LIVE Daily Meditation :: Finding Community Wherever You Are
Meditation is often viewed as an individual experience. Once we learn how to meditate, we are expected to keep up the practice on our own. Working with our own inner-discipline, willpower, and determination. This may be manageable for some of us, and for a period of time–for most of us. Yet what is not necessarily always encouraged when you are first starting out is to also find community to practice with as well. The reason being is that so far in western culture, it hasn’t been the easiest to find a local meditation community and one that is inclusive, fun, hip and non-dogmatic at that.
A few years ago this began to change. The first modern meditation studio opened up in Los Angeles and was soon followed by one in New York City. Since the opening of these studios, we have seen an upswing in modern meditation communities forming and are noticing just how pivotal this can be for the individual meditator. Traditional teachings on meditation tell us that one of the three key ways to grow a practice is through finding community, so naturally the next question we are landing on is, “how can we find a community anywhere and everywhere?”. Especially if you live outside of the major urban centers right now!
So far, new meditators and experienced meditators have been turning to technology to help them find access to mediation guidance outside of the new modern day meditation studio space. Mobile apps like Headspace and Calm have been leading the charge in teaching meditation through technology and while these platforms offer solid teachings in how to meditate, the community aspect has not been built in at all. In fact, most meditation apps are a one-way conversation, you listening to the voice guiding you and that’s the only exchange with the teacher.
As a meditation teacher, I have been watching the modern studio and technology landscape during these past years and have seen the absolute need for technology to make both meditation and meditation communities accessible. Enter Journey Meditation LIVE - the newest and freshest meditation app to hit the tech market, and I’m so happy to share that not only am I teaching meditation live and “in-person'“ over the airwaves each and every weekday, but Journey’s mission is to build modern meditation communities online and it’s working.
Since Journey LIVE launched, I have seen our 8 am PST weekday community grow and flourish. Not only do I get to see many of my students who have meditated with me in-person across the country everyday on Journey LIVE, but I have also met so many new students from across the world who all have decided to gather together and meditate as a community at the same exact time and in the same exact (virtual) space. Each day after our 15 minute guided meditation, we go into a really fun and informative community chat where everyone has the opportunity to type in questions to me through the chat box and respond to each other’s meditation experiences, insights and questions.
Journey’s motto is, “Meditation is better together”. From both traditional and modern perspectives, this intention to create a meditation community through technology and make real live interactive meditation accessible to anyone with a smartphone and cell service is truly the next evolution in meditation and the current answer we all have been looking for.
To join me in meditation every weekday at 8 am PST, download Journey LIVE here and make sure to type hello when you arrive in our group chat box so you can be welcomed in by your new community.
