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.
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
Please join Brenda, Gordon, and Jim for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by a reading of Wholehearted: Slow Down, Help Out, Wake Up by Koshin Paley Ellison. This week, we'll read and discuss Chapter 10, "Getting in Touch with and Speaking the Truth." Everyone is welcome, and there's no need to have or be familiar with the book.
It’s a weird thing about truth; it actually protects you. What really makes you vulnerable is when you’re lying, because you know you’re going to get caught, even by your own mind. That you know you’re a liar.
– Eve Ensler
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
This week, join Gloria, Kaye-Lee, and Marian for a 20-minute silent meditation followed by a reading from "A Night in the Forest", taken from Tracy Cochran's book Presence: The Art of Being at Home with Yourself. You don't need to have read the book to attend. All are welcome.
I remember that I'm more than my dreams and worst fears. That I am in fact dwelling in the midst of a great and mysterious, and in every sense, moving world.
– Tracy Cochran
IN-PERSON – MISSISSAUGA
Join us in person on Wednesday as we gather to explore topics such as meditation, mindfulness, compassion, Buddhism, and other related subjects. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of meditation, and there are no prerequisites to participate.
Learning to let go of expectations is a ticket to peace...The next time a problem arises in your life, take a deep breath, let out a sigh, and replace the thought Oh no! with the thought Okay.
― Martha Beck
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Lauren, Adam, and Sandi to read and discuss Mark Nepo's book, The Power Of Friendship. In the "I Have Great Friends" chapter, we see how the kindness of others can help carry us through the fire, so that we return stronger and more gentle. Such friendship can help us face what is ours to face, and become more fully ourselves. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation. There's no need to be familiar with the book.
My friends have given me the courage to be my full self, flaws and all, and to accept life as the greatest teacher.
– Mark Nepo
IN-PERSON – OWEN SOUND
This Thursday, join Ken for 35 minutes of sitting and walking meditation. Have you noticed how easy it is to drift through the day in a kind of mindless forward momentum? We'll explore the simple but powerful practice of pausing as a way to interrupt this drifting and return to our body.
Let the forward momentum of your doing self just peter out, like a rolling ball comes to a rest.
– Willa Blythe Baker
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Daniel and Sandi to watch and discuss Brené Brown's "The Power of Vulnerability" TEDx talk. We'll explore how shame has stood in the way of our connection. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
...connection is why we are all here. It's what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.
– Brene Brown
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ECODHARMA
Join Daniel McCubbin as we discuss why a carbon-free world isn't possible with capitalism, by Tahmeed Shafiq. Is it possible to address climate change in a meaningful way without looking at how unbridled capitalism contributes to it? Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
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.
You don’t need to have any particular politics to recognize that the climate crisis is overwhelmingly attributable to economic activity.
– Tahmeed Shafiq
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:15 AM ET
This Sunday, join Darina to read and discuss a chapter titled "The Wisdom of No Escape" in Ethan Nichtern's book, The Road Home. We'll explore how, instead of escaping from the world, we can incorporate it into our practice. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation. There's no need to be familiar with the book.
Because we can't escape the world, we must see the world as part of our practice.
– Ethan Nichtern
There are 16 stages in the Sutta on Breathing Mindfulness, and they are the basis for many of the breathing mindfulness techniques we have today. The sutta was first translated in the 2nd century CE and has been explored and debated for almost as long. Here is the third stage:
He trains in this way: "Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe in." He trains in this way: "Experiencing the whole body, I shall breathe out."
What does it mean to breathe in and out while "experiencing the whole body"? In her book, Breathing Mindfulness, Sarah Shaw writes:
I feel it is simpler just to try and do it: to imagine or feel that the breath is indeed in the whole body and is permeating it completely.
I agree with Shaw's suggestion to just try it, but since this is a newsletter, I'm going to keep writing 😏 For me, her approach evokes spaciousness and a soft, broad curiosity. It's noticeably different from placing your attention on the nose, the throat, or the belly. Here's Shaw again:
...the words suggest something simple in essence: that it is possible to feel the breath in the whole body, if one is open to the idea, and that this is what this stage means.
If you'll be sitting this week, I invite you to try experiencing the whole body as you inhale and exhale 🧘🏻♂️ You might also want to contemplate the fact that the Sutta on Breathing Mindfulness contains 15 other ways to breathe!
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Ken, Sandi, and the Community Meditation Team
Image by Belloso & Herchen GbR from Pixabay
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
