We of the OTH Team are very pleased to be invited back to the Avow Hospice in Naples, Florida for a second year of what promises to be an annual collaboration. This project has ben organized with the support of our dear friend Louise Kenny. Louise trained as an Opening the Heart Workshop™ facilitator when the organization was located in Ashby, Massachusetts. She is now working as a grief counsellor at the Avow Hospice.

This will be a very full one day workshop on September 20th. Full details can be obtained by following this link. A downloadable pdf brochure is available by clicking here: 'Avow to offer full day grief workshop'.

As the workshop is sponsored by Hospice and the support of generous donors, the cost is just $45. We are grateful to our friends at Avow for making this opportunity possible.

I'm sitting in Starbucks on Charles Street in Boston between some medical appointments at Mass General Hospital. Its been four days since I returned home from the OTH Training and Workshop at Omega. Linda, Jon, Donna and I feel good about both events. We are grateful for the positive and helpful feedback we received from participants. (If you didn't get to fill in a feedback form please feel free to either send an e-mail to staff@openingtheheart.com or post comments below.)

We are interested in hearing of changes in your lives that were initiated by participation in the workshop and you are welcome to keep us updated by e-mail at the above address. We will not make any updates public without your permission and complete agreement.

As we do not advertise our workshops other than through the website and the Omega and Kripalu brochures, we are completely dependent on participants spreading the word by personal recommendation. Our next workshop in the New England area is at Kripalu on the weekend of November 21 - 23.

Yes, we are delighted at the response to the offer of the Opening the Heart Workshop™ Training Group at Omega (Monday 4th - Friday 8th August 2008). We are looking forward to greeting trainees in just two weeks time.

If you have been checking out our website and blog  wondering whether to sign up there are still a few places left - but I urge you to not delay.

I am just back from a day of planning at Jon Berenson's lovely house on the water in Westport MA  - see below -  (well not a whole day of planning - we built in plenty of r and r ) and we are feeling good about presenting the first OTH Training in quite a few years.

Those of you who have registered should be receiving a notification from Omega very soon asking you to select a piece of inspirational writing and/or a piece of inspirational music to bring with you to the training. You will have an opportunity of sharing your selections with us during one of the sessions.

As some of you may have intuited from my Loving Kindness blog entry of June 10th,  I am currently awakening to the presence of cancerous cells in my prostate. As part of my own care and as a way to process some of he feeling states that  will inevitably arise i have decided that i need to write about this experience. However - this blog is not the place for that. Instead I have created a separate blog called Dancing with Prostate Cancer.

I don't warm to the term "fighting cancer" - it seems too aggressive to me. I prefer the analogy of 'dancing' and here's why. In ballroom dancing either partner can be taking the lead, shaping the course of the dance, but in the end neither partner is in complete control. Each one is to a great extent dependant on the cooperation of the other. There is give and take, movement and response, action and reaction. i expect that to be the way with this particular cancer.

Pushing the analogy further - there are forms of dancing which involve many partners. My support network will be my other partners in this dance. Of course there will be my close group of family and friends, but there will also be my adjunct network of healing arts professionals - acupuncturist, chiropractor, herbalist etc. Other partners in the dance will be the huge amount of information and study to be gleaned from all kinds of sources, and the many healing practices (meditation, tai chi, visualization, nutrition etc) to which I have access.

One more connection with dance. At the end of The Opening the Heart Workshop™
Linda teaches the Action Step process. Each conscious step is designed to move you forward in the dance of life.  i now have the opportunity of crafting some steps of my own in Dancing with Prostate Cancer

Yes, I know that the title sounds really daunting and technical but I absolutely needed to alert you to this fascinating and engaging talk about the increasing scientific evidence supporting meditation as a key component of an emotionally healthy lifestyle.

Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation

Enhancing 'emotional awareness and psychological flexibility' and inducing 'well-being and emotional balance' *(see below in Abstract) have always been core goals of The Opening the Heart Workshop™ I am absolutely convinced that a regular, supported meditation practice is an important tool in maintaining and extending the positive effects of the workshop.

I particularly recommend this video fo those who like to see the scientific evidence for the benefits of various forms of 'spiritual' practice.

ABSTRACT

Mindfulness meditation, one type of meditation technique, has been shown to enhance emotional awareness and psychological flexibility as well as induce well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to examine how meditation may influence brain functions. This talk examines the effect of mindfulness meditation practice on the brain systems in which psychological functions such as attention, emotional reactivity, emotion regulation, and self-view are instantiated. We will also discuss how different forms of meditation practices are being studied using neuroscientific technologies and are being integrated into clinical practice to address symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress.

Speaker: Philippe Goldin
Philippe is a research scientist and heads the Clinically Applied Affective Neuroscience group in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University. He spent 6 years in India and Nepal studying various languages, Buddhist philosophy and debate at Namgyal Monastery and the Dialectic Monastic Institute, and serving as an interpreter for various Tibetan Buddhist lamas. He then returned to the U.S. to complete a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University. His NIH-funded clinical research focuses on (a) functional neuroimaging investigations of cognitive-affective mechanisms in adults with anxiety disorders, (b) comparing the effects of mindfulness meditation and cognitive-behavioral therapy on brain-behavior correlates of emotional reactivity and regulation, and (c) training children in family and elementary school settings in mindfulness skills to reduce anxiety and enhance compassion, self-esteem and quality of family interactions.

Many participants coming to the Opening the Heart Workshop™ ask the question:

'What was the music you were playing when we were coming in?'

More often than not it was a recording by Deva Premal.

Deva Premal's music creates an open hearted space that feels completely safe, warm, inviting and deep. Her interpretations of ancient Hindu chants are respectful of tradition while being very accessible to the modern ear.

In the first video Deva Premal talks about and sings the Gyatri Mantra in an intimate, informal setting with a group of teenage students. She shares some of her own story and the particular significance that the Gyatri Manta has played in her life. The audio quality of the recording is not that great at the beginning but inproves when the chant begins. I love experiencing the connection that Premal engenders with this group of young people.

The second video is of the Gyatri Mantra performed in a more formal setting with a larger audience.

Enjoy these videos and check out Deva Premal's website for more information. 

The purpose of this occasional series is to point you toward some of the inspiring talks freely available on the web. These recommended talks have been chosen because in one way or another they relate to or amplify teachings, practices and meditations that we present in The Opening the Heart Workshop™. Our hope is that these recommendations will encourage you to continue and develop your practice of Opening the Heart.

Today's recommendation is 'Feeling feelings'

This very personal talk be Kevin Griffin addresses the issue of working with feelings and the body during meditation. Information about Kevin  - and more of his talks and guided meditations - are available at his website

Ever since we began presenting the OTH Workshop™ at Kripalu and Omega we have invited prospective participants to let us know what issues in their lives prompted them to choose this particular workshop. Their response to this invitation was entirely optional.

Over 90% of the respondents reported that one of the following five reasons had been the main motivating factor in their choice. Numbers were quite evenly divided among the reasons that were offered.

    * They were dealing with grief and loss.

    * They were feeling emotionally and/or spiritually stuck.

    * They were feeling the need to 'change their lives'.

    * They were dealing with histories of abuse and/or emotional abandonment.

    * They were wanting to discover and express a greater authenticity.

If you are someone considering taking the workshop and are not quite sure if it is the right fit for you, please feel free to pose questions in the comment section and we will do our best to answer them on this blog. Your question could also help others to make their decision.

Alternatively, if you have a question requiring a confidential answer, send us an e-mail at:

staff@openingtheheartworkshop.com