On Monday afternoons, a group of Villagers gather in the Guild Room at St. Paul’s to practice meditation.
"Each member brings their own intention to the session", says Nadia Taran, a regular participant.
“Overall, we want to be more present in daily living and having a regular meditation practice is a way to accomplish that,” she said.
“None of us are experts,” she adds. “Most have tried meditation before, we like it and we know that if we do it as a group we will be supported. For me, that forces me to make time for it.”
The meditation group is one of FBWE Village’s affinity groups. Like the film discussion group, it requires no registration. It’s purely a drop in session.
To participate, just show up at St. Paul’s on any Monday at about 2:45 PM. The session starts at 3 PM and the outside doors are locked shortly before that.
Jane Selby facilitates the group, but a number of members also bring recordings of meditation practices for the group to try. Most members sit around the large conference table, but some also lie on the floor.
As many as 10 Villagers show up each week, but Nadia says it really does not matter how many attend.
Nadia started her own meditation practice about six years ago. She learned about it from a friend and tried some workshops. “I thought, ‘This is great. I wish I could do it more often’,” she recalls.
When the Village decided to offer it as an affinity group, she was surprised to find out that so many of her neighbors had tried it and were interested. “It’s like being a musician and finding out you live in the midst of a group of people who are also musicians, only you didn’t know it!”