HaMakom's Weekly Sitting Groups
Shachar (morning) group: 07.30-08.20 UK time
Monday 6 January - Monday 24 February
with Zac Newman
Erev (evening) group: 19.00-19.45 UK time
Thursday 9 January - Thursday 27 February
with Miri B Cohen
Online, via Zoom
At this time of great difficulty, coming together in community and stillness can be immensely supportive. Collectively, we find and nurture stability, steadiness, safety and care. When we really touch these qualities ourselves, we also radiate them outwards, to others and the world.
We are holding 2 different online meetings (‘sits’) each week. For one thing, these groups are a means of offering each other support with what many have experienced: how difficult it can be to sustain a regular practice. Sustaining practice is especially difficult when we try to do it alone. If we are part of an established group meeting regularly, this difficulty is held collectively. Together we cultivate the many fruits of regular practice, those which can show up while we are meditating and those which show up in the rest of our lives.
We ask each person who registers to commit to a series of group meetings, be it morning or evening, once a week for the duration of the series. The Shachar group will be taught by Zac Newman. The Erev group will be taught by Miri B Cohen. Occasionally there will be a guest teacher.
We ask that each person contributes £40 in advance for the term. If this is unaffordable for you and you would like to participate, please let us know. No one will be turned away because of their financial circumstances.
Some more information:
- We will meet on Zoom.
- We will have 30 minutes of teaching and meditation, which will generally include both guided and silent periods.
- The final 10-15 minutes will be for sharing. Each person will have a little time for sharing with the group. This could be about the meditation just experienced, or it could be anything else that you want to express, and be heard. If you don’t want to say much, you can just offer one word or phrase. It helps to build community if we hear from everyone, however briefly.
- For the same reason, we ask that everyone has their video on during the meeting, with a stable and quiet background. If you need to turn your video off temporarily for an unforeseen reason that is understood.
- If you are unable to join live, for example because of your timezone, you are welcome to sign up and receive the recordings, which include the teaching and meditation periods of each week’s meeting.
There will be the option to join a moderated WhatsApp group with others from the weekly meetings, as a space for sharing and connection in between sessions. You are also most welcome to join one of these series without joining the WhatsApp group.
Whoever you are, whatever you are feeling, you are welcome. No previous experience is assumed or required. Together, we create an enduring Jewish meditation practice. We find that what we really need is indeed available, when we know how to look.
To register, click the “Please Register Here” tab above.