Nov 23 NEW MOON CEREMONY: Raising the vibration of love and healing in Newark

An experience of empowerment, meditation, and art making. Scheduled every new moon with different themes and emotional tropes worked through.

Join us for these Monthly Ceremonies Downtown at The House at 2 Park Place, Newark NJ on the 2nd Floor.

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Facilitator Kayla 11 Muldrow | Ages 16 years and older. Under 18 must be accompanied by adult. | Suggested Donation Per Session Adults $15, Students $10, Youth (age 16-18) $5.

Participants will have an opportunity to exercise and explore a variety of meditation techniques to combat anxiety and depression. Ceremonies will include workshops revolving around healing and self-love cultivation while engaging in a safe community network. There is also a creative aspect of these sessions with participants given tools to write or draw how they feel.

Registration Required. Please register in the Age Category you fall under.

About Donations The amounts given are suggested but give what is within your budget. As these are donations, we cannot give a refund if you need to cancel. However, if we are notified no less than 24 hours before the event we can give you a credit for another program.

Access There is no elevator to the 2nd Floor.

Covid Concerns We leave it up to each participant to wear or not wear a face covering. Please respect each other’s choice and sensitivity to distancing.

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A donation-based program of Newark Center for Meditative Culture, a New Jersey 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization delivering transformative programs to the Greater Newark community and beyond.

Nov 19 FALL INNER CITY HIKE — Hoboken to Liberty State Park

The Static Sidewalks of Hoboken meet the Dynamic Nature of Liberty State Park

Start in Newark 10AM.

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Hike Leader: Kazi | Distance: Choice of 3 mi or 6 mi | Difficulty: Beginners | Fee: FREE | Age: Adults and Youths able to walk the distance (Youths 17 and younger must be accompanied by an adult)

Walk, meet new friends, talk, listen, smell, look, touch. Upon reaching the park, we will practice nature therapy, mindful movement, and walking meditation. We’ll also enjoy a bag lunch while there.

We will meet at Newark Penn Station between 9:30-9:50am at the ground-level entrance to Track 1-Path Train. We will depart at 10:00am riding the Path to Hoboken. Our Hike will then begin at Hoboken Station and take us to Liberty State Park in Jersey City, where we will turn around for the return leg of the hike.

This Beginner’s Hike is 3 miles in each direction for a total of 6 miles. For the shorter journey, those who wish can take the Light Rail back to Hoboken Terminal to connect to the PATH.

Registration Required. We ask that you kindly cancel if your schedule changes.

Wearing Masks/Face Coverings is optional.

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If you have any questions, contact us at info@newarkmeditation.org.

A free program of Newark Center for Meditative Culture, a New Jersey 501(c)(3) non-profit organization delivering transformative programs to the Greater Newark Area and beyond.

Wednesdays 7pm EST ONLINE in April: SELF-AWARENESS SELF-CARE SELF-HEALING — Power Tools for BIPOC Strategists, Activists, and Supporters

FREE ONLINE PROGRAM:

Link to sign-up: https://ncmc-bipoc-power.eventbrite.com

Co-facilitators: Kazi & JJavier Cruz | Dates: Wednesdays, April 6, 13, 20 & 27 | Time: 7:00pm to 8:00pm EST | Cost: FREE | Age: Adults 18 years and older | Guidelines: You must be a Person of Color or identify as such to attend. You must be active in a movement. You can attend from any location in the world. | Platform: Zoom |

The ongoing grassroots movement for freedom, justice, and equality waged by peoples of color (POC; BIPOC) in the Americas has for the most part been carried forward on the shoulders of a few — fighting unselfishly and relentlessly for the rights of the many.

As rewarding as the occasional victories may be, the day-to-day struggle can be filled with stressors that often lead to compromised physical and mental health issues such as depression, misplaced anger, anxiety, burnout, addiction, domestic strife, and a sense of helplessness and hopelessness.

Join us for four weeks of discussion, engagement, and sharing solutions for keeping the movers of our movements mentally healthy, physically strong, and conscientiously clear.

Link to sign-up: https://ncmc-bipoc-power.eventbrite.com

A free BIPOC program of Newark Center for Meditative Culture, a New Jersey 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

24 Tips to Creating a Sacred Space: NCMC tip featured in Redfin article

Learn some simple steps to make an ordinary room your sacred space!

NCMC was asked by Redfin to participate in their article Transformative Tips for Creating a Sacred Space in Your Home. Kazi then submitted a tip on the importance of choosing the right seat. Check out their informative article here.

And by the way, don’t forget that Kazi’s Divine Light Sunday Morning 3-Part Series starts on March 14th at 9am EST and he’ll be going over some of his other advice on creating a sacred space and making good associations in the first session.

We appreciate the invitation from Redfin and their shining a little light on NCMC!

The 7 Dimensions of Wellness in a Nutshell

August is Wellness Month and we’ve put together an overview of the 7 Dimensions of Wellness.

Consider designing your own wellness program for August with good planning and a goal to sustain and build on it!

We’ve also provided a fillable Wellness Month Calendar that you can print out to use and we created a month of daily suggestions to inspire you. There’s other tools described available for your use that might help too.

What are a few of the dimensions below that you might like to work on? How can you apply changes successfully on a daily or weekly basis in order to make a habit of them?

1. PHYSICAL WELLNESS

Move more and eat better.

Tips and suggestions:

• Exercise daily.
• Control your meal portions.
• Eat healthy foods/avoid processed and junk foods.
• Get adequate rest.
• Protect yourself against injuries.
• Learn to recognize early signs of illness.
• Use alcohol in moderation or not at all.
• Stop smoking and protect yourself from second-hand smoke.

Without physical health, it is more difficult to be mentally and emotionally healthy, so the two key components are to exercise and eat well. Improving physical wellness involves personal responsibility and often leads to the psychological benefits of enhanced self-esteem, self-control, determination, and a sense of purpose.

Another important element — we think very important in your wellness practice — is to use mindfulness to manage your compulsions and obsessions that drive bad habits. In fact, if you can’t necessarily add good behaviors during Wellness Month, start by mindfully trying to remove bad behaviors.

2. EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

Develop mindfulness and optimism skills.

Tips and suggestions:

• Tune-in to your thoughts and feelings.
• Cultivate an optimistic attitude.
• Seek and provide support.
• Learn time management skills.
• Learn meditation and mindfulness techniques.
• Learn stress management techniques.
• Deal with anger constructively.
• Accept and forgive yourself.

Emotional wellness is by nature a dynamic state that fluctuates along with your other six dimensions of wellness. It is important to develop a positive outlook on life and surround ourselves with positive people. Uniquely, time management is an important factor of emotional wellness, allowing time for ourselves and minimizing stress-induced situations.

Practicing mindfulness helps to really be present in the moment so you don’t jump onto the wrong emotional train. Expressing your feelings of love, gratitude, and other positive feelings can help alleviate alienation. During Wellness Month you might pick just a few negative habits to weaken, using your own daily prayers to reinforce your efforts.

3. INTELLECTUAL WELLNESS

Stimulate and inspire your brain.

Tips and suggestions:

• Take a course or workshop.
• Teach others.
• Learn or perfect a foreign language.
• Seek out people who challenge you intellectually.
• Read books and watch more educational programs.
• Attend museums, exhibits, and theater.
• Travel and explore other cultures.

The intellectual dimension encourages learning, growth, and creativity. An active and open mind leads to a life filled with curiosity, passion, and purpose. Just as our bodies need motivation and exercise, so too our minds. If we are not intellectually stimulated, life can be mundane and this can lead to depression and resentment.

Tied to our emotional wellness, it is easy to compare and judge ourselves if we don’t feel intellectually competent or aren’t comfortable with and made peace with our own capacity. To ensure our personal maximum intellectual wellness we can take advantages of available resources to find new hobbies, read, take a course — simply keep learning!

4. SOCIAL WELLNESS

Cultivate friendships and contribute to community.

Tips and suggestions:

• Cultivate healthy relationships.
• Contact old friends and make new friends.
• Get involved.
• Contribute to your community.
• Share your talents and skills.
• Communicate your thoughts, feelings and ideas.

Personal connections contribute to a long and fulfilling life — whether they are family, friends, community groups, or even global connections. When you nurture relationships you create healthy support networks, contribute to the greater good, and builds a sense of belonging.

This means practicing good communication skills and developing intimacy with others. Social wellness also includes showing respect for others as well as yourself. An active social life can be incredibly stimulating and conducive to positive changes in all seven dimensions of wellness.

5. SPIRITUAL WELLNESS

Nourish your soul and open your heart.

Tips and suggestions:

• Explore your spiritual core.
• Spend time alone to reflect.
• Meditate regularly.
• Take pauses to pay attention to your breath.
• Be inquisitive and curious.
• Try to be fully present in all you do.
• Listen with your heart and live by your principles.
• Allow yourself and those around you the freedom to be who they are.
• See opportunities for growth in the challenges life brings you.

When we develop a set of guiding beliefs and principles it gives a sense of meaning and purpose to our life. Keeping an open mind in a spirit-centered life may bring up thoughts of despair, fear, and doubt as we grow, but out of it can come joy, happiness, and wisdom.

It is important to spend quiet time each day, reflecting or meditating, or simply pausing to take a few minutes to breathe properly. Spiritual wellness includes developing a deep appreciation for the depth and expanse of life and natural forces of the universe.

6. ENVIRONMENTAL WELLNESS

Love and care for the planet.

Tips and suggestions:

• Stop your junk mail.
• Conserve water and other resources.
• Minimize chemical use.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle.
• Rethink your living space.

To be environmentally well we need to be aware of the delicate state of the earth and the effects our daily habits have on the physical world. When we help to take responsibility for the health of the planet we can bring a sense of accomplishment and well-being into our own life.

It is also important to be aware of our home environment — how the materials and objects we choose to surround us have an effect on environmental wellness. The more we get out into nature mindfully the more we will understand this. We need to remember that we are an integral part of the environment and that caring for the environment is self-care.

7. VOCATIONAL WELLNESS

Use and give your skills.

Tips and suggestions:

• Explore a variety of vocation options.
• Create a vision for your future.
• Choose a career that suits your personality, interests and talents.
• Be open to change and learn new skills.
• Balance work with life.
• Learn to budget your lifestyle with your vocation compensation.
• Use unemployment or retirement to hone your skills or develop new ones.
• Volunteer your vocational skills if you aren’t fulfilled at work.

This dimension of wellness focuses on enriching your life and that of others by sharing your special gifts, skills, and talents. Our job may not fulfill us, we may be unemployed or retired, but there are always ways to use our skills, knowledge, and passion in other meaningful ways to serve our family and society, and to enhance our self-esteem.

Vocational wellness also involves preparing, planning, and creating a positive attitude to reshape your personal goals at work. Whether through work, parenting, or volunteering, you can make a strong impact and reap the health benefits of adding purpose to your life.

Are you inspired yet? Ready to fill out your Wellness Calendar? Let’s get started together!

If these tools, tips, and teachings we’ve compiled are helpful to you, would you consider making a small donation to Newark Center for Meditative Culture? We are a New Jersey 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your tax-deductible donations make it possible for us to continue delivering life-changing programs to the Greater Newark community and beyond.

 

A pin drop was Audible as they meditated..

In the afternoon of October 10th on World Mental Health Day, NCMC provided a meditation workshop for Audible in Newark. Facilitating this program for about 20 employees were Javier Cruz and Andrea Lee of NCMC. Javier provided guided meditation in mindfulness of body, breath, and mental states, while Andrea made the program introduction and led the mindful movement session.

The coordinator at Audible mentioned that the workshop was well received and that the employees attending were excited about an opportunity to de-stress, clear their minds, and practice mindfulness. We appreciate the second opportunity that this Newark-based corporation gave us to help bring mindfulness and develop happiness in the workplace.

REVIEW: Ladies First – From Superwoman to Self-Care

By Andrea Lee

This weekend’s Women’s Retreat was a multi-generational gathering of nearly 50 women of diverse backgrounds and from all different walks of life. The retreat was mindfully and lovingly guided by five women who are leaders in their own fields. We kicked off the retreat with a moving spoken word opening by TaNisha Fordham who brought nine teen-aged students to the retreat. Jillian Faulks-Majuta lead a Kemetic Yoga session that physically grounded guests in the power of self-care. The day continued with passionate workshops about caring for mind, body and spirit.

Kamilah Crawley, who organized and emceed the event, offered sessions about the intersection of mindfulness and women’s self-care and lead discussion groups on the complex and nuanced notions of the modern Superwoman. Michelle Beadle Holder explored mindful eating and the frequent everyday choices we make about how we nourish our bodies and helped us become more mindful of the environments where we break our bread and buy our food. Her presentation was followed by a nutritious and soulful lunch provided by Arelis Hernandez and Rabbit Hole Farm.

Aleah Gathings presented on the power of words and affirmations and guided retreatants in a symbolic ceremony to release unconstructive thought patterns. Mandara Parashakti Akiwumi facilitated a process to help participants “Stop the Story”, release narratives that hold us back and re-narrate our current truth. We ended the retreat by writing self-care letters to our future selves — to be mailed and opened just when we most need the reminder.

Throughout the day retreatants were encouraged to hold a non-judgmental space for everyone’s opinions and experiences and to self-reflect through conversation and journaling. Participants readily shared their own resources and several lists were compiled with books, websites, and places of interest for people to visit to continue the deep work that was initiated at this retreat.

Women! Drop Your Cape for the Day on March 31st!

Ladies First: From Superwoman to Self-care

It’s a wonderful line-up for the day. You can register for full-day or part-day. Here’s a quick listing of bio-notes of your presenters:

Mandara Parashakti Akiwumi is a trauma informed, evidence-based pastoral and spiritual counselor, wellness coach, and equity, diversity, and inclusion trainer. She is certified in mindfulness, yoga, and multiple somatic traditions. She received her training from Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Walden University, The New Seminary, and many teachers.

Michelle Beadle Holder, PhD, President and CEO, Food at the Center, Inc. is a medical sociologist dedicated to doing her part to improve the social and physical health of black families. Her research has appeared in the Journal of African American Studies, Substance Use and Misuse, and American Journal of Health Behavior. In 2018, Dr. Holder founded Food at the Center, Inc., an educational and research social enterprise that uses food to build meaningful connections, improve health, and celebrate the culinary genius of people of African descent.

Kamilah Crawley, MPH, CHES is a public health professional who has provided health education workshops and trainings for various populations. She currently focuses on the intersection of public health, mindfulness and meditation as a tool for healing and healthy living. Kamilah was born and raised in Newark and is an alumni of University High School. Her degrees are from Temple University and the Rutgers School of Public Health.

Aleah A. Gathings, JD, MPH is an advocate for children and a proponent of the medical-legal partnership model. Aleah believes in the power of hope, love, and the ongoing fight for social and health justice.

Jillian Faulks-Majuta, Founder and CEO of Majuta Wellness, is committed to bringing wellness to individuals, groups and communities who are interested in living their most fulfilling lives possible. Through journaling, Kemetic Yoga™ and Holistic Health Coaching (July 2019). Jillian creates spaces for people to feel safe enough to challenge their bodies, thoughts and habits.

For more information and to register, go to

ncmc-womens-retreat.eventbrite.com.

A program of Newark Center for Meditative Culture co-sponsored by Ironbound Community Corporation Family Success Center. ncmc logomark_square_rgb.png

Change of Season — Change of Body, Mind, and Spirit

autumn-leaf-floating-in-water.jpg

To all things there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance…

— Ecclesiastes 3

 

Hippocrates, in teaching the doctors of his day, said, “Consider the seasons of the year and what each of them produces.” When you respect the seasons you will respect your body, mind, and spirit and their needs.

Based on chinese medicine the fall is the season of the element of metal and lung and the lungs are associated with sadness and grief. We move from the external, expansive nature of summer to the internal, contracting nature of fall.

What does this have to do with meditation?

Through specific meditation and mindfulness skills — stationary, movement, eating, sound, and all our sense organs — we can learn season-specific techniques and tools for self-care: stress resilience, immunity boosting, health promotion, and methods to boost your creativity and mental sharpness.

We can also develop insight into the constantly changing, impermanent nature of our bodies and minds and learn to let go. In fact the energy of the lungs is related to “letting go” — first remembering our breath, using our breath, relaxing our breath — then becoming aware and allowing the elements and nourishment to inform us.

The northeast Autumn with it’s cool temperatures and warmly-colored leaves is a good time to:

• eat hot foods
• eat gourd foods
• supplement with mullein
• get to bed early
• sweat in a sauna
• socialize locally.

Learn more on Sunday, November 11, 2018, when we hold a workshop Fall Back into Self-Care: Meditation, Movement, and Medicine for the Season. This 5-hour workshop is kid friendly for those youths who might like to practice with us.