Welcome to Hamsa Meditation Center

We are an Online Meditation Center.
Our retreats and certain special events are in person.

 

Our goal is to help you experience the transformational power of meditation. Whether you are just beginning and wanting to learn how to meditate, or you consider yourself an advanced practitioner who understands the value of group meditation and you're simply looking to find a community of like-minded souls to mediate with, we’ve got something for you.

We’re not trying to sell you on any religion or particular philosophy of meditation. We have a strong background in Mindfulness, Kriya Yoga, Tibetan Buddhism, Kashmir Shaivism, Christianity, and we love what science brings to the table. We are inquisitive, curious, easy going and open-minded. And we’re happy to share what we’ve learned with you, and to hear what you have to share with us.

We offer different approaches to meditation so you can find the style of meditation that works best for your body, your mind, your lifestyle, and your personality. See "What Kind of Meditation Do You Teach?" below. We know that, when it comes to meditation, one size does not fit all so we strive in our classes to help you discover what works for you!

We’re known as, “The Happy Meditation Group,” which delights us and makes us smile even more. We love meditation and the transformation it’s brought to our lives. For many of us, meditating feels like coming home.

If any of this resonates with you, we’d love to meet you and mediate with you online.

 

What Kind of Meditation Does Hamsa Meditation Center Teach?

Hamsa Meditation Center provides a supportive friendly environment for you to learn how to meditate and also learn how to use meditation to improve your day-to-day life.

Caren Prentice, our founding teacher, began her practice of Kriya Yoga over twenty years ago and is currently training in advanced practices with her Tibetan Buddhist Teachers. Over the years she has studied and trained in Mindfulness, Stress Reduction, Kashmir Shaivism, Vipassana, also known as Insight Meditation, and various other types of meditation.

She has found that having a "Toolbox" or "First Aid Kit" or "Treasure Chest" filled with many types of meditation techniques has proven invaluable. Meditation is always beneficial, but the technique to work with extreme fear or anxiety is not necessarily the best technique for settling into presence or cultivating loving kindness. There are times when a Guided Visualization is most effective and times when settling our attention on the breath is what's needed. Add to this the very human reality that the technique that helps you move through anger may not work at all for someone else.

So what do we teach? Let's let Caren take it from here.

"I teach what I use and I encourage our teachers to teach what they use. I have found teachings and techniques from many traditions THAT WORK and that's what I share with my students.

Here at Hamsa, we are not Buddhist or Hindu or Shaivite or Mindfulness or any other kind of label. We explore the techniques and teachings from different traditions and teach you how to adapt and use the techniques in ways that work for your personality, your body, your lifestyle, and your belief system.

Yes! You can keep your own religions and philosophies, or lack thereof. I will share the teachings as I've understood them from my guru and my teachers but they are never shared as dogma or doctrine. I encourage you to take them with a grain of salt and test them out for yourself to find what works for you.

Ultimately, the wonder of meditation is that there is a technique for everyone. The fun is in figuring out what techniques work best for each person and then using meditation to become kinder, happier, and less judgmental so we can be of benefit to those around us.

 

We focus on Doing!

The key thing that might be different about our Meditation Center, is that we focus on the “doing”. You will learn how to “do” meditation on the cushion in formal practice, but we put a lot of emphasis on teachings that show us how to how to apply what we are learning off the cushion in our daily lives—which is where it really counts.

 

The whole point of meditation is to make your life more harmonious and happy. To help you break out of the mental and emotional habits that trap you in “dissatisfaction and discontent” so you can discover the joy and contentment that is already within you.

Doing what the techniques are training us to do—that's what works. Using the techniques in your daily life is how transformation occurs. And here’s the best news. Contrary to myths about meditation, here at Hamsa we know something to be true that no one talks about...

You don’t have to meditate perfectly to benefit from meditation.

and you will learn about that too.

 

About our name: Hamsa Meditation Center

I love the symbolism of the Hamsa—a swan or gander—that always knows when and how to find its way home.

In meditation, we learn—or you might say, we learn how to remember—to migrate home. How to find that place within us where there is always calm, wisdom, peace, contentment, bliss, and happiness. For me, that place of awareness, that remembering of my connection and oneness with all, feels like coming home.

Hence our name, Hamsa Meditation Center, it's where you can learn to find your way home.