2025: Our community meditation gatherings remain online for now...
...but if there is enough interest and help, we could consider a change
During the COVID-19 lockdown of 2020-21, our community shifted from in-person gatherings to online (Zoom) gatherings, as many people and groups did.
After the lockdown was lifted and workplaces and organizations resumed in-person meetings in 2021-22 and beyond, our community decided to continue to hold our gatherings in an online-only format. The reason was that our community's small size and lack of a sufficient number of practice leaders made it unsustainably burdensome to meet in person.
We regularly receive inquiries from people interested in joining a community of practice that meets in person. Although this is not us at the moment, it could conceivably be us in the near future, especially if practitioners interested in this are willing to step forward and consider becoming regular practice leaders.
What is involved in being a practice leader?
In the past, when we met at Motion Center Yoga in Pawtucket (84 Fountain St.), being a practice leader involved:
- arriving around 20 minutes early to turn on heaters (in colder months)
- setting up meditation cushions and chairs
- greeting, welcoming, and orienting practitioners (e.g., what the format is; where bathrooms are)
- announcing the beginning and end of the meditation period
- reading a short reading from a relevant book or article (either from the Insight Meditation tradition or a related meditation tradition)
- facilitating a simple forum for reflection and discussion (guidelines provided)
- closing up the space when the gathering is over
Motion Center may well be open to hosting us again. If the community decided to pursue that path, and Motion Center agreed, being a practice leader would again include the elements above.
If, on the other hand, people are interested in pursuing other meeting spaces, such as meeting in a participant's home (which some participants have graciously offered), some of these steps would no longer apply (e.g., turning on the heat).
The more practice leaders we have, the less often each practice leader would need to take a turn. For example, if we had four practice leaders, then each one could take a turn once every two months.
If you are interested in becoming one of our practice leaders, please let us know!
And, if you are interested in joining us (simply as a practitioner), whether in our current online format or in the event that we resume in-person gatherings, please also let us know! You may use the "Contact Us" page.