Meditation workshop offered a respite
Our first workshop of 2019 was billed as an experiential event on meditation and mindfulness. Three meditators began by describing what got them into mindfulness meditation and then offered testimonia s to its benefits.
Ron Matross, chair of UMRA’s Workshop and Cares committees, told about his long recovery from a bad bike accident. He turned to guided meditation using a phone app to deal with his persistent and negative rumination, worry, and physical and mental pain. He eventually recovered from his accident and continues regular use of the Headspace app and website produced by Andy Puddicombe.
Michael Dennis Browne—a well-known writer, poet, and retired professor who led an UMRA workshop in 2012 on aging and becoming—said meditation saved his life by teaching him “self-compassion.” Over the years he has studied many forms of mediation, including Hatha Yoga. His current approach is “centering prayer,” a Christian-based method emphasizing interior silence. He also finds comfort in the spirit of Abba Father prayers. “To me, meditation restores the balance. It gives me a place to be, a haven, a harbor,” Browne said. While he may follow the contemplative tradition, Browne quoted extensively from Buddhist writers, including Charlotte Joko Beck, Jack Kornfield, and Thick Nhat Hanh, author of The Miracle of Mindfulness.
Eric Storlie has been teaching courses on both mindfulness and meditation at the U of M’s Center for Spirituality & Healing for the past 15 years. He first learned sitting meditation in the Zen tradition from a temple priest in Japantown while attending the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1960s. Storlie helped found the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis in 1973. He said one of his goals in meditation is to get through a proverbial “traffic jam” without feeling anger or an automatic fight-or-flight response. During meditation in such situations he can feel “adrenalin drain from my body.”
Following questions and answers, Storlie led the approximately 50 participants in a typical mindfulness mediation for about 15 minutes. In a remarkably soothing voice, he gave instructions on how to relax various muscles, similar to that of the Progressive Muscle Relaxation technique. Browne described this semi-spiritual experience as not so much feeling as observing our muscles and our thoughts.
In my opinion, workshop participants took home a rich array of beneficial ideas and experiences.
—Ron Anderson, Cares Committee
Meditation and mindfulness
Fri, February 22 2019, 1:30pm
Conference Room ABC, Campus Club, Fourth Floor, Coffman Memorial Union
The January Living Well workshop will be a discussion of meditation and mindfulness. Three UMRA members, Ron Matross, poet Michael Dennis Browne, and another will lead off by talking about their very different mindfulness paths and practices, including why and how they got started in meditation, why and how they continue with it, and how they deal with obstacles to doing it.
Then we will do a brief meditation, followed by time for a group discussion of mindfulness practices. Come and share your questions about meditation as well your own experiences with it.
—Ron Matross, chair, Workshop and Cares committees
Upcoming Events
Our July 15 "hike" is going to be a kayaking adventure on Bde Maka Ska (formerly Lake Calhoun) and Lake of the Isles! If you don't have a kayak (or paddleboard), Wheel Fun Rentals, located next to the new concession stand rents single kayaks at $15 an hour and double kayaks at $25. The second hour is free if we rent before noon. Life jackets are provided with the rental.
Laura Ericksen will lead the discussion of How Stella Learned to Talk by Christina Hunger, a true story by a speech-language pathologist who taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using buttons associated with different words.
Our August 5 hike will be a reprise of our hike last summer at William O'Brien State Park. This is a beautiful park with a winding trail and a great view of the countryside. The hike is about 5.5 to 6 miles and we'll go at a moderate pace with frequent water breaks. After the hike, we will eat lunch at Rustic Roots Winery, a half mile north of the park.
Kathy Cramer will lead the discussion of The Bookbinder by Pip Williams, a book set in 1914 Oxford chronicling the life of Peggy who works in the University bindery, but craves a life beyond binding books but to being a scholar herself.
Enjoy a two-hour cruise on the Jonathan Padelford, leaving from the Harriet Island dock in St. Paul, boarding time at 5:30 p.m. We will have a brief program on board by Patrick Nunnally from the River Life Program of the Institute on the Environment.
August 31 is the due date for annual reports and updates. Annual Reports, Toolkits, web page updates, operating document updates and archives collections are all due each year on this date.
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After a summer break the UMRA Photo Club will next meet September 10, 2024 in the meeting room of the Hennepin County St. Anthony Branch Library. For those interested in lunch, meet at the Great Dragon at 11:30 am. For September the THEME will be Curves
We will continue to discuss the pros and cons of Medicare Advantage. You will also hear about notable non-health plan and non-broker resources.