Next Meditation class is on 1/8/2012 from 10:30-1pm. Call 303-514-7142 to RSVP.

2012 Q1 Quarterly News letter

Chris will be offering a series of complimentary monthly seminars for the community in January, February, and March 2012. The intention is to offer helpful education in the area of personal wellness. The goal will be to help deepen community awareness of addiction, learning to work with difficult emotions, and ways to enhance happiness in our daily lives. During each seminar a voucher for a free hour of therapy will be awarded to 2 participants, a $90 value. The seminars will be held at 1300 Jackson St. at the Bank of the West Lower level. Please enter through the side entrance.

In this seminar we will explore clear and simple ways to awaken happiness in our daily lives. Long lasting happiness rarely comes from outside but rather from how we take care of our mental, emotional and physical well being. You will leave with several ways you can enhance happiness, experience gratitude, and deepen the connection with yourself, others, and your life with meaning and authenticity.

Please RSVP by 1/12/12.

Not everyone was educated about the ins and outs of emotional navigation as a child. Many of us have one or two emotions that tend to be hard to let go of. Sometimes we even try to ignore, fight, or reject these emotions which tend to create more problems. In this seminar we will review how emotional habits are formed, introduce how to identify different emotions, and explore new ways to turn difficult emotions to into an opportunity for healing and happiness.

Please RSVP by 2/20/12.

So many of us are affected by the storm of addiction in our lives. Whether it is personally, at work, or a loved one this is a significant stressor and reality in life. This illness cost individuals and the community loss of relationships, jobs, personal values, and financial resources … In this seminar we will explore how to identify addiction, ways to heal, let go of trying to control the substance or the person, and provide resources for support.

Please RSVP by 3/19/12

Recent research shows that meditating for a short time each day actually changes the structure of the mind. In his book, "The Joy of Living" Mingyur Rinpoche shares how his brain was used for a cat scan in a study that showed the immense scientific benefits that meditation has on the mind. The study showed that the amygdala , a part of the mind that creates negative emotions was basically not functioning. The happiness center was always glowing. The study also tested brain activity of novice meditators. The research showed a 10% increase in positive emotions after a short time.

There are many other benefits from meditation beyond enhancing happiness including a strengthened immune system, better relationships, and more clarity and success in fulfilling ones aspirations.

In terms of psychological well being and health meditation is one of the best a methods to help with reducing stress, anxiety, addictive behaviors, and depression. When meditation is combined with other traditional therapeutic approaches, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, the combination is 50% more successful than other approaches. In this day and age the amount of information, the speed of activity, and pressure we have to perform in so many ways leaves little space for the mind to relax. This is why mindfulness meditation is becoming so popular.

Mindfulness has become somewhat of a common term or buzz word hasn’t it. We hear be mindful or of this or that or that’s not very mindful. What does this term really mean? I think it is important for the public to be educated so I would like to share what I have learned about this term. Mindfulness seems to be used as synonymous w/ meditation, which in the traditional sense is not accurate. Mindfulness is focusing the mind on one thing in the moment in order to stabilize and focus the mind. In many traditions the breath is used as the object of focus, which is called Shamata in Sanskrit. However, mindfulness in itself is not meditation. After we have learned to use this skill of mindfulness effectively the mind will begin to settle and enter into meditation. This meditation is an awareness that transcends our ordinarily distracted mind. Actually a way of describing meditation is a state of non-distraction. After practicing mindfulness and meditation for a while we begin to develop and strengthen this awareness so it becomes more prevalent in our daily lives. Resting in this awareness is a sense of rising above your ordinary thinking and freeing yourself from judgmental mind. The benefits of this awareness are immense as we can more easily recognize old habits, difficult emotions, and stressful thinking so they have less impact our lives. These emotions can actually be turned into an opportunity to reconnect and experience peace- with practice. We become more effective and begin to experience the limitless freedom that lies beyond the judgmental mind, we begin to loosen up and have a sense of humor in stress, and our natural fundamental goodness deepens.

So you can have mindfulness with out meditation which is a helpful way to center, stabilize , and use the mind more effectively. Mindfulness is simple but takes time to learn, stabilize and turn into a habit. Just as our habits of distraction, rushing around, and not giving ourselves time to relax take time to develop it will also take time to re-learn to relax. So learning mindfulness and meditation takes time and a commitment in order to fully integrate it into your life, just like successful therapy. The good news is you can begin to feel the benefits working after just a few sessions. Giving yourself the gift of mediation is one of the most kind and generous gifts you can give yourself. This is what mindfulness meditation is all about, letting the mind relax and giving yourself and others the space and freedom to be as happy as you can be.

Chris is a Licensed Professional counselor who specializes in working with individuals, couples, and groups. Chris incorporates traditional therapeutic approaches in a compassionate yet direct manner as well using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Hypnotherapy and DBT ( a mindfulness based therapy) w/ his clients. Chris has a M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Regis, in addition to his private practice works at West Pines-Lutheran hospital inpatient psychiatric and chemical dependency units. Chris has been a meditation practitioner for the past 15 years and an instructor for ten years. The next meditation class is on 1/8/2012 from 10:30- 1pm. This class is for beginners as well as people with some experience. Please call Chris for more information 303-514-7142.