In the spring of 2015, inspired by the gift economy and the assumption of abundance that I encountered in the Time Bank community and keen on engaging more fully with Generosity, as instructed by the teachings of the Buddha, I created the Mind-Body Los Angeles Google calendar to promote local free, by donation, low-cost, and/or sliding scale meditation classes; acupuncture and other integrative medicine practices; energy work offerings such as yoga, Tai Chi, Qigong, Reiki; etc. The first entry was Wednesday, April 22, Kusala Bhikshu, 7:30PM Silent Meditation (by donation), International Buddhist Meditation Center. Within a week's time, I had loaded the calendar further over 40 offerings by over a dozen individuals or organzations, North Hollywood to Pasadena to Silver Lake to Koreatown. (I created the Facebook page a month later.) Over the past 5 years, my spreadsheet has come to contain over 200 providing individuals and organizations. Abundance! With the spread of COVID-19 necessitating social distancing, most of the offerings appearing on the calendar have been suspended. I am turning my attention now to researching which of the individuals and organizations have managed to find a way to provide services online. I will build the list gradually over time, as best I can. You can help by emailing your discoveries to me at mindbodylosangeles@gmail.com. My interest continues to be supporting Los Angeles-area teachers and organizations. Let's respond to their generosity with as much reciprocity as we are able! Those of us who need to avail ourselves of health-generating services for free can perhaps commit to volunteering or sharing what we learn with others. The time has come to engage with both Generosity and with Courage. I am rushing to post this, so that I may let you know of a couple of opportunities that are coming up immediately.
* On Sunday, April 5, Meditation Coalition has announced it's monthly People of Color + Allies sit and discussion as a Zoom meeting, 11:00AM-12:30PM. You will find the Zoom link at their website. JoAnna Hardy will facilitate. Begun in January, 2016, these gatherings have always been by donation. "This group is open to all who care about the future of racial issues in America, not just Buddhist practitioners."
* Beginning Monday, April 6, Insight Community of the Desert will provide a 4-week course entitled "Learn to Meditate Online—A Practice for Troubled Times with Cheryl Slean," instruction and practice of simple but transformative mindfulness skills for calming anxiety, reducing stress and finding resilience and balance. The class is being offered as pay-what-you-can, with no one turned away for lack of funds. Do pre-register. More about Cheryl Slean here.