Recommended Meditation Resources
Meditation is a practice that necessitates continuing education. Consider if you were trying to progress in learning to play an instrument. Certainly the more you practice on your own and challenge yourself to try pieces of music that push you to develop your skills, the better you will become. But at a certain point, you will need a teacher, some outside resource that can help guide you to continue to develop your skills.
Yet, many people will think that meditation is a skill that you learn once and then just practice on your own in the quiet of your home. Anyone who has maintained a meditation practice, developed it, cared for it and nurtured it knows that we must practice in community and also with a skilled teacher or guide. Otherwise, we can become discouraged or stagnant in our practice.
We are fortunate to have access to a wide variety of teachers through books, audio resources, online virtual learning. I also recommend finding or developing friendships with others who are on the path.
Local resources in Leavenworth and the Wenatchee Valley
Mountain Om Sangha
Ginger Holladay and Dean Marson lead twice weekly meditation “circles”. Their approach is mindfulness meditation. They meet one weekday evening for a silent sit and on Sunday mornings for a more interactive sit with a “dharma talk” and some discussion as well as some guidance in meditation. Ginger and Dean bring decades of experience and practice to these circles. To be put on the email list for Ginger and Dean’s announcements, contact Ginger: [email protected]
Stone Blossom Sangha
Offers Zen and Tibetan Buddhist Meditation. Meets at the Unitarian Church in East Wenachee on Wednesday evenings. For more information: https://www.stoneblossomsangha.org/
Kari Lyons Price
Kari teaches live and online Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses. She is based in Cashmere. To be on her email for her next course, email her at [email protected]
The Ripple Foundation
Based in Leavenworth, TRF offers a variety of courses aimed at personal and global transformation. To learn more about their offerings, visit https://www.theripplefoundation.org/
Regional Resources
Mindfulness Northwest
A resource for all things mindfulness and compassion-based practices in the Pacific Northwest. They have many audio and written resources on their website to take advantage of. They also have a calendar of events. Oorie Silberstein, (resident of Twisp) is on staff and has offered meditation courses in Wenatchee. https://mindfulnessnorthwest.com/
Retreat Centers
If you are ready to dig in an take on a meditation retreat (highly recommended), here are some retreat centers in Washington that specialize in Meditation:
Cloud Mountain in Castle Rock, WA (Between Olympia and Portland)
Harmony Hill in Union, WA (Outside Tacoma)
Northwest Vipassana Center in Onalaska, WA (near Mount Rainier)
Online and Written Resources
Sounds True has been offering enlightening books, audio and now online courses for decades. There are several meditation resources that I would recommend.
Power of Awareness with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield - Seven-week Mindful Meditation Course
The Power of Self Compassion with Kristin Neff and Chris Germer
There are many other guided audio resources as well as books on meditation through Sounds True. They also offer many free resources - guided meditations and more.
iRest Yoga Nidra 8 Week Immersion Course with Richard Miller
Kristen Neff and Chris Germer’s website for Mindful Self Compassion. They offer a ten-week online course that I recommend. There are also several guided written and audio resources that are free and very helpful for developing self compassion.
Teachers
All of these teachers I would recommend for their audio, video, online and written resources. Go to their individual websites to find their books, podcasts, free audio meditations, written articles.
Tara Brachh - Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Practices
Jack Kornfield - Mindfulness Meditation
Richard Miller - iRest Yoga Nidra
Pema Chodron - Accessible beginner level instruction but also more advanced
For a more secular approach to meditation, I recommend Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reducation.
Books and resources on Neuroscience and Meditation
If you know me, you know that I am fascinated with the brain. I am always curious to learn about how meditation changes the brain. I recommend the following resources if you’d like to learn more.
Buddha Brain - Book by Rick Hanson
Kelly McGonigal - Books and Audio
Norman Doidge - Books on Neuroplasticity (not necessarily related to meditation)