use and addictions by Transcendental Meditation. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly 11: 89-117, 1994.

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