Introduction to Mindfulness Practice: A 6 week course

Offered in partnership with the University of Montana Alumni Association.

The past year, we've all experienced so many unknowns. While we honor the health practices of physical distancing, this is also an important time to be staying connected, to deepen in community, and to cultivate skills for our resilience and well-being.

As a way to offer support during the Covid-19 pandemic, we are offering a 6-week course that will introduce tools to cultivate more calm, compassion, and connection.Through inner exploration and engaging with community, we will learn accessible, lab and time-tested meditation practices that will allow us to awaken into deeper peace, joy, compassion and equanimity in our lives.We will meet for an initial orientation followed by 5 consecutive 90-minute weekly sessions. Each session will be led by Namchak facilitators.

No previous experience is required.

Course Outline

• Week1: Orientation: Course Overview and Intention Sharing

• Week 2: Motivation and Meditation

• Week 3: Compassion Practice

• Week 4: Putting it All Together

• Week 5: Exploring How to Bring Your Awareness into Everyday Life

• Week 6: Carrying Your Practice Forward

Weekly Session Outline

• Open with a few breaths and moments of silence.

• Check-in

• Discussion with questions and activities.

• Guided meditation

• Reflect on meditations in journals, pairs, and in the group

• Revisit how everyone feels after the session is complete.

• Close

Details:

The course will begin on Monday, February 22 and will meet via Zoom every Thursday evening through Monday, March 29.

Zoom link will be provided upon registration. Please note: Confirmation emails from Eventbrite often end up in spam/promotions tab. Please check there if you do not see the confirmation email with the Zoom info.

Community Agreements

In our community we agree to:

Treat each other with respect and appreciation
Commit to words and actions of non-harm within our group interactions
Be inclusive of diverse opinions and backgrounds
Practice anti-racism in all aspects of our lives including this group setting
Learn by immersing in the practices, giving them a real test drive
Honor a wide range of meditation experience
Hold everything shared in confidence
Be open-hearted and present
Act with the whole community in mind
Allow for equal sharing of voices (step forward/step back)

*Definition of anti-racism as we are using it above: “Anti-racism is the active process of identifying and eliminating racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies and practices and attitudes, so that power is redistributed and shared equitably.” – NAC International Perspectives: Women and Global Solidarity

Introduction to Mindfulness Practice: A 6-week course