*** Please make sure this class is scheduled before purchasing it. 
 
How do we cultivate our capacity for caring and compassion toward ourselves and others?
 
"Compassion and love are not mere luxuries. As the source both of inner and external peace, they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species." His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
 
This 4-week mindfulness meditation program (in-person or online) invites us to explore and cultivate the boundless qualities of the heart with the practice of:
 
Lovingkindness
Compassion 
Sympathetic Joy 
Equanimity 
 
We cannot choose how or what we feel, but we can choose how we wish to function in and respond to the world. While meditation is clearly beneficial as an introspective discipline, it really flourishes when we can use the qualities we develop on the cushion, to inform and enhance the relationship we have with the world around us.
 
Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are the four expressions of love that we train in, not just to make space for others in our heart and mind, but also, to see ourselves and others as we truly are – interconnected.
 
Those noble qualities of the heart are great removers of tension, great peacemakers, and great healers of wounds suffered in the struggle of existence. These qualities of the heart awaken the generosity that is already there, within us, stimulate joy, create peace and harmony, even in the midst of a storm. They are called "abodes" because they should become the mind’s constant dwelling-places where we feel “at home”.
 
Each session is 90 minutes long and they build on each other. Each includes a check-in, a talk, guided practice, and time for Q&A. 
 
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
- Understand and practice benevolence /loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity as meditation practices as well as ways of being in daily life
- Cultivate harmonious and warm relationships with oneself and others
- Learn how to give and receive unconditionally
- Move beyond the limitations of self-centeredness
- Experience genuine compassion
- Bring a sense of care and joy in every aspect of your life
- Create peace in equanimity
 
WHO CAN JOIN?
Anyone aspiring to tend their heart. Suitable for beginners with little or no experience and those who would like to jump-start their meditation practice.
 
PREPARATION FOR ONLINE PRACTICE:
Make sure you are in a quiet and comfortable place at the time of the practice.
We recommend you download the Zoom app on your laptop, desktop, or phone.
Please test your audio/video in advance.
You can practice seated on a chair.
Plan for a 90-minute session.
Have some water available to drink.
For any questions, please contact Veronique at moonstonesanctuary@gmail.com
 
About the teacher
Veronique has been practicing various traditional forms of meditation for 15 years in Europe, Japan, and the US. These mainly include Zen, Insight, Mantra, and Mindfulness meditation practices. Veronique is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Program (MMTCP) with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield from UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Veronique also completed the Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness program (TSM) with David Treleaven. Aside from meditation, Veronique teaches Usui Reiki Ryoho at the Japanese Culture Center in Chicago and Yogaview in Wilmette. For more information, please visit her website www.moonstonesanctuary.com