Hi All:
The following comes from email interchanges with Meg on starting and running an AYP meditation group in New York City. It is hoped other meditation group leaders around the world will chime in here with their feedback as well.
Comments from anyone interested in starting or joining a meditation group are welcome also.
The guru is in you.
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Meg wrote:I'd like to get some advice on my meditation group. As you may know, I've started a med. group in my loft, but it's been pretty weak. A friend of mine who has a large penthouse office in midtown Manhattan is interested in learning to meditate, and has offered his space for free for me to start a group. It's a fantastic location, near the trains and buses, and I'm really excited to see what comes of it. I'm going to begin by advertising on Craig's List (which I didn't feel comfortable doing at my own place), and see where it goes.
We're going to start next week and I'm in the process of composing the ad. I could keep it generic ("Come meditate in a peaceful environment...discover inner silence...") The group would be more about building a spiritual community and less about the systematic cultivation of energy. It's a more predictable route to go, and for me, a beginner myself, probably the safer route. But I'm not so interested in predictability, and I feel pulled to move into the energy work. I'm not talking about diving in head first, but to follow the AYP book as a group, methodically building a platform of stillness through meditation, and adding to it very gradually. Slowly introducing new practices, cultivating energy, etc. This excites me...this is the route that I'd like to take. But I question my ability, since I consider myself to be only an advanced beginner. I also wonder what I'd do if someone had some serious energy overload issues. All I can do is stress the necessity of self-pacing, as Yogani does. But I've so much less experience than he that I do question if I'm out of my league, and should stick to a more solid and predictable platform of meditation and spinal breathing. Any thoughts on this?
Last question: since the location is so central, I'd like to let forum members know that we're there on Tuesday nights, in case anyone comes through the city and would like to drop in. How/where would I do this? Is it prudent for me to be so 'out there' with it? Craig's List and NYC are big pots, and I do think about some safety issues, but I'm more interested in meeting and meditating with interesting people than I am worried about attracting the deranged. There are always risks, right? Your thoughts appreciated.
I know that time will answer all the above questions, but I'd appreciate your wisdom while I'm in the planning stages. Thanks for your time!
Yogani wrote:Go for it. :-)
You can put the word out to the AYP community in the "Member Announcements" forum, near the bottom of the list on the forums home page. Make sure to put an informative headline on it, Like "NYC Meditation Group Tuesday Nights," or similar.
Regarding your concerns about getting in over your head, there are all sorts of dynamics that occur in a meditation group, from kundalini cases walking in the door on day one, to folks overdoing with the AYP practices later on and having symptoms come up. Sooner or later, some issues will be there.
But it is not your responsibility to solve everything for everyone. I can't do it. No one person can. But as a family of practitioners with a strong and growing written knowledge base, we can handle anything, regardless of our individual level of experience.
When issues come up, all you have to do is give your two cents and point people in the right direction for additional help. The AYP resources are becoming quite robust for handling just about anything that can come up. The forums are always there as a backstop for you (for group admin and practice issues) and for all practitioners. And I am there too.
One of the most important things about the AYP approach is that it is "self-directed." One of the fringe benefits of this is that no one (including me) has to stand up and pretend to be a know-it-all on practices and experiences. Anyone who learns how to refer people to the right resources will learn more themselves, while helping others. We are all working from the same core resources, and expanding on them as we go along. If you take that attitude in running a meditation group, you will do great and never be left holding anyone else's bag. It is an important point.
Of course, administration is needed, and someone has to take care of that. The knowledge on practices and the journey are something else, and we all share in that equally. If you are clear with everyone on that, the logical places people will go for help will be each other, the AYP writings, the AYP support forums, and to other sources of spiritual knowledge also. That is how it is designed to work, and it does work.
I suggest you contact Shweta, Louis and Sadhak, all who have experience running AYP meditation groups. Feel free to copy this email to them if you wish. I recommend it, since ideas on running AYP meditation groups are continuing to crystallize. It would also be appropriate to discuss it in the public forums, where more can contribute and benefit. I am not opposed to an epidemic of AYP meditation groups breaking out around the world. The more the merrier! :-)
The risk you are perceiving will be far outweighed by the rewards. A larger group will bring many benefits to you and everyone who attends. Just think admin -- the knowledge end of it is already taken care of.
Having this space come available in midtown Manhattan is a big break. Walk on through that door. There is a whole new world waiting for you.
As for the "energy cultivation," it will come naturally as everyone settles into inner silence, and that will be the right time for it. There is some admin associated with that too -- how to bring people at different levels of experience together fruitfully. There are various ways to handle it, but you don't have to worry about it now. Just go one step at a time. When the questions come up, the answers will be there. Inner silence will take care of it.
All the best!
Meg wrote:I love your answer.
I"m going to go for it. Will keep you posted - we're gearing up to start in a week.
On placing an ad:
I plagiarized your text book. Please consider this a first draft, and let me know if there are any corrections or suggestions. Thanks! I'm really excited - hope it floats.
New Meditation Group: Advanced Yoga Practices
The premise of yoga is simple. There is an outer reality and an inner one, and our nervous system is the doorway between them. Advanced Yoga Practices (AYP) stimulate and open that doorway. The result? Peace, creativity, happiness, and a steady rise of ecstatic bliss radiating from within.
AYP brings together the ancient methods of Yoga in a system that can easily be learned. Come join us on Tuesday nights and find the peace and joy that are your birthright. The teachings are non-sectarian: all belief systems are embraced and all methods of meditation are welcome. We'll build a solid platform of meditation, then gradually add the Advanced Yoga Practices. Classes are free. AYP books are available by donation.
Tuesday nights beginning September 11.
Instruction is from 7:00-7:30 p.m.
Pranayama and meditation are from 7:30 – 8:00.
Please bring your own pillow or mat.
(address and phone omitted in this post)
Yogani wrote:Looks good. However, I would not start anyone in deep meditation without back support, unless they have experience and choose it. It will be a big obstacle for many people -- immediately cuts out most folks we'd like to invite to learn deep meditation. So I do not recommend advertising "bring floor mat or pillow."
The chair is a great invention, and most people know how to use one. :-)
I don't think seating should be mentioned in the ad. In fact, mentioning "comfortable seating available" would draw more people. Seating will work itself out over time. Some will go for the floor (or wall), and others will be happy in a chair. The instructional preference in the AYP lessons is for back support. Reason: No back support is a much bigger obstacle to beginning deep meditation than a help. To put any preference or peer pressure on no back support will surely reduce participation in the meditation group, and it isn't AYP.
Comfort, comfort, comfort.
I am copying the other meditation group leaders on this for a heads up. There have been occasional discussions in the forums on using no back support, and it is nearly always problematic for beginners. Nowhere in the AYP lessons is a preference for no back support expressed. There is good reason for it. 98% of the people on the planet will find it to be a major distraction, and that is the 98% we are interested in inspiring to take up daily practices. The other 2% can take care of themselves -- they tend to gobble up AYP in big bites, sometimes getting a little indigestion. :-)
You know, if these meditation group planning discussions were in the public forums, many may be inspired to chime in and start meditation groups. We ought to think about taking it public. Would you mind if I post our interchange in the forums?
The guru is in you.
Meg wrote:Great points, Yogani. No, I don't mind - feel free to post whatever
you want on the forum. I'm not sure what kind of accommodations I'm
going to be getting - for sure there'll be walls, but I don't know
about any more than that. I'll check it out.