I was introduced to Vipassana meditation in 1990 when I took an undergraduate class on the “Social Psychology of Consciousness.” I meditated on my own until 2003 when I began sitting with the Flagstaff Vipassana Sangha and attending retreats. As a professor of sociology at Northern Arizona University I integrate contemplative practices into my teaching and writing. I have written about Buddhist Sociology as well as about how contemplative practices may help us address environmental crises. More recently I have had the opportunity to facilitate “mindfulness circles” and offer workshops on “Mindfulness for Social Activists.” I live with 4 wild beings (my husband and 3 children) and find their presence a continual reminder to breath and experience the aliveness of the present moment.
What happens to our practice when we are overwhelmed? In this talk, Janine shares her own personal challenges with sustaining practice during challenging times. She explores how following a middle way, even with practice, may help us meet each moment exactly as it is. Janine also shares how Buddhist teachings on the five hinderances and their antidotes can help us when we’re having trouble meditating and seeing clearly.
Anyone who has sat in silence for even a few minutes can observe the noisy inner world of thoughts, emotions and sensations that course through our minds and bodies. When we look carefully, stopping talking does not mean that we are silent. Yet, it is a first step. External silence is a portal into deep inner silence. This talk explores the possibilities for awakening when we take a deep dive into silence.
The What If Game is a playful way of working with your intentions around practice or shifting perspective around an area of practice in which you feel stuck. This approach arose for Janine after years of being frustrated with an aspect of her practice. Listen in and learn how to play the What If Game!
In this talk, Janine explores ways in which pain often leads to suffering. She offers three antidotes for not creating suffering out of our pain including: acceptance, being present with pain, and changing our relationship with pain. The talk ends with a guided meditation that helps practitioners consider ways physical and/or emotional pain turns into suffering and how we may experience pain without suffering.
Janine applies Buddhist principles and practices to reflect on COVID while she personally navigates the illness. In Part II of this two-part series, Janine explores the themes of introspection and patience when experiencing illness.
Janine applies Buddhist principles and practices to reflect on COVID while she personally navigates the illness. In Part I of this two-part series, Janine explores possibilities for interrupting habitual fear-based patterns with mindfulness practices and working directly with the moment to moment experience of illness.
When we're stressed or overwhelmed, we often move towards the comfort of the known, that which we feel we can count on or control. Yet at the heart of the Buddha's teachings is a recognition that our attempts to grasp onto anything, including the known, bring suffering. In this talk, Janine explores how finding refuge in the uncertain and unknown opens us up to new possibilities for freedom and peace.
