I first taught meditation in graduate school ten years ago. I gathered my cohort and we would meditate together once a week. I offered them exactly what my meditation teacher taught me to do: journaling, guided meditation, and group conversation. I loved teaching so much that I began teaching down the street at the Uniondale Department of Social Services while I was in school.
When I moved home to Michigan, I rented some office space and held public group classes and 1×1 sessions. It was a chance conversation with Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, though, that jumpstarted my group coaching in Michigan. A family member of mine was practicing for his Bar Mitzvah, and Rabbi Mike overheard me talking about meditation coaching. He suggested I lead meditation at Temple Shir Shalom during Yom Kippur (a holiday centered on repentance and forgiveness). This has turned out to be a yearly ritual for us, and given the introspective context of the holiday, it continues to be one of the most sacred containers for meditation that I’ve experienced.
After Rabbi Mike took a chance on me, my Jewish meditation work took off — I was leading meditation for services & holidays, religious school students, and team building sessions for staff at numerous congregations. It wasn’t only Jewish meditation that I was offering, though. I met a soon to be colleague and friend and we developed a multi-week meditation protocol and research study for veterans, receiving a substantive grant to work with the Macomb County Vet Center. I started working with businesses and non-profits, too, partnering with Lululemon in Ann Arbor and Empowerment Plan in Detroit. And I was invited to give University lectures — one for an Organizational Studies class and another for Wolverine Support Network, both at the University of Michigan.
I started working with more individual students as well, ranging in age from 12-70. I developed an 8-week plan that methodically implemented a personal practice. I focused on sustainable habit formation rather than quick fixes. The practice brought up a lot of insight for students — to this day I use visualization practices that my students themselves stumbled upon spontaneously during their meditations.
When the pandemic hit, I started an online meditation community that gathered a couple of times a week. It was a space for accountability and feeling seen amidst a uniquely isolating moment in time.
I eventually shifted into podcast and media production for four years, and while I still taught meditation a few times a year on Yom Kippur, I mostly took a break from teaching. As I now begin my graduate school journey, pursuing a career in mental health counseling, I feel called to teach regularly again. I am now offering 1×1 and private group sessions as I was previously in 2017-2021.
Please reach out if I can support you on your meditation journey, even if it as simple as recommending a meditation cushion. And let me know if you are interested in a weekly or monthly donation-based online meditation community. If I receive enough interest, I’ll start it up again.
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