Hershey

Learn meditation with free class series at Penn State Hershey

“Awakening the Heart” is a seven-week introduction to the practice of Heart Rhythm Meditation. The classes will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays Jan. 2 through Feb. 13, at the University Fitness Center on the Penn State Hershey campus. The free course is open to all interested adults.

Heart Rhythm Meditation is an ancient form of meditation that is applicable to all who run active and busy lives. It recognizes and integrates body, mind, heart and spirit. The course will cover the benefits practitioners can achieve in all these domains with an update on the recent evidence showing the benefits of meditation. The teaching of Heart Rhythm Meditation has been updated by Puran and Sussana Bair, founders of the Institute for Applied Meditation (IAM).

The course will be led by Dr. Charles Palmer, a pediatrician, who graduated from a two-year training program with IAM. Content for each session will include details of the technique, demonstration of physiologic changes, and discussion of the evidence for practicing meditation on the stress response, vagal activity, gene expression and aging. The focus will be on group meditation practice, which will be led by Palmer. It is important to attend as many of the sessions as possible as the skills learned are progressive.

To participate, email Palmer at cpalmer@hmc.psu.edu. For more information about IAM, go to www.appliedmeditation.org.

Last Updated December 12, 2013