“Benefits of Mindful Meditation”
CARP Halton Chapter is pleased to announce that for our community meetings in November we will be delighted to welcome Dr. Arnaud George, who will talk about the “Benefits of Mindful Meditation”. As usual we will be holding two meetings, one in Halton North on November 12th and one in Halton South on November 28th. Our Halton North meeting will be held at the Birkdale Retirement Living Residence at 611 Farmstead Drive (Derry and Farmstead) in Milton. Our Halton South meeting will be held at the Seniors Centre at 2285 New Street, Burlington.
Dr. George, Arnaud Painvin, MD, FRCSC, retired cardiac /transplant surgeon, is a Zen Master & Dharma teacher. His transmission name is Ven. Ji Gong Sunim ( Korean lineage).
Arnaud was born in Paris France and moved to Canada with his wife following their MD graduation. After post-graduation training in Toronto, he became a cardiac surgeon, transplant surgeon, and critical care specialist. He practiced in Houston, Boston, and Toronto before retiring a few years ago. He is married to Catherine. They have lived in Oakville since 1985 and have two married sons.
Following a severe stress-related depression and PTSD in 1989, he decided to explore the therapeutic value of Mindfulness Meditation based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn and took 6 months of formal training in Mindfulness Meditation in 2001 at the Toronto General Hospital. He was so impressed with the medical benefits of Mindfulness Meditation regarding stress that he decided to practice daily meditation and started teaching this wonderful therapy in 2002. The therapeutic value of meditation led Arnaud to become interested in its spiritual aspect. He became a Zen Buddhist in 2006 after 5 years of practice. In 2013 he received the spiritual transmission from his Korean Zen Master Venerable Hwasun Yangil, and became a Zen Master by the name of Ji Gong.
Arnaud will talk about the Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation, reducing anxiety, loneliness, stress, and how it can be used to address chronic illness, improving sleep, and becoming more serene and peaceful.
Arnaud will make simple suggestions on how to start a meditation practice, followed with an interactive question and answer session, addressing specific concerns, for example:
- How do I start to meditate
- Why do you want to meditate
- How long do I meditate
- When is the best time to meditate
- How will I know that meditation is working
We are constantly hearing about the stresses in our everyday lives and believe this presentation will be of benefit for everyone, if you have never meditated, if you are a beginner or if you are a long time meditator, you will find this an opportunity to learn how meditation practice will benefit you. Please plan to join us at either location.
You can find more information at www.oakvillezenmeditation.com
Our Halton North meeting will be held in Milton on Tuesday November 12th at the Birkdale Retirement Living Residence at 611 Farmstead Drive, (Derry and Farmstead).
Our Halton South meeting will be held in Burlington on Thursday November 28th at the Seniors Centre at 2285 New Street.
Doors will open at both locations at 6.30pm, the program will start at 7.00pm and will wrap up around 8.45pm
At the Milton location most visitors will be able to park in the visitor parking areas on site. Additional street parking is also available nearby on Farmstead.
Light refreshments, coffee, tea and treats, will be available at both meetings. At Milton refreshments will be provided by the Birkdale Retirement Residence. We thank the management and staff for their generosity.
Our meetings will begin with a short welcoming address and a brief update on your CARP Halton Chapter activities. This will be followed by our featured presentation.
There will be a break at the midway point which will allow time to socialize with fellow members and to visit our sponsors.
Our meetings will conclude around 8.45pm with a few closing remarks and our 50/50 draw. We encourage you to support this draw as proceeds help defray the costs incurred in putting on our meetings.
Our meetings are FREE. All are welcome. Please plan to join us at either location. We look forward to your support of our Community Meetings throughout our 2024/25 season. The topic of these meetings we believe will be of vital importance to our seniors demographic. We look forward to meeting our members and friends.