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.
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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.
A Community Meditation weekend retreat
Owen Sound | June 6/7, 2026
How can we become calmer and more balanced in a time of accelerating social, technological, and environmental change? Join Ken Dow and Debbie McCubbin to explore this question through a unique and transformative mix of mindfulness, awareness, breathwork, discussion, and related practices.
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 @ 5 PM ET
ONLINE
This Monday, join Kaye-Lee for an ongoing exploration of creative awareness, through discussion, reading, reflection, and sharing. We'll continue delving into dharma art as a way of approaching creativity from a place of deeper awareness. Everyone is welcome!
It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.
– Susan Sontag
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Brenda, Gordon, and Jim for 20 minutes of silent meditation followed by a reading and discussion of Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach. This week, we continue Chapter 6, "Radical Acceptance of Desire." Everyone is welcome, and there's no need to have or be familiar with the book.
When we can't meet our emotional needs directly, the wanting self develops strategies for satisfying them with substitutes....As we immerse ourselves in the life-consuming pursuit of substitutes, we become increasingly alienated from our authentic desires, our deepest longings for love and belonging.
– Tara Brach
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Come meet with Gloria, Kaye-Lee, and Marian for 20 minutes of silent meditation, followed by a shared reading from Tracy Cochran's Presence. This week, we'll be looking at the "Finding the Path. " chapter. There is no need to be familiar with the book, and everyone is welcome.
Mindfulness is not an answer to suffering in the sense of being an intellectual formula that will help us skip over difficult feelings and experiences. It is the energy of awareness that allows us to see and participate in reality, to be with what is arising in a way that is compassionate and open.
– Tracy Cochran
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Lauren, Adam, and Sandi as we watch a short dharma teaching video by Thich Nhat Hanh. In it, he talks about meeting difficult emotions like anger, fear, sorrow, or despair with mindfulness rather than resistance. He explains a four-step practice: recognize the feeling, embrace it, bring relief, and use deep looking to transform it. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation, and everyone is welcome.
Darling, I know you suffer. That is why I’m here for you.
– Thich Nhat Hanh
OWEN SOUND, IN PERSON
Training ourselves with the skills of awareness, connection, insight, and purpose will open up entirely new ways of being–and doing. This week, join Ken to continue with the practice of awareness. Our session will begin with sitting and walking meditation, and everyone is welcome.
When we practice present-moment awareness, we can savor each moment, make time feel like it’s passing slower, and get in touch with the fundamental wonder of being alive.
– Eric Langshur
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ONLINE
Please join Debbie and Daniel to read an article by Rosalie Dores called "How Can Mindfulness Affect Climate Change?" Let's explore together why we often turn away from knowing more about climate change, and how we can bring mindfulness and curiosity to that disconnection. Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation.
...the biggest challenge to meeting climate change mindfully is the tendency to want to close down when we feel anxious or fearful in any way.
– Rosalie Dores
Click here to join on Zoom @ 7 PM ET
ECODHARMA
This week, we continue with a series of introductions to teachers in the mindfulness/climate space. David Loy, a well-known author and teacher, talks about the union of care for the planet with mindfulness and Buddhism. Join Debbie to read his article, "EcoDharma: A New Buddhist Path." How can we take our typically individually-focused mindfulness and awareness path and see how it relates to the collective issue of the climate crisis? Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation. There's no need to be familiar with the book.
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.
Ecodharma is a new word for a new development in contemporary Buddhism, in response to our dangerous situation today.
– David Loy
Click here to join on Zoom @ 10:15 AM ET
ONLINE
Please join Debbie and Lauren to continue reading the book Living Beautifully by Pema Chodron. A lot of our internal discomfort is caused by what are called theEight Worldly Concerns: praise and blame; loss and gain; fame and insignificance; pleasure and pain. How can we meet these inevitable circumstances with balance and acceptance? Our session will begin with 20 minutes of silent meditation, and there's no need to be familiar with the book.
...we continually try to avoid the uncertainty inherent in our [human] condition...we continually try to get solid ground under our feet.
– Pema Chodron
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You've probably noticed that our "Discovering Confidence" meditation retreat is happening early next month. But what exactly is a "meditation retreat?" For one thing, it's not one thing. The phrase encompasses a wide variety of durations, intentions, practices, and formats. Given that, I thought it might be helpful to share a bit about what our retreats are like.
Here's a peek at the Saturday schedule from last year's "Finding Peace in a Chaotic World" weekend as an example:
While each of our retreats is different, they tend to rhyme 🙂 And, as you can see, no special equipment or experience is needed. They are a way to put down the phone, slow down, connect with others, and open up to our own lives.
We'd love to have you join us at the Discovering Confidence weekend, and we've worked hard to make it affordable with a sliding scale that starts at just $60. Transportation an issue? We may be able to help. If you have any questions, reply to this email, and we'll be happy to answer them.
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Ken, Sandi, and the Community Meditation Team
Photo by Katerina May on Unsplash
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
