Wellness Series: Learn to Meditate with Elissa Kane

Join us at the Pine Hills branch of the Albany Public Library to explore the benefits of meditation. This course is designed for new and returning meditators looking to relax their busy minds, reclaim some ground from the many daily distractions and deepen mindfulness-awareness meditation. 

Through the practice of meditation, we’ll explore how creating stability and gentleness in our minds can expand outward to benefit our friends, family, neighbors, and society as a whole. 
 
Even though meditation has many benefits, establishing a consistent personal practice can be extremely challenging for both new and experienced meditators alike. As we begin to practice on a regular basis, we learn to relax and simply be with whatever is going on in our lives. Over time, this meditation helps us to cultivate courage, humor, and stability in the face of the everyday complexities of jobs, relationships, and all aspects of daily life. 

In the course we’ll review the foundations of meditation including relaxation, posture, and breath, and we’ll learn to work with thoughts, emotions and distraction.   We’ll practice coming back to the present moment, explore our basic human worthiness, and then bringing it all together to show up in our lives more authentically. 

Elissa Kane is a long-time meditator and instructor who volunteers at the Shambhala Meditation Center of Albany: https://albany.shambhala.org/.

The Wellness series at the Pine Hills branch will offer library patrons the chance to try out different health and wellness modalities - meditation, tai chi, yoga, etc. - aimed at enhancing overall well-being.