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Wren Zen Meditation Class
Monday, October 28 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
from October 14 to November 11 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm (except November 11)
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What is Zen meditation? Zen meditation, or Zazen, is one of the most powerful methods of Zen Buddhist practice developed in the past 2,500 years in Asia and brought to America in the 60’s and 70’s. Zazen is a practice-oriented tradition that is very simple, you “just sit,” as a Japanese master would say. We sit in an upright position, with our hands folded in our laps, while paying attention to our breathing, letting thoughts come and go, and emotions arise and pass. As we practice sitting meditation together, we will become more alert and present to our own bodily sensations and the world around us. We will learn how to maintain stillness and to relate to our pain, both emotional and physical. As part of the Soto Zen tradition, we will also learn how to integrate the concentration cultivated in sitting into other parts of our lives and routine, such as working, parenting, eating, walking, etc. Additionally, as my Zen teacher, Barry Magid, proposes, we will pay attention to our emotional and attachment needs to honor them and become more open to our interdependency and impermanence as human beings on the planet Earth.
About the Instructor:
Adriana Couto Silva has been practicing Zen Buddhism for 14 years and initiated the Wren Zen group in 2022. She began her Zen practice at the Zen Mountain Monastery in Upstate New York. Currently, she is a Zen student at the Ordinary Mind Zendo, a lay Buddhist sangha located in the Upper West Side of New York City. Adriana is also a psychoanalytic psychotherapist with a clinical practice in the DC area.
This is a 6-week session of classes for $60. Each class will include a period of instruction and introduction to Zen philosophy as well as a period of sitting meditation. The group will meet on Mondays from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, from September 9th to October 14th in the Harriet Jacobs Room at the Hill Center. We will provide participants with either cushions, Zeiza benches or chairs for them to sit according to their physical needs. A minimum of 4 participants is required for this meditation training to occur. Participants will be informed if the minimum is not met. If you have any question about the training, please, e-mail Adriana at contact@asilvapsychotherapy.com