Friday, March 11, 2011

Managing life and stress with meditation

Veronika Ludewig rubs outside of a crystal singing bowl to produce a tone during one of her meditation classes at The Dharma Room in Sioux Falls (Elisha Page/Argus Leader).

Beginner's meditation
Begin with a few minutes of meditation every day. Be comfortable. Then go right into your body and notice any tension. Breathe naturally. Follow your breath. You can also take straight, deep breaths and count. Hold breath for four counts, release for a count of four, and start again. Release any expectation of what is supposed to happen. (Source: Melissa Shattuck, Veronika Ludewig).

Melissa Shattuck was recently stranded at the Chicago O'Hare Int'l Airport for three days on her way back to Sioux Falls from a workshop in Puerto Rico with The Chopra Center. Instead of becoming overly worried and stressed, Shattuck took the setback in stride. A friend remarked to her how calm Shattuck was during the event.

She credits her meditation practice for helping her keep anxiety and stress in check. Shattuck, co-owner of The Dharma Room, started meditating about four and half years ago after an experience at the The Chopra Center in Carlsbad, California.She started meditating to deal with stress.

"This was the most life-changing thing for me in dealing with depression and anxiety," Shattuck says. She is a certified meditation instructor with The Chopra Center, started by teacher and author Deepak Chopra and David Simon. She also teaches Ayurveda and yoga. More>>

  • What: Crystal Bowl Meditation with Veronika
  • When: 3-4 p.m. Saturday and March 26
  • Where: Park Ridge Galleria, 1604 S. Western Ave.
  • What: Meditation, Dharma discussion, Q&A with Monastics from MN/SD Buddhist Vihara
  • When: 6-8 p.m. Sunday
  • Where: The Butterfly Rainbow Center, 1416 S. Minnesota Ave.
  • Info: The mission of the Vihara is to share the Buddha's message of peace and happiness and to help create peace and harmony within ourselves and in the surrounding world. The Vihara is open to people of all faith traditions and cultures.
  • Individual meditation is available by appointment from Randy Smith at The Butterfly Rainbow Center.

No comments: