Connecting Hearts, Expanding Wisdom - Friday, March 26 in Houston, TX
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Meditation: Your Mind, Your World - March 27th & 28
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Meditation Classes in Tucson
La Mariposa Meditation Class begins Wednesday, October 7, 11:00 a.m. - 12 noon. Contact julia@meditationpracticeinstitute.org for details.
Open Meditation Class Tuesday mornings beginning October 6. 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Contact julia@meditationpracticeinstitute.org for details.
Wisdom Ride
Wisdom Ride
Healing Trauma through Mindfulness
Julia Ferganchick, PhD, co-founder of MPI, crawled out of the burning remains of American Airlines flight 1420 that crashed in Little Rock, Arkansas ten years ago. Beginning July 10th she’s embarking on a cross-country motorcycle journey to raise awareness about the power of meditation in healing from trauma. “This trip represents my journey of healing from that tragedy—and many others,” Ferganchick says.
Julia and her Harley Davidson Ultra, "Red"
In the aftermath of the plane crash, Ferganchick gave up her tenure track position teaching writing and rhetoric at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and dedicated her life to studying meditation and healing her own mind. She studied with masters in many traditions, and two years ago she traveled alone to the Himalaya Mountains of Tibet where she stayed in an isolated Buddhist monastery at 14,000 feet above sea level for two months.
Ferganchick started riding motorcycles after the crash too, and for her, there is a connection. “Riding a motorcycle forces the mind to focus, which is very similar to what happens in meditation.” According to Ferganchick, people who have survived trauma and tragedy—like Veterans who endure such hardship defending this country—often engage in high-risk activities simply to quiet their minds, which have become disturbed by the violence they’ve endured.
“People who are injured by the violence of this life often search for ways to stop the pain. They over-indulge in drugs and alcohol, sex, violence—anything that gives them a heightened state of mind because it helps ease the pain. What I want to help people understand is they don’t need to depend on artificial stimuli to do that. Through meditation training, people can learn to control their own minds—become the masters of their thoughts rather than being victims of them, which is what PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is. PTSD is the mind freaking out because it’s been injured. And, sure, drinking stops the mind, but it’s not a solution because you wake up the next morning with the same pain. True healing of the mind can only come through working the mind like a muscle, re-training it to do what you want it to do. And through that process, you can change your whole experience of the world.”
This is what Ferganchick spent the last ten years trying to do. “I’m not finished. I still have a lot work to do. But I know this process works. And I want to share it with others who suffer. My training in meditation and eastern philosophy has been intense. But it’s not hard to put what I’ve learned into practice,” Ferganchick says. She teaches meditation workshops around the country in which she presents simple and practical methods for working with the mind to better people’s experience of the world. “So many people are in mental and emotional pain,” she says, “And they don’t have to be—it is very possible, and surprisingly simple, to heal the mind through meditation.” While the process may seem simple, you have to know how to do it. “It’s like riding a motorcycle—once you know how and have experience, it’s very easy. But it takes training, and someone to show you how,” Ferganchick says.
Ferganchick will leave her hometown of Tucson, Arizona, on July 10th. The first part of her journey will take her along the Trail of Tears. “I’m going to go back on this trail from Oklahoma to Tennessee as way to undo, in my own mind, one of the most horrible scars on the face of this beautiful country.” She’s also going through Little Rock, Arkansas, the origin of her personal trail of tears.
Ferganchick will maintain a “retreat” type lifestyle while on the road. This includes keeping silence until noon and meditating each morning and night. “I’ve done numerous silent retreats where I’ve been in isolated silence for up to 30 days. It’s a powerful way to work on meditation practice and strengthen the mind.” But for this retreat, Ferganchick wants to be out in the world because, she says, at some point, you have to take the practice you’ve established on your cushion and test in the real world.
“We all know you can’t run away from your problems,” Ferganchick said, “even on a motorcycle. Because the problems we experience are internal—after years of struggling to stop the nightmares, stop the panic, stop the fear, and stop the pain, I learned you have go to the source of these problems—the mind.” Ferganchick co-founded the Meditation Practice Institute last year to teach people what she’s learned about how to do that (http://meditationpracticeinstitute.org/).
And she wants to share what she’s learned in these past ten years of intensive study with others. “Thirty day silent retreats are wonderful; traveling to Tibet and India to study meditation is incredible—but that kind of intensive training is not necessary for most people. I’ve done the hard work, and I want to give people an easier way to do it.” She will be available to teach meditation classes in the towns where she stops. She will invite others to come to her daily meditation sessions via her blog (http://prajnaja.wordpress.com), and she hopes other bikers will join her for the journey.
“Ferganchick plans to make her way to Sturgis, South Dakota in time for the 69th annual motorcycle rally where hundreds of thousands of bikers gather (http://www.sturgis.com/).
From there, Ferganchick will head toward the west coast. “This part of the trip will follow the path taken by Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Ferganchick has an affinity for Pirsig’s book, and also shares some striking connections with the author whose first book chronicles his cross-country motorcycle trip take in 1968, the year Ferganchick was born. “I taught college level writing for many years, just as Pirsig had, and I studied much of the same western philosophy he discusses in that book.” Both Ferganchick and Pirsig lost their sons—Ferganchick’s son, Kyle, died last year at the age of 20.
“For Pirsig, riding was the meditative training that gave way to such profound insights,” Ferganchick said. Now, 40 years later, I hope to raise a new kind of awareness—that training the mind through meditation can help people heal.”
Ferganchick plans to travel through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, California, and Nevada. The details of her trip will be determined on the road. “One of the first things you learn in meditation practice is to accept what comes to you and adapt. The road is a good teacher in this regard,” she said. Weather and road conditions will determine her exact route. Travel plans and stories from the road will also be posted on her blog.
American Airlines flight 1420 crashed landed in Little Rock, Arkansas the night of June 1, 1999 during a torrential hail and thunder storm. The pilot, Captain Bushman, and 10 passengers died in the crash, which ripped the MD-80 aircraft in pieces. Many people were injured escaping from the wreckage when the plane burst into flames near the Arkansas River.
Launch
We’re launching Meditation Practice Institute this month in New York City in conjunction with the release of Lama Christie McNally’s beautiful new book on meditation, The Tibetan Book of Meditation. Click here http://tibetanbookofmeditation.org/ for more details.
Join us for . . .
Book Release Party & 2 Nights of Teachings
with author Lama Christie McNally joined by Geshe Michael Roach
Saturday, May 2nd & Sunday, May 3rd NYC
8:30PM-11:30PM
Free Event at Jivamukti Yoga
841 Broadway 2nd Floor (between 13th and 14th)
The Tibetan Book of Meditation is a synthesis of all the great Tibetan commentaries on meditation, starting from Master Kamalashila and continuing up to modern day Lamas, as it was passed down to Lama Christie McNally by her holy Teachers. The book is written in an accessible way to provide an easy roadmap into the deep meditation practices of Tibet. Come hear her speak on the importance of the Tibetan meditation methods to teach your mind about the true nature of things and open your heart to love.
The book will be available at the book release party.
About the author - Lama Christie McNally
Lama Christie McNally is changing the face of Buddhism by bringing women teachers to the forefront. She has spent 12 years rigorously studying and translating Tibetan monastic texts at the feet of Buddhist masters, including 6 combined years in isolated silent meditation retreat. She is a fluent translator of major Tibetan and Sanskrit texts on meditation and Sanskrit texts on yoga. She is also the co-author with Geshe Michael Roach of The Essential Yoga Sutra, How Yoga Works, and The Eastern Path to Heaven.