Providing Mindfulness Meditation to Humanists

Take a deep breath.

It’s been a tough year. For humanists, who strive for a world of mutual care and concern, it helps to explore new ways to manage stress and become more compassionate not only to those around us, but to ourselves.

Incorporating mindfulness practices into our lives can help ease anxiety produced by turbulent times—like a pandemic. Mindfulness is when we intentionally and non-judgmentally experience the present moment. It’s common in mindfulness to concentrate on breathing as it can help remove distractions and reconnect us with ourselves. And when we take time to understand ourselves, we’re better informed about our relationships with each other and the world around us.

Now breathe out.

Starting next week the American Humanist Association’s Center for Education is hosting a 10-day course on mindfulness meditation. Join fellow humanists along with instructor Dorian Wallace as he teaches a syncretic (a fusion of two or more different forms of practice), non-theistic approach to mindfulness-seeking awareness of the inner nature of life, focusing on three aspects of existence: impermanence, suffering, and non-self. Transcendence can come from a number of ethical principles and practices that address the essence of life through communion with oneself and others in time, space, incarnation, and consciousness.

Wallace is a composer, pianist, podcaster, teacher, music therapist, and activist whose work explores the unconscious experience, and is an outspoken critic of authoritarian systems, dogmatism, censorship, and oppression. Together with violinist Hajnal Pivnick, Wallace co-founded Tenth Intervention, a progressive new music collective and concert series based in New York City. He is artistic director of improvisational septendectet The Free Sound Ahn-somble. Dorian is a founding member of Social Ecology Project, a politically driven new music trio. Alongside composer David Kulma, he co-hosts Trysteropod, a podcast about music and politics.

Sessions begin on November 9^th and last until November 20^th. Attendees may choose between two times, 7:30am ET or 10:30am ET. To learn more about the sessions and to register, visit our website.