Surja Tjahaja has been teaching Mindfulness Meditation classes for six years in Milwaukie, Lake Oswego and West Linn, because hes happy he can help others in need and provide them a strong foundation to deal with the challenges of life, he said.

Tjahaja will offer a one-time free workshop called Demystifying Meditation from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Oregon City Library, so participants can learn how meditation can reduce stress and improve health and happiness.

He also will offer a course called Mindfulness Meditation from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, for six weeks, beginning Jan. 28, at the Milwaukie Center.

Tjahaja likes to work with libraries and parks and recreation departments because they offer affordable prices to residents, so anyone who is interested can learn meditation techniques, the West Linn resident said.

Life lessons

Tjahaja studied for 10 years, beginning in 2000, at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, Calif., and is a graduate of the Sati Center Chaplaincy program, also in Redwood City.

He worked for two years as a volunteer chaplain at the Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco.

I teach Mindfulness Meditation as a secular study with emphasis on practical application to daily life challenges. My goal is to help others remove stress from their lives and cultivate happiness and good health, Tjahaja said, adding that his classes are open to people of all ages and health conditions.

He added, My lessons are scaffolded and build on each other. I start with the basics of just focusing on breath, and then continue with more advanced materials as a student progresses. This approach is useful in coping with daily life challenges such as stress, physical pain, depression, anxiety, attention deficit disorder, phobias, grief and loss, weight control and recuperation from a major illness.

Demystifying Meditation

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Meditation classes help with life's challenges