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Meditation Class Starts Sunday in West Jefferson

Story by Bernadette Cahill

The White Hart Woods Center for Leadership and Cultural Arts in West Jefferson is offering the public an opportunity to learn the practice of Vedic meditation. The four-evening course starts Sunday, March 9, at White Hart Woods and continues until Wednesday, March 12. Each session will last for about 90 minutes.

Vedic meditation is easy and simple. Anyone, no matter the age or background, can start meditating almost immediately and receive benefits that are immediate, well documented and published in many leading scientific journals. The practice does not require any faith or religious beliefs, just an open mind.

Beth Andrews, a graphic designer who lives in Fleetwood and has been practicing meditation for more than 30 years, has organized the course. She started meditating in her early twenties because of chronic and complex health problems.

“The effects [of meditation] were profound and immediate, and from the very beginning it made such a difference to how I thought and acted and functioned. The quality of my life started to improve and continued to do so,” she said. “This is one of the most powerful tools for managing stress that I could ever have imagined.”

The first evening is devoted to an orientation lecture and is the only prerequisite. Anyone can attend to hear about the theory behind different techniques of meditation and the benefits of the practice. Attendees can expect to master the meditation technique in two to three days.

Dr. Gayanendra Mahapatra will teach the course. One of the world’s leading teachers of Vedic meditation, with more than 35 years’ experience teaching, Mahapatra has instructed thousands of people from all walks of life. He was a vice-chancellor at the Vedic University in New Delhi, India.

Mahapatra is a medical doctor who originally specialized in radiation oncology and is now exclusively teaching the practice of Vedic meditation. He works as a stress management counselor for an investment banking firm in Washington, D.C.

For further information and advance registration, call 336-246-3600 or toll free at 877-246-3615 or email whitehartwoods@whitehartwoods.com.

Want To Go?

Date: Sunday to Wednesday, March 9 to 12
Time: 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday/Monday, by arrangement with the class
Location: White Hart Woods, West Jefferson
Cost: Donation