Jan 052012

What is the purpose of meditation?

Meditation, Spiritual Tools, Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Somebody asked me in a class recently a question that I have never been asked before. The question was “What is the purpose of meditation?” Strange, I thought at that very instant I heard the question, that it was a very obvious question but no one seems to ask it. Unless of course everyone knows the answer to it.

The highest purpose of meditation is to take your awareness from an external state of mind and go within yourself to experience the Self (God in the aspect of timeless, formless and spaceless known as Parasiva in the Hindu faith). The experience of doing so helps you to realize that you and God are one, inseparable.

Meditation also serves to help you become the master of your mind, body and emotions. Your mind, body and emotions are your tools. You are meant to be in charge of them. If you are not they will be in charge of you as is clearly visible in many people these days. Meditation teaches you how to be in control of your mind, body and emotions by helping you to realize that you are a soul in possession of these tools. 

These are a couple of the purposes of meditation. Needless to say meditation has countless benefits.

I conduct meditation classes in New York City and also in various places around the US, Caribbean and Australia. If you are interested in learning about meditation please feel free to reach out to me and you can do so by sending me an email to info(at)vedicodyssey.com.

The spiritual adventures that I conduct a few times a year are wonderful opportunities for personal growth and self discovery. I take the role of a spiritual guide or catalyst that teaches classes and create creative, fun, intimate and spiritually uplifting experiences along the way for my fellow travelers. Visit this link to learn more about these spiritual adventures.

Posted by Dandapani at 3:08 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Dec 142011

New York kids use meditation for better performance

Testimonials, Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

On Monday I shared how I conducted a class on Hinduism to 44 5th graders at the Village Community School in New York City. The class also included a 5 minute guided meditation. Today I received a very sweet testimonial from the teacher sharing how the meditation had influenced the students.

How inspiring to hear that they loved the meditation. It’s practical and applicable in their lives and they see this. What enlightened “young grasshoppers” they are.

Here’s the teachers email to me:

Hi Dandapani,
I have a wonderful anecdote to share with you today, from our music teacher, Jeannette. Yesterday, many of the students performed in a Winter Concert (singing and playing instruments). They performed twice, once for the school, and the second time was for the parents in the evening. Apparently, our students had such a good time with the meditation you lead (it made such an impression on them), that they proposed to the music teacher to have a meditation session before each performance, to calm their nerves and get them ready to perform!

For each meditation, a child from one of our classes lead the whole group (at least 40+ kids), in a round of breathing, and they said exactly what you said: “breathe in and out, get a good thought, hold on to it…”

What was so funny was the music teacher had not been to our meditation but when she told me about it, the words were exactly as you had said them! How fabulous! I just thought you should know what a success the time with you really was for them.

Many thanks again,
Natalie
Village Community School

Posted by Dandapani at 12:31 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
Dec 142011

Meditation Class in New York City

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Guided Meditation Classes in Manhattan, New York City

Our approach to meditation is simple and systematic. A clear understanding of what is involved is shared, a plan outlined and tools given to create or sustain a meditation practice. The rest is up to you for true progress with meditation lays solely on your consistent effort.

Whether you are a beginner or someone who has been meditating for a while you’ll find these classes very useful. The first part of the class is interactive and aimed at providing a clear understanding of the journey within you are seeking to embark on. The second part of the class is a simple, systematic guided meditation that takes you within yourself and brings you back out.

Do join me in this series of three classes. If you are serious about meditation, you’ll enjoy them. Students of all levels are welcome.

For more details on these guided meditation classes in NYC, click here.

Posted by Dandapani at 11:13 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Dec 122011

New York 5th Graders and Hinduism

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

A couple of weeks back a friend asked me if I would be willing to teach a class on Hinduism at his son’s school. They have been studying India and Hinduism in their social studies class and he thought it would be nice for me to share some of my experiences and thoughts with them.

So, this morning I made my way to the west side to the Village Community School on 10th street and was welcomed by 44 energetic and enthusiastic (maybe more like excited) 5th graders. I don’t think most of them had seen a Hindu priest in person before let alone have one come in and teach a class.

So, I had 45 minutes to teach and I shared with them, via a Keynote presentation, the basics of Hinduism which included beliefs, God and divine beings, sects, the two paths, the four goals, etc and we ended the class with a 5 minute meditation practice.

How do you get 44 5th graders to sit still for 5 minutes let alone concentrate and meditate? Breathe! And they did and did exceedingly well in this guided meditation. Some even sat in the lotus position and hands in the perfect meditative mudras. Budding yogis indeed! I was most impressed and after 5 minutes there was a great noticeable calmness in the classroom.

Posted by Dandapani at 8:02 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Dec 072011

Meditation class in New York City

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Guided Meditation Classes in Manhattan, New York City

Our approach to meditation is simple and systematic. A clear understanding of what is involved is shared, a plan outlined and tools given to create or sustain a meditation practice. The rest is up to you for true progress with meditation lays solely on your consistent effort.

Whether you are a beginner or someone who has been meditating for a while you’ll find these classes very useful. The first part of the class is interactive and aimed at providing a clear understanding of the journey within you are seeking to embark on. The second part of the class is a simple, systematic guided meditation that takes you within yourself and brings you back out.

Do join me in this series of three classes. If you are serious about meditation, you’ll enjoy them. Students of all levels are welcome.

For more details on these guided meditation classes in NYC, click here.

Posted by Dandapani at 8:25 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Dec 012011

Meditation Class in Manhattan, NYC

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Guided Meditation Classes in Manhattan, New York City

Our approach to meditation is simple and systematic. A clear understanding of what is involved is shared, a plan outlined and tools given to create or sustain a meditation practice. The rest is up to you for true progress with meditation lays solely on your consistent effort.

Whether you are a beginner or someone who has been meditating for a while you’ll find these classes very useful. The first part of the class is interactive and aimed at providing a clear understanding of the journey within you are seeking to embark on. The second part of the class is a simple, systematic guided meditation that takes you within yourself and brings you back out.

Do join me in this series of three classes. If you are serious about meditation, you’ll enjoy them. Students of all levels are welcome.

For more details on these guided meditation classes in NYC, click here.

Posted by Dandapani at 11:16 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Nov 152011

Guided Meditation Classes in New York City

Workshops & Classes 2 Responses »
 

Guided Meditation Classes in Manhattan, New York City

Our approach to meditation is simple and systematic. A clear understanding of what is involved is shared, a plan outlined and tools given to create or sustain a meditation practice. The rest is up to you for true progress with meditation lays solely on your consistent effort.

Whether you are a beginner or someone who has been meditating for a while you’ll find these classes very useful. The first part of the class is interactive and aimed at providing a clear understanding of the journey within you are seeking to embark on. The second part of the class is a simple, systematic guided meditation that takes you within yourself and brings you back out.

Do join me in this series of three classes. If you are serious about meditation, you’ll enjoy them. Students of all levels are welcome.

For more details on these guided meditation classes in NYC, click here.

Posted by Dandapani at 7:01 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Sep 182011

Indian Cooking Class

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

On Sunday we conducted another Indian cooking class at Yoga Off Broadway in Eagle, Colorado.

For those of you who love Indian cooking and travel, do join us on our South Indian spiritual and culinary adventure in February 2012.

04-indian-cooking-class

Mandy learns how to make chapatis.

We made a fun biryani rice dish, 2 vegetable dishes and chapatis

About 13 people attended to learn how to make some simple Indian dishes

Dishing out the end product

Yum!

The best part of the class...sitting down for the meal!

Posted by Dandapani at 4:05 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Sep 142011

Living a Spiritual Life in the World

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

“Living a spiritual life in the world” was the title for the workshop on Sunday, 11th Sept at Yoga Off Broadway in Eagle, Colorado. About 24 spiritual seekers gathered for the two and a half hour exploration and sharing of practical spiritual tools that can be applied in daily life.

Among the topics covered were: 1. Making a commitment with oneself to make progress on the spiritual path.

Dandapani teaching Meditation Class

Dandapani teaching meditation in Colorado

2. Making clear plans for the future and reviewing them each year

Dandapani teaching meditation in Colorado

3. Understanding the difference between awareness and the mind

Dandapani teaching meditation in Colorado

4. Understanding the chakras and how they can help us gain insights in knowing where a person is in their consciousness.

Dandapani teaching meditation in Colorado

5. Eliminating anger from our lives

Dandapani teaching meditation in Colorado

6. Creating an altar or shrine at home when one can spend time going within each day. We advised to start with 5 minutes a day then build from there.

Expressing gratitude and appreciation is one of the things we covered in class today. Dandapani takes a moment to express his gratitude and appreciation to Kelly Western for hosting these workshops.

 

 

Jaxon and Angie are among the asana teachers here at Yoga Off Broadway.

Gary and Mandy were on Vedic Odyssey's spiritual adventure to the Himalayas last year. They are happy to meet up with each other again.

 

Dandapani shares with Ted a little about the rudraksha mala (necklace) he is wearing.

Jaxon and Dandapani pose for a photo.

Dandapani presents Yvonne and Anneliese with a rudraksha bead.

Posted by Dandapani at 8:06 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
Sep 102011

An Afternoon of Meditation

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

About 20 yogis gathered at Yoga Off Broadway on Saturday afternoon for a two and a half hour meditation workshop. The topic of the day was the “Fine Art of Meditation”.

Meditation with Dandapani

One of the biggest keys to making progress in meditation is understanding the difference between the mind and awareness. We explored through a couple of practices this afternoon how we are not the mind rather awareness moving through various areas of the mind.

Meditating with dandapani

We also shared that once we begin a consistent meditation practice and start to go within us, the first thing that we encounter is the subconscious mind. This can be pleasant and unpleasant as the layers of the subconscious mind reveals itself to you.

Meditation with Dandapani

Meditation needs to be approached in a systematic way. There needs to be a goal and clear plan before we even begin to meditate.

Thank you everyone for attending the workshop and for sharing your enthusiasm to strive on the spiritual path. What a lovely and deep meditation we all had.

Posted by Dandapani at 9:43 pm  
Sep 082011

Indian Cooking Class in Colorado

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Many people think that Indian cooking is complex and too difficult to learn with its multitude of spices, seemingly long preparation methods and more. In fact Indian meals are some of the easiest to prepare. In this hands on class, you’ll learn about the various spices and the simple methods used to create delicious Indian vegetarian dishes. After our cooking extravaganza we will partake in these sumptuous dishes and for those of you that are keen to learn the age old art of eating with your hands this will be the perfect opportunity.

The ingredients for these recipes can be acquired in local stores in the Vail area making it easy for you to repeat this meal for your loved ones. You will also be provided with a printout of the ingredients and techniques used for each dish. We will learn how to make 3 Indian vegetarian dishes.

Join us for a delightful and educational culinary afternoon at Yoga Off Broadway that will inspire you to make authentic curries at home.

When & Where

Saturday
6:30pm to 8:30pm on
10 Sept 2011

and

Sunday
6:30pm to 8:30pm on
11 Sept 2011

Yoga Off Broadway
422 McIntire Street
on the corner of HWY 6 and 4th street
Eagle, CO
View Map

Cost & Reservation

$25 per person. Cash or checks only. Because of limited seating we suggest reserving your seats in advance.

To reserve, contact Kelly Western
(e) kelly@yogaoffbroadway.org, (t) 781-405-4559 or
(e) info@vedicodyssey.com

 

India cooking tour

Posted by Dandapani at 8:57 pm  Tagged with: , , ,
Sep 072011

Sanskrit chanting, breath control and meditation workshop

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Sanskrit chanting, breath control and meditation workshop
Mantra, Pranayama and Dhyana

This 1-hour class begins by learning the meaning of a few simple Sanskrit mantras and how to chant them. Then we naturally move on to leaning a couple pranayama (breath control) exercises that helps with regulating the flow of energy within the body. The class then concludes with a guided meditation session which implements both the chanting and breath control exercises as well.

This class is open to students of all levels and for those who would like to learn a few spiritual exercises that they can implement in their daily lives.

When & Where
Friday
7:00pm to 8:00pm on
9 Sept 2011

Yoga Off Broadway
422 McIntire Street
on the corner of HWY 6 and 4th street
Eagle, CO

For more information and to make reservations for this Sanskrit chanting, breath control and meditation workshop, please click the link.

 

Posted by Dandapani at 8:39 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,
Aug 302011

Guided Meditation Class in New York City

Workshops & Classes No Responses »
 

Guided meditation class in New York City

Join our evening guided meditation in a quiet garden in midtown close to Grand Central on Tuesday August 9th. This 30-min meditation will take you through some breathing exercises and a simple but effective meditation practice. Class is open to meditation practitioners of all levels. Cost is $10 per class.

I look forward to enjoying an evening garden meditation with you in the middle of the city!

7:30pm to 8pm
Every Tuesday in August only
Registration required due to limited space. Email info@vedicodyssey.com to register or call 917-574-1637.
It is not necessary to sign up for all the classes in order to attend.

Serenity Center NYC
118 E. 37th Street, Ground Floor
(between Park and Lexington Avenues)
New York, NY 10016

Subways
Grand Central: 4, 5, 6, 7, S
33rd and Park: 6
Harold Square/34th Street: B, D, F, E, Q, N, R, W

Posted by Dandapani at 8:00 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
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