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"I know I should meditate but what kind? And How?

The are literally 100's of mediations you could practice. The word meditation is like saying "Exercise" or "Music", there are many kinds and you won't know what you like unless you try a few out. You won't get serious about fitness if you don't like the sport and you won't play or practice music if the instrument doesn't resonate with your creativity. 

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You most likely have heard exercise is a great way to feel good and get fit. So, imagine you found someone who could teach and guide you with proper and quality introductory techniques for tennis, weight training, running, surfing, and rock climbing. Not in effort to master them all, but guide you enough so that you can feel, experience, and connect to 1 or more enough it becomes an extension of you or contributes in a meaningful way to your relationship to the world around you.

 

What do I Teach?

I teach different traditional meditations that fall under 4 basic categories as explained below. Nearly all styles fall under these 4 categories. My goal is to provide you with the knowledge, experience, and guidance for you to properly, consistently and easily connect in a deep way to how meditation can support you.

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• Present Moment Awareness (Vipassana, Zen, and mindfulness)

Present Moment Awareness is most frequently emphasized in buddhist traditions such as Vipassana and Zen and commonly known in the west as mindfulness. In these forms of meditation, you become non-judgmentally aware of the present moment. You do this by bringing your attention to the cycles of your breath, sensations in the body, sound, or sensations of the environment around you. 

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• Calm Focused (Guided, visualization, and imagined outcome)

In these forms of meditation, you keep yourself focused on a visualization, a chant, music, a person’s voice, a prayer or some other object of attention. Unlike the awareness techniques, you may be instructed to imagine a desired future or re-contextualize past experiences. 

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• Energized Body & Mind (Pranayama, CHI, CHakra)

In some forms of meditation, we are supposed to energize the body and mind rather than calm it down. Energized body-mind draws from Kundalini Yoga, Pranayama, and Chi-Breathing all of which seek to enhance or distribute energy in the body through breath work and visualization.

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• Transcendence/Self-Discovery (MAntra based)

This form of meditation is through a sound mantra. Transcendence/Self Discovery creates a bliss state of mind via use of a mantra that is common to many meditative traditions but was most thoroughly developed in the Vedic tradition along with the philosophical system of Vedanta. In these forms of meditation, the ideal outcome is to transcend the ego and intellect and directly experience a deeper, unbounded aspect of the self which feels like it is beyond time, space, memory and thought. 

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FAQ's

 

What is meditation?

Anytime you deliberately change your state of consciousness using only your mind, body, sound and or breath you are meditating. Different styles of meditation can provide you with experiences of heightened awareness, imagination, bliss, energy, focus, relief, calmness and promotes a non-judgemental view of the self and your surroundings.

 

Can Anyone Meditate?

Yes! Whether your 4 or 104, you can meditate

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Is Meditation Hard?

Meditation in and of itself is not hard...but...it requires daily consistency to feel the full effects of mental, spiritual and physical change. Think of it like eating healthy, 2-3 healthy meals a week will not bring significant and lasting change to your life. It also requires a trained teacher who understands preparing the student for a session, the pacing of different styles, precise use of silence, word choice and "checking" of the student's experience. Checking is a way to address concerns, issues and correct problems a student may be experiencing.

How do you know what meditation is right for

you and how can you learn authentic traditional forms?

What You Will Learn
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Courses

(please contact for fees)

4 Day Course (1 on 1) at my office

• 4 consecutive days

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Private 4 Day Course (1 on 1)at your home (within 15 miles of 92694)

• 4 consecutive days

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4 Week (1 day per week) Group Course

• Groups of 4-10

• Location Varies

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All courses include the following:

• Learn meditation practices from each of the 4 categories show above.

• You will learn 12 meditations: Anapana Breathing, Zen, Body Scan, Light From The Heart, Self Realization, Alternate Nostril Pranayama, Breathing to the Chakras, Kapalbhati breathing, Compassion & Loving Kindness, and 2 mantra based transcendent/self discovery meditations.

• Email help & correspondence between classes.

• Word Doc: Links to places to deepen your training, local teachers, local mediation centers, relevant social media, audio meditations, app + book recommendations.

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Corporate Course and rates also available. 

Contact me for further info & discussion of your needs.

 

* Active first responders, military, students and veterans receive 25% off stated fees.

* Refunds only if cancelled within 48 hours of the first session.

 

Classes

About Me:

I was never a monk, nor have I spent years at monastery...But I was a vegan (still am), athletic,  type A workaholic, impatient, anxious, stressed out man compulsively working 65+ hours a week for decades owning my own company. At the age of 36, I survived 2 heart attacks in 24 hours (that would have killed me if I were not into the hospital when they happened). After the heart surgeries I was then medicated for panic attacks & persistent anxiety. Thanks to my cardiologist insistence, meditation became an integral part of my cardiac recovery & life.

 

First becoming self-taught by use of cassette tapes by people like Andrew Weil , Jon Kabat-Zinn and Bernie Segal I was able to reduce panic and anxiety but not enough to get off anxiety medications. Around 2006 I completed a 6-week MBSR (Mindful Based Stress Reduction) course for my anxiety taught by Adrian Beattie LMFT, an early MBSR instructor who was taught directly by Jon Kabat-Zinn. As mediation became more of a consistent practice I was able to get off anxiety medications. I then continued to deepen my practice, knowledge, and study in various forms of meditation.

 

I continued a year-long study of Buddhism, mindfulness, and Vipassana with Insight LA teacher Karen Redding. Supplementing my education with day-long silent retreats and workshops at UCLA MARC with teachers such as Diane Winston, Buddhist Chaplain Matthew Brensilver and Marvin Belzer, Ph.D. and a 3 Day Silent retreat at Deer Park Monastery !n 2018 I was trained by Charlie Knoles in the practice of Vedic Meditation (a mantra based form of transcendence). My current practice consists of daily Vedic meditation as well as other forms of Vipassana, mindfulness, and breathwork.

 

Credentials:

I am certified by Charlie Knoles at The Veda Center as a Level 1: 200 hour/100 day meditation teacher. I am trained in teaching traditional and authentic styles of meditation that are represented into 4 categories of mind states (almost all forms of meditation can be placed within these 4). This certification consisted of 100 consecutive days of meditations, lectures on origins & traditions of each meditation style, their purpose, correct use, reasoning behind the structure of each meditation, voice tone, memorization, how to teach the techniques, working with student challenges, ethics and cohort reviewed practice teaching videos.

About Me

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