Whether you have never taken a meditation class before, or you would like to re-invigorate your existing practice in community, this course meets you where you are as a fresh opportunity for new growth and possibility. Its objectives are simple and practical: to support your natural state of well-being by reducing the stress that so often obscures it. The course will provide methods for developing your innate capacities for wisdom and compassion, giving you the skills necessary to support your highest happiness and well-being. We are often preoccupied with thoughts about the past or the future, along with feelings of comparison and self-judgment. These pre-occupations contribute to stress, anxiety, and fear, which in turn take a toll on our physical health. Through mindfulness practice, we learn how to overcome these mental habits so that we can see clearly what is happening in our lived experience of the present. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment with intention and without judgment, and it relies on an important characteristic of awareness: awareness by itself does not judge, resist, or cling to anything. By focusing on simply being aware, we learn to disentangle ourselves from our habitual reactions and begin to have a friendlier and more compassionate relationship with our experience, with ourselves and with others. This ease of mind and heart supports healing at all levels. *Space is limited to 15 participants. Course Details: What: Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation: An 8-Week Course Instructor: Laura Elizabeth Dorsett, MTS When: 8 Wednesdays, October 19 – December 14 (*No class 11/23) Where: Kaplan Center for Integrative Medicine Time: 5:45PM – 7:15PM Cost: $295.00 To register please call 703-532-4892, email rsvp@kaplanclinic.com.
