Meditation and contemplative practice at Northern Commons.
Overview
Meditation is the practice of slowing down, paying attention, and becoming more intimate with experience itself. By turning awareness toward our own experience, we can begin to notice our thoughts, emotions, habits, and relationships with greater clarity and compassion. Over time, meditation can cultivate both personal insight and the kind of presence that deepens our connection with others.
Whether you’re trying meditation for the first time, developing a regular practice, or have been meditating for years, you’re welcome to sit with us.
Sit With Us
These drop-in sessions, offered four mornings a week, are an easy way to support a regular meditation practice. No pressure, no travel time, no cost—just a quiet half hour to begin the day together.
Our weekly facilitated meditation is open to everyone, from people curious about meditation to longtime practitioners. Sessions include guidance and periods of silent sitting, with room to learn, explore, and deepen your practice over time.
We serve tea afterward, and you’re welcome to stay!
Go Deeper
Rest and stillness are part of the natural rhythm of living systems. Retreats interrupt the habits of a culture organized around busyness, productivity, and urgency so we can slow down and find a space of sanctuary. Our retreats weave together silence and conviviality, introspection and playful expression, activity and non-doing through meditation, movement, conversation, and creative expression.
Retreats are open to those relatively new to contemplative practice as well as seasoned practitioners.
Half-day retreats offer an accessible introduction to extended contemplative practice. The day includes guided and silent meditation, lunch, and time for conversation and reflection. Silence is observed throughout much of the retreat.
Traditional Zen retreats, or sesshin, are about simplicity, formality, and intensity. Our Zen-style retreats draw on these qualities while remaining accessible to people with a range of meditation experience. Expect sustained periods of silent meditation, with few distractions or embellishments. Lunch and dinner are included as part of the retreat, and silence is observed throughout the day.
We generally alternate between half-day and full-day retreats each month. Check our Gatherings page to see what’s coming up.
Zabutons and zafu cushions are provided, and chairs are always available. Feel free to bring anything else that will help you practice comfortably, such as a water bottle, blanket, or your own cushion.
Facilitator
These sessions are facilitated by Zen priest and professional musician, Marc Anderson. Marc has decades of experience with meditation and contemplative practice and draws from a range of teachings and techniques to support people in developing and deepening their own practice.