Introductory course to mindfulness meditation in Tel-Aviv With Avigail Graetz
"Being Mindful"
English Introductory course to mindfulness meditation
With Avigail Graetz
At the Tovana "Sangha House", 21 Ovadia-Mibartenura St. (App. 15), Bazel area, Tel-Aviv
Starting January 6th, 2016
7 weekly sessions on Wednesday evenings between 7:30pm-9:30pm
Dates of sessions: January 6, 13, 20, 27. February 3, 10, 24.
The course will focus on learning the basic skills of mindfulness meditation practice.
This course is for all who wish to understand and learn the Buddhist practice of mindfulness meditation (also known as insight meditation- Vippasana). This practice has the potential of liberating us from inner limiting and painful patterns and enables deep joy and peace to fill our lives.
Mindfulness is a mental quality developed through the practice of insight meditation. It enables a direct and authentic contact with ourselves. During our mindfulness practice we learn to know what "is" – what appears moment by moment and what is experienced by our senses. By acknowledging and befriending with what "is"' we can gradually learn to contain all that happens within us, to deepen our understating of ourselves and the world around us and gradually live our lives with less stress and more growing peace.
The sessions will support the daily practice at home and creat good habits of practice in our lives.
Some of the topics that will be discussed and learn in the course are:
* What is meditation? What is mindfulness? How can we practice and develop our capacity to be mindful? Acknowledging physical sensations and the breath. Stopping and resting here and now.
* Mindfulness of breathing: How to befriend the breath, to let go of control patterns from being mindful to the breath?
* Mindfulness of bodily sensations: how to acknowledge and allow sensations to be as they are, without changing them. During that we will become aware of the power of our mental and emotional habitual patterns. We will discover how mindfulness can be helpful in knowing these patterns and gradually release them.
* Uninvolved mindfulness: while being attentive to our bodily sensations we will learn to identify our pleasant and unpleasant sensations, as well as what's in between. We will learn to see our conditioned reactive habits that try to modify each sensual experience. By working with the body we will learn to delay our reactions and to develop a new attitude to sensations.
* Attention to hindrances in the practice: how to identify hindrances in the practice and transform them into a tool for intensifying the practice and deepening mindfulness.
* Application of insights in daily life: meditation can become a powerful tool in our lives. Skillful application of the approach we learn can greatly influence our ability to create balance and peace in our relationship to ourselves, our lives and the people and situations around us.
* What's next? How to continue our practice through life?
Avigail Graetz
Avigail has been practicing meditation and the Dharma path since 2004. Completed training as a MBSR (Mindfulness) teacher by Bangor University (UK) and "Muda Center" at IDC (Israel). She is a playwright, and teaches cinema, Jewish texts and meditation in various places. She wrote a personal column on the NRG website, about Buddhist practice in daily life. Her first novel, A Rabbi's Daughter, was
published in 2012.
Please read carefully the following information:
Course requirements
Participants are required to commit to full participation (at least 80% of the course) as well as practicing meditation at home according to the teacher's instructions.
Costs
Tovana is not sponsored by any individual or organization. Its activities are in the ancient spirit of Dana (generous giving) – for reading reading about Dana – click here
All the activities are based on the generosity of practitioners who support Tovana financially and thanks to a large number of volunteers.
With this spirit we ask from participants in this course a registration fee of 180 nis to (partially) support the organizational costs of those course.
1. Registration fee - sliding scale
A one time fee is charged to cover costs such as Sangha House costs and Tovana organizational overheads.
Registration fee can be paid only in advance.
We offer a sliding scale so to bridge the need to cover costs with the spirit of Dana.
The fee that covers Tovana costs for this course is 250 ils. If you can afford to pay this amount or a higher amount, it will support Tovana in continuing to offer other participants to pay lower fees.
If you can't afford the full fee you may choose a lower fee - the minimum is 180 ils.
If you cannot afford the minimal fee please talk to us as no one is barred from participation due to financial reasons.
2. Supporting the teacher
According to Buddhist tradition, the teacher is not paid for the teaching of the course. Therefore, in the end of each session the participants are invited to practice generosity and support the teaching.
Registration
For registration please follow 2 steps:
1) Fill an on-line form
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1OS9vmjFKNnhl8RIk3gy5FO-UtscvpzXDlZFrNmBFiXc/viewform
2) Pay registration fee with credit card –
Please write in PayPal comments: "English Intro"
On-line payment is much easier for our volunteers. It also secures your place in the course.
If you experience any difficulty regarding the on-line payment please contact Michal the registration manager via email tovana.city@gmail.com
3) After registering on-line and paying the fee please send us an email with your name telling us you've made the payment.
Receipt - we issue a global receipt for all payments. In case you need an individual receipt on your name please let us know
Confirmation
After completing your registration process you will receive a confirmation email. If you haven't received such email in a week please contact us.
Cancellation Policy
The number of places in this course is limited. If you cannot attend the course please let us know so others get get in.
registration fee will be returned if the cancellation was made at least 7 days prior to the course opening date.
In the course
Please show up at least 15 minutes before the beginning time of each session so we can beging on time.
Comfortable clothes for meditation sitiing are recommended
Cusions are available as well as chairs for those who cannot sit on the floor.
Please have cash for the dana to the teacher.
You may bring a notebook to write things down
Contact us
For any further information you may contact Michal at:
If you are not answered with a couple of days you may call her at 054-7460210 (SMS if possible)
May we al benefit from the course
May all being be free of suffering
May all beings live in happiness, freedom and truth