Meridian Exercise and Meditation Workshop with Mr. Takeshima, Paul & Suzee Grilley |
CIHS invited Mr. Takeshima and Paul&Suzee Grilley to CIHS for the Meridian Exercise and Meditation workshop held on February 14(Sat) & 15(Sun). There were 35 attendees and it was a very exciting and energetic event. Following the Workshop individual sessions were conducted by Mr. Takeshima for attendees who needed special guidance from an experienced teacher for their spiritual practice. These one-on-one sessions were conducted for 4 days (Monday through Thursday) and the 20 limited sessions were sold out.
We believe this combination of Meridian Exercise and Meditation followed by individual sessions not only provided the attendees with a uniquely inspiring experiences but it also gave us useful hints in planning further workshops of this kind. This article is intended to briefly cover Mr. Takeshima's profile, overview of the workshop and summary of comments from the attendees of the workshop.
Takeshima sensei-- sensei means a "teacher" in Japanese-- is one of the foremost disciples of Dr. Motoyama and is considered a rare teacher who can teach Dr.Motoyama's spiritual practice accurately in English. He was born in Japan in 1948. He attended Dr. Motoyama's yoga class in 1976 and went to India for a year to practice in a yoga ashram. When he came back to Japan, he joined Dr. Motoyama's morning meditation session at his shrine.
In 1981, he served as an Executive Manager and Chief instructor, at Nebukawa Retreat Center in Japan founded by Dr. Motoyama. Takeshima sensei had taught yoga and meditation to students for 2 years at this center. After teaching at the center, he went to a Zen temple and studied Zen for a year. In 1987, he returned back to Dr. Motoyama's center in Tokyo and started to work and teach yoga/meditation classes.
This workshop at CIHS was organized in much the same way as what Takeshima sensei teaches at Dr. Motoyama's center in Tokyo. On the first day Takeshima sensei started the class with meditation theory and explained "Eight Limbs" and "Three Bodies & Three Minds" of yoga. Then, he taught practical aspect of meditation and attendees learned sitting posture, various breathing techniques, and concentration methods on several chakras. Afternoon class was about meridian exercise and Takeshima sensei explained the meridian theories as well as the meridian channels and points which the meridian exercise stimulates. After the attendees understood the basics of meridians, they learned how to practice each one of the exercises. The second day began with meridian exercises reviewing the practice of the 1st day. The afternoon class was dedicated for meditation. Takeshima sensei taught breathing techniques different from the ones taught on the 1st day and some bandha. The 2-day workshop was concluded by a 35 minutes meditation on the ajna and svadhistahana chakras. The workshop with a combination of meridian exercise and meditation was the first attempt at CIHS. We were anxious about how it went and how attendees felt about it. We received many positive feedbacks from the questionnaire filled out by the attendees. (Please view the entire questionnaire from here). Most of attendees felt the combination of meridian exercise and meditation was excellent. Some people indicated that they wanted "a longer meditation", "talks more about the chakras and the 3 bodies, and how they relate to meridians", "a prayer before and close of each day" or "discussion on particular meridian then reinforcement with the asana".
We are also happy to hear that many attendees are looking forward to similar or an advanced workshops in the near future. This workshop focused particularly on meridian system (somewhat physical subtle energy), and basic meditation techniques. We intend to organize similar workshops but with emphasis on different energy systems, different theories, and advanced meditation techniques from different aspects. We realized from this workshop that it is very difficult to meet the needs of different levels of practitioners adequately in 2 day intensive sessions. We will strive to plan our future workshops more systematically and hope to offer "certification programs" in meridian exercise and meditation in due course. Overall we believe the workshop went very well and each attendee gained some knowledge and experience in meridian exercise and meditation. We hope they will continue practicing what they learned in their lives. We also hope that they came to know about CIHS as a unique school dedicated to integration of the body, mind and spirit.
Hideki |
CIHS Workshops in Spring 2009 |
Fundamentals of Spiritual Evolution April 18 & 19, 2009 9am - 12pm & 2pm - 5pm Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama and an assistant TaoZen Meditation May 9 & 10, 2009 Mr. Masahiro Ouchi Karma & Reincarnation May 16 & 17, 2009 Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama and an assistant
|