Friday Meditation Group
This meditation group is an informal group that is led by practitioners of multiple meditation styles. Each week the leadership rotates around a core group of leaders but others are invited to lead as well. Meditations are sometimes led live and sometimes through the playing of videos. All faculty and staff are invited to attend.
Weekly Zoom Link for 8:45am Friday Meditation Sessions:
https://osu.zoom.us/j/97208089083?pwd=ZXkxM0QzWlZrZlYzR3czNUsxZkJPQT09
Facilitators
Matt Swift – Phrase and Action Repetition and Overall Wellbeing
The power of repeating words, thoughts, or movements during meditation can have a great effect on how bodily responses. When repeating phrases or thoughts of negativity, the body will respond to those as if in a negative situation invoking a fight or flight response, increasing stress, and possibly causing pain. When repeating positive phrases, the body will respond to those phrases as if in a positive situation reducing stress and increasing circulation in the body. Likewise, undertaking physical actions while focusing on or repeating various thoughts can cause the body to imbue those thoughts with the bodily reactions of the release of endorphins typically heightening those thoughts towards a positive realm of consciousness. This is a basic explanation for how the power of positive thinking, mantras, mindfulness, artistic mediational expression, and meditational exercise can impact overall wellness of the body.
Meet Cara Brown, a dedicated practitioner of mindful meditation since 2003. Her journey began with attending a transformative retreat called “A Day of Mindfulness,” led by the renowned Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn and the monks and nuns of Plum Village. This profound experience ignited her passion for mindfulness, leading her to pursue a path of self-discovery and service to others.
Through consistent mindful living, Cara has discovered an abundance of joy, peace, clarity, and compassion in her life. She wholeheartedly believes in the power of mindfulness and regularly seeks inspiration from Thich Nhat Hahn and other mindfulness teachers to further enhance her practice and understanding. As a true advocate for mindfulness, Cara actively shares the invaluable benefits of this practice with others. Her motto is, “Mindfulness + Concentration brings insight,” a mantra she lives by and encourages others to embrace.
Mantra Das is a non-traditionalist meditation teacher and spiritual seeker with a love of helping people learn to pause and chill out. Das became interested in meditation during college by reading about The Beatles and George Harrison’s involvement in India. In 2012, he was introduced to mindfulness and mantra meditation techniques through OSU’s Integrative Medicine clinic and has been heavily involved in the Columbus meditation scene ever since. Das’ meditation sessions usually include pranayama (yoga breathing), Pancha Kosha meditation, and sharing first-hand stories about mental health/meditation experiences with enthusiasm and a sense of humor.
Brad J. Bushman studies the causes, consequences and cures to the problem of human aggression and violence. He was a member of President Obama’s committee on gun violence, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on the topic of youth violence. His research has challenged several myths (e.g., guns make people safer; venting anger reduces aggression; aggressive people suffer from low self-esteem; violence and sex sell products). He has published hundreds of peer-reviewed journal articles, which have been cited tens of thousands of times. His research has been published in the top scientific journals (e.g., Science, PNAS), and has been featured extensively in the mass media (e.g., BBC, New York Times, NPR).