Important note: If you can’t attend the live sessions, you can still register and listen to the recordings at your convenience, and participate in the online portal to create connections and get support from a like-minded community!

Social connection, more important than ever
Social connection among people is more crucial than ever. After more than two years of pandemic, and many more years of technology taking over our lives, it seems that isolation, loneliness, and anxiety are the new threat to our wellbeing and our mental health. It is time to create meaningful connections with people and engage in fruitful conversations, while developing skillful means to manage the effect of isolation. This mindfulness meditation program is designed to provide exactly that.

Mindfulness & Its Benefits
Mindfulness is described as the “awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally,” wrote Jon Kabat-Zinn. Mindfulness meditation is the training that helps us discover and experience mindfulness in our lives. There are many benefits of mindfulness including stress reduction, improving physical and mental health, as well as improved focus, improved memory, and better sleep, just to name a few! Equally importantly, mindfulness meditation opens our perspectives and helps us be in harmony with our community and the world at large, expanding our capacity to be empathetic and compassionate, as well as our resilience to work through the suffering and enjoy the beauty all around.

The Six-Week Course
In this six-session course (45 minutes each), which includes talks, mindfulness practices, and lively discussions, we will cover the fundamentals of mindfulness and how mindfulness can help reduce stress and anxiety and help achieve the myriad of benefits mentioned above including building community and eradicating isolation. This course is intended for people who are eager to connect with others and develop skillful means to navigate the challenges of isolation and loneliness. All backgrounds, gender identification and sexual orientation, are welcome in this course which celebrates diversity and inclusion on all fronts.

In Summary
Six-week course, 45 minutes each week, via Zoom
Thursdays, September 22, 29, October 6, 13, 20, and 27
7:10 am to 7:55 am Pacific Time
Online portal for daily practices and to connect with a community of like-minded seeking to grow and develop new skills

Important notes from Pierre Khawand, the creator and facilitator of this program: Please note that this course is based on the science of mindfulness and is secular. If you currently have certain spiritual practices, religious endeavors, or any belief system, mindfulness practices can support you and deepen your work. Finally, I would like to acknowledge and honor the practitioners, scientists, and thought leaders who have paved the road to make mindfulness more accessible to more of us, from Jon Kabat Zinn, to Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Sharon Salzberg, Richard Davidson, and many others–too many to mention, as well as the generations of eastern practitioners and their centuries of practice that led to the body of knowledge and experience that we can enjoy and treasure today! Looking forward to sharing these practices with you 🙂