Bemidji officially linked with the international network of Peace Poles,  in a public ceremony on Sunday, May 1, 2016.  Remember, a gesture of kindness, generosity, or non-violence is never a mistake.

Who:  The community in and surrounding Bemidji Minnesota

What:  Peace Pole Dedication Ceremony…an opportunity for people of all ages to endorse the message of world peace just by showing up; to make a sincere gesture of kindness toward all life on earth.  Over 200,000 Peace Poles have been dedicated by friends and supporters in 191 countries around the world.

When: Sunday, May 1, 2016   1:oo pm

Where:  Harmony Food Coop      302 Irvine Ave Nw, Bemidji, MN 

Why:  Because it matters when even one person embodies peace, goodwill and kindness

Most people can see the merits of silence and reflection for an hour or two…but…a whole day?   And, no less, a Saturday, when so many other things  need doing…..

Well, 18 people set aside the hours of 9:00am to 4:00pm Saturday April 16 2016 to exist in a supportive community of silence. The experience was, enriching and, at times, difficult just like the rest of life!  Awareness was explored through mindful eating, sitting and walking meditation, gentle yoga, body scan and lovingkindness practices.  Each person brought to bear seven weeks of meditation training from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction class, along with their own commitment, courage and curiosity.  If you’ve taken MBSR in the past, consider coming to the Summer All Day Silent Retreat.   Dates will be announced soon.  Subscribe to this site to get updates on MBSR, and explore the site for resources that support mindfulness practice.

We are completing Week 6 of MBSR, and it’s time again for the MBSR All Day Silent Retreat!

Who:   All current MBSR participants and all MBSR alumni.

What:  A day of guided meditation, including walking, eating, sitting, mindful movement and more….

• Silence is maintained the whole day. The teacher provides verbal support and guidance.
• Snacks and beverages are provided. Gluten Free and decaf choices will be provided.  There will be chocolate.
• Floor blankets and sitting cushions provided.  Chairs also provided.
• PACK A LUNCH TO EAT MINDFULLY AT NOON!
• Dress in soft, comfortable clothes and bring layers for comfort.
• Bring any special props needed for floor sitting or yoga.

When:  9:00am to 4:00pm Saturday, April 16, 2016.  We will start on time, so come 15-20 minutes early to visit, have a cup of coffee or tea, and settle in.

Where:  First Lutheran Church –  900 Bemidji Ave – upstairs in the Labyrinth Room

Contact Geri Wilimek if you have questions:  geriwilimek@gmail.com

Put MBSR Retreat in the Subject Line….

Four-year-old Milan is in perpetual motion, learning-by-doing all day long. Today she saw me doing standing yoga, right there in the middle of the living room, and joined right in! We did the whole Standing Yoga series from MBSR!  As we began the sapling pose,  gently bending over to the left, and then over to the right with arms sweeping the sky, she said, “We do this at school!”

Mindful movement, breathing, and stillness enrich our lives at any age.  Headstart preschoolers learn better when they are calm, focused and confident…..grownups  also benefit when they learn and practice those same skills.  MBSR is experiential learning for grownups. Consider an MBSR class this summer.

Subscribe to this site (in the lower right corner of  this page) for details about upcoming classes!

People have many surprising experiences when first practicing the body scan.  Have you ever “zoned out” or slept while doing the body scan?  Felt bored or impatient?  Or been  uncomfortable with a particular area of the body?  These feelings are likely the very same things that come up daily at home, work or play.  You may view them as “problems” when they affect or interfere with your daily agenda. Who needs sleepiness when trying to study… Or knee pain when walking the dog…. Or low back pain when trying to fix the vacuum cleaner?

Body scan practice is an invitation to explore  body experience as it is, without being colored by an agenda, goal or competing activity. This is why it is important to begin the body scan by remembering that during the body scan, there is nothing to do but show up, moment by moment, observing, learning, and witnessing  experience as it unfolds. There really is no more to it.

Explore this moment through body scan meditation!

What can  you learn from  a raisin?   Current day and evening MBSR participants are learning what….when you really pay attention. The lowly raisin, shriveled grape, experienced through each of the five senses becomes an object of complexity, something we can relate to with our memories, expectations, and immediate observations: seeing hearing, smelling, tasting and touching.  The doorway to awareness is open!  Explore this site to find out more.

This isn’t about guns or archery.  It is about informal meditation practice, a set of skills that can make standing in line, even at Target, tolerable and possibly amusing.  A friend recently came to a meditation group directly after doing errands  in town.  He had been at Target and, as we visited prior to sitting, he told a tale familiar to so  many of us:

You’ve got your stuff and you’re ready to get on with your life, but there’s only one way out:  the multi-layered Target checkout maze, which defies all rules of analysis,efficiency and…. justice.  You apply the “get behind the person with the least full basket” logic and find you’ve picked the person with the smallest purchase and the biggest problems (credit card rejected, massive coupon redemption, etc.)  To make matters worse, you realize that, as you wait for the person in front of you to solve their checkout problem, three others, at the registers behind you (or next to you) have checked out, left the store and continued on with their lives… you have been “left behind”….Where is the logic?  Where is the justice?

Target checkout and many other daily inconveniences present us with a great chance to practice mindfulness skills.  Notice the agitation; meet it face to face; soften and accept what is happening; giggle at the mismatch between our emotional reaction  (intense) with the situation (mundane). Apply some compassion for yourself and others, and you have used on-the-spot mindfulness skills. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teaches these skills.  Subscribe to this site to get updates on future classes or email the instructor, Geri Wilimek, at  geriwilimek@gmail.com.

You really can’t argue with the wisdom of Caribou Coffee…life is, indeed, short and we don’t want to miss a thing! Yet, because of our tendency to be on “autopilot” we do miss things…lots of things, like the taste of a tangerine, or the sweetness of a child in the grocery cart as we wait at the checkout…too rushed to sit and pet the cat for five minutes; too pressured to stay in the shower for a few extra seconds, just because it feels good.  We can get a pretty hard and fast idea of what HAS to happen each day, and in accomplishing it, rush past many of life’s riches.  Caribou’s clever motto offers us coffee so we don’t sleep our lives away…But wait….there’s another way.    Forget the caffeine, mindfulness practice can enable us to get our kicks from life itself.  Mindfulness is the gradual replacement of blind habit with simple awareness.  Learn how, with Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.  Subscribe to this site to get updates on future classes, or email the instructor, Geri Wilimek, at geriwilimek@gmail.com