the still rhythm approach..
“..affirmations are like screaming that you’re okay in order to overcome the whisper that you’re not..”
Still Rhythm takes a very broad yet simple approach to meditation and inner development..
We utilize three basic factors in our approach to working with one-on-one clients:
Live guided meditation sessions to help teach and habituate correct practice in our clients.
Education and training for deeper understanding of what a correct approach is and how it is achieved.
Coaching and support to help guide our clients to success with these practices.
Whether looking at meditation as a profound and ancient inner science, or focusing on the equally profound implications of meditative practices through the lens of modern science and research on the subject, meditation remains just that; profound..
Still Rhythm is keenly aware that this profundity is not realized through knowledge or information alone. It is something that must be personally experienced and practiced for one to realize this profundity in earnest for themselves. In the words of the old Masters of the traditional texts on meditation, it is; “To be experienced individually by the wise”.
The wise are always described as those of a sober mind and a tamed heart. Modernly known as emotionally mature, and mentally resilient. These faculties are naturally arising and latent in All human beings and can be developed and distilled through many ancient practices. We believe the most direct of these practices to be Meditation…
This profundity, and what is necessary for its attainment, is also recognized from the perspective of modern science; we don’t see alpha and theta brain waves arise in people who are talking, memorizing quotations or studying online materials, like those we offer, nor in people who are meditating, but in the wrong way. Rather, those states of consciousness arise in the minds of those engaged in correct practice. This pivotal issue is where nearly all our attention is focused at Still Rhythm, and certainly in the initiatory stages of working with our clients. That is, in clarifying, outlining and teaching, Correct Practice (traditionally known as Right-Effort or Sammavayama in ancient Pali). The broad-spectrum of which we speak is in our method of framing this clarity through the lenses of both traditional teachings as well as through modern scientific findings, and corroborating them with one another, so that we can reinforce confidence and cultivate a proficiency of understanding in our clients.
A sound foundation and a clear understanding of what one is trying to achieve in meditation is of paramount importance to its success.
Ajahn Passano, the former Abbot of Abayagiri Buddhist Monastery in Ukiah California, and long-time attendant to the late Thai Forest Master Ajahn Chah, stresses the importance of a clearly outlined path of progress in our meditation practice, since it would be very easy to, in his words; “wander haphazardly, looking for some ill-defined spiritual denouement, or to immerse oneself in a series of nebulous and vague practices that don’t really lead anywhere other than to more confusion and difficulty”…
(Excerpt from ‘The Island’, By Ajahn Passano & Ajahn Amaro.)One might say this clarity is the subject matter of the entire Pali Cannon, which is absolutely true. Thankfully the right view and understanding of these teachings and practices can be applied in stages and understood quickly and systematically and in a way that has immediate benefits, which continually deepen and broaden. The key is clarity..
Still Rhythm’s primary approach is to utilize guided meditation, in unison with education, coaching and mentorship to imbue our clients with just this clarity. To teach and help them to understand clearly how to apply these practices on their own, to work hand-in-hand with them to develop and habituate Correct Practice, and to support, guide and coach them along their path to confident proficiency with these methods and practices.
For as long as our clients are willing and able to finance the different support channels that we offer, our support is available to them in earnest.. But while continued support can be immensely beneficial in these practices, it is also our goal to train our clients to a point of independence and confident ability in these practices so that continued support, investment and dependence is no longer necessary.
“We view meditation as a highly sophisticated and complex system of practices that are focused on emotional maturation and self-realization, formulated millennia ago, and which modern scientific knowledge has, as of yet and repeatedly, proven itself incapable of fully penetrating.”
“..Therapy can only take you as far as the therapist themselves have gone..
Most have really just gone to school, and to strive for a degree.. Few go within.. And to strive for a truth..”
what is Dana?
The Practice of Generosity, or Dana in ancient Pali, is what has kept these ancient teachings alive for so long. The generous sharing and giving of thousands upon thousands of souls through the millennia, right down to us..
Generosity is an inclination of the mind and heart that, when developed and practiced leads to deep levels of mental purification and release in a practitioners inner alchemy (building the foundation for incredible experiences of mental unification and clarity). The mundane use of the term on this site refers to a compassionate and moral foundation in regards to how services are rendered and paid for:
-Our Dana is to acknowledge that money shouldn't dictate what you’re allowed to learn-
- Your Dana is in giving what you can-
Between our mutual sacrifices, we build the world we want. Not the one forced upon us.. Dana is about;
gratitude..
reflection..
mutual-concern..
consideration..
selflessness..
and at its essence;
Human Nobility..
Our method involves utilizing a sophisticated blend of modern and ancient methods for quickly revealing insights into the nature of the mind and heart, connecting our clients more deeply to themselves as well as to a deeper meaning and truth than many have ever thought possible.