LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville’s Free Public Library system offers many free events and classes for everyone. One of those is a meditation class for beginners taught at the Northeast Regional Library.
The free class was taught over the weekend and presented by the Isha Foundation, a non-profit run by volunteers.
“It’s dedicated to raising human consciousness and fostering global harmony through inner transformation, individual transformation,” Joyce Booth said. She’s a volunteer with the non-profit that presented the class. However, Isha Foundation’s Founder, Sadhguru, who Booth said is considered a yogi, mystic, and visionary, guides the meditation technique, called Isha Kriya, via a pre-recorded video.
“Meditation is known to increase relaxation, help with anxiety, [and] depression,” Booth told Spectrum News 1. “For me, what it did, what I learned and also studied is I believe it raised my stress threshold. I stay calmer in situations that might aggravate somebody else more quickly,” said Booth, who has practiced meditation in one form or another since college.
As the class takes place and chants such as “I am not the body; I am not even the mind,” take place, the library behind the class carries on, as people work on the computers or read books.
“We are here to support the people of Louisville in their pursuit of lifelong learning, and that includes how to manage one’s thoughts and feelings through the practice of meditation,” said Aaron Williams, Branch Supervisor for the Northeast Regional Library.
To learn the Isha Kriya technique, there is a free online video. There is also a free app from the foundation, which includes written instructions for Isha Kriya.
If you live in the Louisville area, the foundation will offer a free yoga for beginners class at the Northeast Regional Library on December 17, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Booth said the next meditation for beginners class will be offered in January 2020. For a list of all events at the Louisville Free Public Library, visit their events page.