“A surfer makes surfing waves look effortless yet inside tremendous focus is being maintained. The relationship between surfer and wave is intimate and each wave the surfer catches is a new, unfolding journey. Now imagine the wave is your favorite song. Your focus is the whole listening experience, including the world of the song and your self in that world. Imagine the ocean is your life and in surfing this one song wave skillfully you can affect the whole ocean, enhancing all your experiences, decreasing stress and improving your overall concentration. That’s Pop Go Zen!
Since I started my meditation practice 15 years go, I’ve found that while many people have tremendous interest in and curiosity about meditation, most have not been exposed to truly useful information. Some have tried a form of meditation that didn’t suit them and abandoned the practice, assuming they were the problem. Others may have a vague idea about what meditation is but no strong sense of what value it could have for them or which kind of practice they would find genuinely interesting and helpful. A few have had profound spiritual experiences but no context to put them in and no idea they can cultivate an environment for those rich and meaningful moments to occur more frequently and with greater depth in their life.”
- Julianna Raye
Here are some common misconceptions:
Q. Isn’t meditation about getting rid of your thoughts? My mind is too active. I’ve tried and I’m not good at it.
A. Many forms of meditation are about working with circumstances exactly as they are. You can even focus on your busy mind to enhance your skills. PGZ live events are another way to circumvent this challenge by giving you a way to practice while your mind is engaged in an activity you love. Pop Go Zen events help you get the most out of listening and teach you a useful skill for the rest of your life, heightening something you already love to do.
Q. Doesn’t meditation require you to be still for long periods of time? I’m a really active person and that doesn’t appeal to me.
A. Pop Go Zen aims to help people solve this issue. Listening to music is one easy way to springboard into developing your skills. Alternatively there are also many ways to practice meditation in motion.
Q. Isn’t meditation just about learning how to relax ?
A. Relaxation techniques form the basis of one style of practice. Meditation is an excellent way to tap into your creative resources, energy and insight.
Q. I know it would be good for me but I have too many pressing concerns.
A. 10 to 15 minutes a day is all it takes to develop a practice. Working with a trainer, practicing in a group and/or going on retreats will reinforce and deepen the process.
Q. Doesn’t meditation make you even-keeled (as in the pop culture idea of being “Zen”)? I don’t want to lose my personality or the ups and downs that make life exciting and meaningful.
A. Meditation works to dissolve whatever impedes you from experiencing life fully. Over time, this results in a richer, more dynamic inner experience and frees up your energy to participate more actively and wholeheartedly in your life.
Looking for more hands on training?
In meditation, the greatest benefit comes from first hand knowledge. Just as a physical trainer improves your workout, working with a meditation trainer deepens your process and provides the necessary support.
Julianna’s purpose as a Personal Meditation Trainer is to address your needs and interests one-on-one, working together to create a practice tailor-made for you. You will clarify what meditation can offer and address what you specifically hope to achieve. You’ll explore your interests and predispositions to come up with a form of practice that suits you best. Each session includes a guided meditation based on the approach tailor made for you, an mp3 copy of which can be provided. Adjustments will be made as needed and as your practice evolves. These sessions can be short term, giving you the resources to work independently, or they can be long term, developing collaboratively over time. A 6 week series is recommended to establish a strong foundation for practice. Unlike psychotherapy, personal issues need never be discussed, yet meditation will provide an excellent complement to any other self-healing work you may be doing. In fact, your meditation practice will enhance all the activities of your life.
“Working with a meditation trainer virtually guarantees that anyone can be successful with meditation. Julianna’s profound commitment, depth and clarity of practice make her extraordinarily effective as a personal trainer.” Shinzen Young