Community Meditation is non-profit network of meditation groups. We bring mindfulness and wellness into people’s lives through courses, meditation sittings and group discussions, both in-person and online. By sharing the benefits of meditation and mindfulness, we support the evolution of a wise, caring, and healthy world.
Our network has existed for over a decade and although our roots are Buddhist, we draw on many wisdom traditions as well as contemporary wellness, psychology, and neuroscience. Community Meditation is completely volunteer-based and guided by a council of experienced teachers.
Community Meditation is a Canada Revenue Agency Registered Charity No. 73107 5719 RR0001.
Your donations, either one-time or with a monthly subscription, help us to pay rent, insurance and other basic expenses. We are a volunteer organization and all of our costs are covered by donations and course fees. Online Canadian donors will receive an annual tax receipt for the full amount of their donations in each calendar year.
One-Time Donation Monthly Donation
NOTE: For monthly donations, use the Qty button to adjust the amount in units of $5. For example, a Qty of "3" is 3 x 5 = $15.
All online sessions, except our short morning sessions, include a 20-minute silent meditation. New to meditation? Instruction is available.
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Click here to join on Zoom @ 8:45 AM ET
Looking for a mindful start to your day? We're launching silent group meditations from 8:45 to 9 AM ET, Monday to Friday. There is no meditation instruction available in these sessions–if you'd like instruction, email hello@communitymeditation.net.
NOTE
For all the sessions listed below:
Click here to join on Zoom @ 5 PM ET
ONLINE
What is the connection between mindfulness and creativity? Join Kaye-Lee in a contemplative journey into the elements of mindful creativity, and its limitless forms of expression. Everyone is welcome.
Creativity's centre is everywhere,
its circumference...nowhere.
- Sandi
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Brenda, Jim, and Gordon for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by a reading and discussion of Tara Brach's Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha. This week, we continue reading and discussing Chapter 10, "Widening the Circles of Compassion".
As we open to the vulnerability of others, the veil of separation falls away, and our natural response is to reach out a helping hand.
– Tara Brach
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
You are invited to join Kaye-Lee, Marian, and Gloria to meditate, and then read and share your thoughts about Norman Fischer's book, The World Could Be Otherwise: Imagination and the Bodhisattva Path. We are reading Chapter 3, "The Perfection of Ethical Conduct". Everyone is welcome.
All religions teach love...despite the evidence to the contrary
– Norman Fischer
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:45 AM ET
NEW DAYTIME SESSION! ONLINE
Please join Sandi, Darina, and Anita for our daytime session, in which we're exploring Pema Chodron's book, Another Kind of Freedom. In a new chapter, sitting meditation is described as having five sections, with the fool coming first. So, having introduced this notion to our ego, what happens next? Could we relate to our thoughts and emotions, directly, without a story?
Can we meet ourselves as we are, and not be afraid to be a fool?
– Pema Chodron
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Join Lauren, Sandi, and Adam in exploring Francis Weller's beautiful book, The Wild Edge of Sorrow. Waller invites us to gently see the sacred beauty of grief and all its rich, layered poignancy. The Wild Edge of Sorrow is a touching book that reveals the shapes, textures, and layers of grief.
There is something familiar about the rising and falling of loss, how it takes us below the surface of our lives.
– Francis Weller
OWEN SOUND, IN PERSON
This week, we ask ourselves a simple question: what is meditation? The answer may seem obvious, but in fact we typically carry all sorts of misconceptions about what we're doing and why. Join Ken for a deeper look into the practice of meditation. Everyone is welcome.
NOTE: Harmony Centre has a new door lock, and we can't make sure it stays open, so please use the doorbell to the right of the door.
We are travelling through life with a stranger who is at some level trying to communicate with us.
― Rob Nairn
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join us as we explore and discuss a variety of mindfulness and awareness teachers, well-known and new, through the lens of their writings, talks, and videos.
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few.
– Shunryu Suzuki
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ECODHARMA
Join us in discussing the relationship between our world's physical condition and the response of our inner landscape.
👉 Friday EcoDharma sessions are designed for those experiencing anxiety or grief relating to environmental issues. The aim is to bring mindfulness and Buddhist practices to our distress, and to build community.
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:15 AM ET
ONLINE
Please join Darina to continue reading Ethan Nichtern's book, Confidence. Nichtern breaks compassion into three parts: Empathy, Care, and Agency. In other words, what can I do, what action can I take, and can I feel that in the out-breath?
Breathing out is the agency piece. It's the moment when you remind yourself that although you may not be able to cure confusion or harm, you might be able to do something simple to help.
– Ethan Nichtern
Do you drink water regularly? I have to admit that, until recently, I only drank water when exercising. After discovering that my cholesterol levels are higher than I'd like, one of the recommended actions was to–you guessed it–drink more water. So, I've had an oversized water bottle by my desk for the past few weeks and, with help from a ginchy new Pebble smartwatch, I'm getting into the hydration groove.
Even mild dehydration can make you feel as if you have less energy and make it harder to think clearly
– Mayo Clinic staff
This got me thinking about the similarities between drinking water and meditation practices. Both have proven benefits. Both are based on behaviour change and habit formation. Both benefit from consistent, periodic application. Interestingly, when neglected, the consequences of both are easy to overlook.
What would it be like to practice meditation in the same way we drink water? My target water consumption is six 250 ml (17 oz) glasses a day, for a total of 1.5 litres (51 oz). Imagine having six 1-minute (yes, 1 minute) practices spread across your day. This is a thing, actually. They're called "micro-practices", and even one a day for less than a minute can make a difference 👀
How about three breaths? That’s all you need to tune into the present moment.
– Plum Village monk
Eli Susman at UC Berkeley put a 20-second compassion micro-practice to the test, and found that students who practiced 20 seconds (!) a day had "improvements in self-compassion, stress, and mental health".
The average adult reading this article will have spent 50 seconds of their day. That's a micro-practice with 30 seconds to spare! So, the only question is: what are you waiting for? 😉
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Ken, Sandi, and the Community Meditation Team
Photo by Suki Lee
We started this meditation network to help you bring more clarity, balance, caring and joy to your life and your community.
The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer.
― Thomas Merton
