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Redefining Who We Are at Charlotte Center for Mindfulness
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There is no distinction between the one who gives, the one who receives, and the gift itself. Thich Nhat Hanh
We have long contemplated becoming a non-profit and it is finally about to be a reality thanks to much work from many involved. This has given us the fortunate opportunity to pause and consider who we want to be and what kind of organization we want to become.
In this pause we have found agreement we want an organization that recognizes that all voices matter, an organization that is created in a belief that each of us has an inner capacity to create and do healing work for ourselves and each other, and therefore each of us has something important to contribute and offer. There is wisdom all around us and we want an organization founded on this principle of respect with a structure that naturally encourages that wisdom within each of us to emerge.
Therefore, we are creating an organization based on the values of mindfulness, such as compassion, respect, trust and radical acceptance. We seek to organize everything we do in service of mindfulness as a healing potential for ourselves and our community, and as such, have an organization where we actively both invite people to come to us as well as intentionally reach out into our community where this kind of access is more limited.
In a community and world with deep divisions such as economic, racial, gender, sexual orientation and even age, we also intentionally seek to create an organization that openly engages in inclusivity, works to understand and bring down barriers and offers pathways for undertaking the hard work of healing divisions.
Considering these values and principles, our structure is an organic system of autonomous yet interconnected circles of people engaging together in a healing work of mindfulness. All circles share have a backbone strength of shared principles and norms at the core. Center Circles will watch over the health and community growth of the whole organization while Project Circles explore ways of sharing mindfulness in a wide variety of possibilities throughout our larger community as a healing resource that reaches and empowers as many as possible.
We envision three main branches of work. First, we wish to offer mindfulness for people who are actively looking for this in their lives, such as our MBSR classes, Community Mindfulness Practice groups, including now an evening opportunity, as well as our newest Mindful Eating class-- all offered on a sliding scale, pay as you are able, or donation system to reduce financial barriers to participation. We will have more opportunities and resources coming, including opportunities to use mindfulness to explore the divisions in our community.
Second, we also are seeking ways to carry mindfulness out into the community where people are less likely to have easy access. So far we have a small program in the Mecklenburg County Jail, have taught in a Latino health clinic, and have an active afterschool program with works with at risk youth. A big part of our reason for becoming a non-profit is to more actively be able to explore outreach in our community.
Our third wing is to develop a program that supports mindfulness in education, bringing mindfulness as a skills-based healing resource to our kids, our teachers and our schools. We have taught so far at several underserved schools and have a support group for teachers, staff, parents and others interested mindfulness and education.
We hope you will find something here that speaks to you and come join us in this new adventure of Charlotte Center for Mindfulness.
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New Mindful Eating Offered by Basheerah Enahora, RDN, LDN
Our relationship to food profoundly affects our health and wellbeing. And while most discussion around food nutrition is centered around what we eat, research shows us that how and why we eat is equally as important. Mindful eating draws upon mindfulness meditation practices, to help reconnect us more deeply with the experience of eating and gain awareness of our attitudes, thoughts and beliefs about food and our bodies.
Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) was originally developed by Dr. Kristeller over 15 years ago, drawing on her work with Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program and her own research and clinical training in food intake regulation and eating disorders. Dr. Kristeller founded the Center for Mindful Eating and established the following principles of mindful eating:
- Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation by respecting your own inner wisdom.
- Using all your senses in choosing to eat food that is both satisfying to you and nourishing to your body.
- Acknowledging responses to food (likes, dislikes, or neutral) without judgment.
- Becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating
In our 6-week mindful eating program, you will learn greater “inner wisdom” to change your food habits. Through mindful eating practices, you will learn to pay attention to what the body really needs and why, how to experience the full pleasure and taste of food without overeating, and how to release the guilt and struggle so often associated with eating.
MB-EAT research shows that most people who complete this course find:
- Better sense of inner balance around food and eating
- Reduced binge eating, overeating and emotional eating
- Greater body appreciation
- Weight management
We hope that you will join us for our winter mindful eating course starting January 24th at 6:30pm. The course will take place from January 24th through March 7th at the Midwood International and Cultural Center.
For more info or to register, please see:
http://www.ccmindful.org
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