Winter Meditation Meetups

“[Rest is] anything that slows you down and allows for deep focus and makes space for a mind and body connection.”   Tricia Hersey, The Nap Ministry

Join us online Tuesdays from 12-12:50pm for guided meditation (core practice from 12:10pm-12:40pm). This mid-day mini retreat is an opportunity to set aside the doing and thinking aspects of life and shift into a state of being. Come be led in real-time through practices that promote grounding and centering, head-to-toe relaxation, self-compassion, and resting in open awareness.

You’ll be invited to slow………way………down……to turn your attention inward and gently tend to whatever may be arising. Perhaps sleep will come as you settle in, and that’s okay.

You cannot do this wrong.

Although relief from stress is a usual side effect of these practices, they are by no means a magic pill for suffering. The exercises are not rooted in any particular belief system aside from the human organism’s innate potential to regulate and restore when provided sufficient conditions. Heather strives to support such conditions through this virtual container and recognizes it can be challenging to create them in one’s home/work environment.

Below are some ways you can craft your physical space in support of a rest practice. It’s important to note that none of this is necessary and you can simply pause whatever you’re doing, stay right where you are, and join in the practice:

• Tuck into a quiet spot
• Gather blankets and pillows – think ‘soft nest’
• Utilize headphones
• Set aside unrelated technology and silence notifications
• Advise others in your environment that you’re in an important meeting and cannot be disturbed

Logistics

Sessions will take place every Tuesday from January 24 to May 2, 2023.

Sessions will be recorded as a means of sharing with those who wish to practice on their own.

No active participation in the call itself is required. Default will be video off and all mics muted. Come as you are.

Since there won’t be any dialogue in the live sessions, please connect with Heather via email if you have any questions.

Complete the registration form below to sign up. A zoom link will be sent automatically – please add this information to your calendar.

About Heather

Heather’s support work is informed by a background in event coordination and student academic counselling, professional experience in hospice, funeral, and mental healthcare settings, and growing wisdom nurtured by death & grief practices. She offers deep thanks to the many teachers of dual and non-dual wisdom traditions who have inspired her work, primarily Thich Nhat Hanh, Stephen Levine & Dale Borglum, Sarah Kerr, and Donna Belk.

Over the past twenty years, Heather has studied and practiced a variety of healing, contemplative art forms and has steadily continued her education in transpersonal medicine and end-of-life care. She is currently enrolled in Grof Legacy Training to expand her capacity to work with people in non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Heather has been guiding individuals and small groups through meditation and breathwork practices since 2017. In early 2020, she shifted into an active caregiving role with her mother, which introduced a whole new dimension to the importance of these practices to sustain a sense of grounded- and centered-ness in the face of immense suffering. These tools proved vital as ways to “care for the caregiver” and allow for restoration, compassion, and expanded perspective.

Although well-practised in these areas, Heather claims no absolute expertise and is wary of any teacher who doesn’t ultimately point you back to yourself, to the inner healing intelligence that is ever present, although sometimes obscured. She places an emphasis on getting out of our own way, shifting from head-to-heart, and trusting in the body’s inherent capacity to express what it needs.

With the power of presence, Heather humbly holds space and offers up reminders of what you already know at the deepest levels of being. Her hope is that sharing these practices will serve to support others in getting to know themselves beyond body and personality.