Guided Meditation
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn how to surf.”
— Jon Kabat-Zinn
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About
Meditation can be a powerful addition to your health and well-being toolbox. These days where there are so many things competing for our attention, we may experience distraction, stress, and sometimes even a sense of operating on autopilot rather than actively holding the pen to our own story.
Meditation brings you back home to yourself. By consciously connecting the mind and body together through focus, awareness, and observation, meditation can be your eye in the storm when life feels like a hurricane – slowing down and untangling you from the pull of your thoughts, balancing your nervous systems and activating your body’s natural healing, and training you to respond to life’s waves from place of calm and intention.
Mindful Meditation
& Guided Classes
Mindfulness brings us fully present and aware in each moment and can be a great support for wellness of mind, body, and spirit. We naturally posses the ability to be mindful, but it starts to become more of our default mode when we practice it regularly. Meditation is a wonderful way to do just that.
In guided classes students are led by a meditation guide or facilitator through mindfulness techniques such as breathing, body scan, rotation of consciousness, and visualization to bring the mind and body together in present moment awareness and observation. Guided meditation helps take some of the guesswork out of the mechanics of meditation practice and can be incredibly useful for beginners. All you need to do is relax, enjoy and follow the facilitator’s instructions.
The Benefits of
Mindfulness Meditation
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Less stress / More focus
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Less emotional reaction / More intentional response
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Less negativity / More approaching the world with warmth and kindness to ourselves and others
What To Do/Bring
to a Guided Class/Bring
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It’s all about comfort, relaxation, and doing what feels most right for you in the moment
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Dress comfortably for sitting or lying down
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You might want a pillow and a blanket (you won’t be moving, so you might get cold…and if you fall asleep, that’s completely ok)
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Bottle of water
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Be in a quiet, comfortable setting where you are unlikely to be disturbed
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Use headphones, if possible
Your Facilitator
Connie Smart
*Connie, is currently taking a nice, relaxing breather from teaching classes to give creative energy to growing some personal passion projects. We will post an update when Meditation will be making a return to the schedule.*
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“Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body.” This quote from Thich Nhat Hanh is one of Connie’s favourites. In fact, in her guided meditation classes you’ll often hear her invite you to follow the breath to the heart, because she’s absolutely fascinated by the mind-body connection. Did you know that every single breath affects the heart and vice versa? You can notice this if you just take a little moment to get quiet, still, and focused.
A long-time stress-migraine sufferer, Connie began practicing meditation several years ago to create calm and balance within the demands of a busy corporate career. Experiencing meditation’s health and wellness benefits firsthand inspired her to complete her 200hr Meditation Teacher Training certification earlier this year. She is honoured to have the opportunity to guide others in this healing practice.
What can you expect from her 45-minute guided classes? Connection, comfort, relaxation, and approachability. A creative at heart, Connie’s love of communication, language, writing, and sound combine in original guided mindfulness meditations that untangle you from your thoughts and bring you to a place of presence, awareness, and observation. Some of her favourite techniques? Resonance breathing, embodiment practices such as body scans and progressive muscle relaxation, and soothing visualizations.
Get set to come home to yourself – and if you fall asleep, it’s all good (at least you'll know you nailed the relaxation part!) If you’ve never meditated before, no problem! Her classes are great for beginners. All you have to do is relax, allow yourself to be guided by her instructions, and enjoy … and maybe have a pillow and a blanket on hand.