CREATION OF A BREATHING ROOM FOR SAN DIEGO

Breathing in, I calm my body,
Breathing out, I feel at ease.
Breathing in, I am aware of the present moment,
Breathing out, I know this is a wonderful moment.

Dear Friends on the Path:
Our teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) has offered us this wonderful practice that brings us home to our life. This practice of calming our bodies and relaxing our minds can bring great healing and nourishment to both to our physical and mental health. Thay has often encouraged his students to set aside a room or a small space in our homes or workplace dedicated to cultivating peace through the practice of mindful breathing. He encourages everyone to have a Breathing Room. He says that a breathing room is where we can go to breath, smile, relax, and restore ourselves, especially during difficult moments.

World Beat Center Director Makeda Dread, a disciple of Thay for many years and other World Beat Sangha members are working together to realize our aspiration of creating a meditation room for the San Diego community. We want to create the Breathing Room for those seeking peace, quiet, and a place to practice mindfulness. The Breathing Room will be developed solely as a mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and deep relaxation space within the World Beat Center in Balboa Park in San Diego.

Our Breathing Room will enhance the many wonderful and wholesome activities already offered by the World Beat Center. It will allow us to expand the opportunities for meditation and other healing practices in addition to the World Beat Sangha weekly gathering.

We think the Breathing Room will help our community a lot. We are motivated by the Buddha’s teaching that conscious breathing and smiling are really important for our own health and the health and stability of our society. The hurried pace of our society can cause us to keep running, without taking time to really stop and slow down. We see that standing alone, these habit energies can be overwhelming. We practice to come back to our breathing and let it serve as our anchor. We want to help others practice with a group of stable and calm people. When we practice together, we know it can bring us a lot of peace and joy. Finding our balance through mindfulness, we will be able to offer our solidity to others. The Breathing Room seeks to be a place where we can find each other and reconnect with ourselves--a place to go to take care of ourselves and be peace.

We are working on raising all of the support we need for the World Beat Center Breathing Room now. Once we have constructed the space, we will seek donations and volunteers for programming and offerings for the community.

Our first goal is to secure adequate donations of funding, person-hours, and construction materials to build the Breathing Room. Construction and outfitting the room for the first phase will cost $10,800. We have set first goal of raising $2,000 through individual donations. While the World Beat Center is applying for grants and other funding, we will have a better chance if we can show that local residents support the project. Once we have constructed the space, we will seek donations and volunteers for programming and offerings for the community.

If you are in a position to offer a donation of funds or time, that would be wonderful. A donation of any amount will help a lot. To donate funds, please send a check earmarked for the Breathing Room to the World Beat Center, attn: Breathing Room Project. We also need people who are willing to help build the room and to sew the cushions and mats. We are planning a fundraiser in early 2010 so any help with that would also be appreciated.

Thich Nhat Hanh teaches, “Simple practices like conscious breathing and smiling are very important. They can change our civilization.” A Breathing Room for San Diego will help us take the first step.

If you have questions or ideas about how to create our Breathing Room, please contact Laura at earthlover@sbcglobal.net.

Breathing , Breathing out, and Smiling to you this beautiful day.
Laura


World Beat Center Breathing Room BUDGET

Purpose: To create a physical, spiritual, and learning center in the World Beat Center for the San Diego community in which to foster and facilitate the nourishing activities of meditation and provide a space for mindfulness practitioners and students to come together to cultivate peacefulness, stability, and healing in their lives, their families, and our society.

Objectives:
• Develop a dedicated space in the World Beat Center for the purposes of teaching and practicing meditation and mindfulness.
• Offer weekly meditation practice session with the World Beat Sangha.
• Offer quarterly ‘retreats’ of a half or whole day of mindfulness with experienced leaders.
• Offer regular meditation and mindfulness, yoga, tai chi, and other classes
• Offer mindfulness and meditation for special needs community members
• Develop and offer a Meditation and Mindfulness badge for youth.
• Offer classes on health, stress reduction, and healthful eating

2010 Budget:
Construction of a dedicated meditation space in the World Beat Center $10,000
Cushions, mats for sitting meditation practice (40@$20) $ 800

TOTAL $10,800

The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital
and artistic of human actions.
-- Thich Nhat Hanh