Mindfulness Meditation with a focus on GRATITUDE
Miami Mindfulness Collaborates with ‘Clearing The Stage’
STAY TUNED – for a new experience in mindfulness, guided meditation and music offered by New World Symphony violinist Carson Marshall and friends at Clearing the Stage, Miami Beach.
Join Carson, Umer Piracha, and Valerie for Episode 8, featuring ‘The Lighthouse,’ a soulful, classical Sufi folksong that crests into a powerful wave reaching for the heavens. Clearing The Stage Podcast, Episode 8.
Clearing the Stage is committed to being an anti-racist, multicultural community actively working to dismantle systemic racism and oppression against black, indigenous, people of color, women, LGBTQ+ and members of other marginalized communities.
“Be as passionate about listening as you are about wanting to be heard.” Brene’ Brown
INTERNATIONAL MINDFULNESS INTEGRITY NETWORK
MIAMI MINDFULNESS honors the integrity of MBSR and Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s pioneering work by following and advocating for “A Framework for the Integrity of Mindfulness-Based Programs,” May 2020, A Living Document, authored by the IMI Network. View at https://iminetwork.org/
Valerie York-Zimmerman is a current member of the IMI Network Working Party which is tasked to inform the ethics and standards of teaching for mindfulness-based teachers, trainers, teaching centers and organizations:
Inspiring inclusivity – transparency – warmheartedness – collaboration – connection – clarity – generosity – authenticity – integrity.
In Memory of Len Zimmerman, M.D.
MY BELOVED LEN, husband and partner, was honored in a heartfelt community “Celebration of Life” on Sept. 9, 2023 at Coral Gables Congregational Church.
Special guest speakers and friends included: Rev. Dr. Laurie Hafner, Senior Pastor; Ramon Leon, M.D.; Robert Gordon, M.D.; Len Zwerling, M.D.; Joseph Rosenfeld; and the Honorable Steve Leifman, Founder, Miami Center for Mental Health & Recovery.
Carson Marshall, a gifted, classically trained violinist offered moments of Music & Mindfulness practice (visit: Clearing the Stage) and performed J.S. Bach’s Chaconne, Partito No. 2 in D Minor for Solo Violin, written after the death of Bach’s first wife.
YouTube: Watch the Celebration
of Life for Leonard Zimmerman M.D.
New Year 2023 Greeting Letter
I DID NOT SET OUT to accomplish professional or business goals but I did set meaningful intentions for myself. From these heartful intentions opportunities and new beginnings arose naturally like the lotus flower making its way through muddy water until breaking through the surface and blossoming in the sun.
LOOKING BACK, I realize how early life experiences set me on an inner journey seeking direction and a formula for living from wise, skilled, and compassionate teachers. This yearning took me on a pilgrimage down a long and circuitous path beginning with Transcendental Meditation (TM) while living in San Francisco in the 1970’s to many inspired teachers which included, among others, Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Ram Dass, Jack Kornfield, MBSR pioneers Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ferris Buck Urbanowski, Saki Santorelli, Florence Melo-Meyer, Elana Rosenbaum, and Melissa Blacker, Venerable Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, MBCT co-founders Drs. Segal, Teasdale, and Williams, Daniel Rechtschaffen and Chris McKenna, and Susan Woods from UC San Diego’s Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute (MBPTI).
Over years of practicing, learning, and teaching, I have come to realize more deeply how cornerstones of mindfulness, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and daily mindfulness-based meditation practices have molded me to become more aware, open, curious, and willing.
ALONG THE WAY I began to see suffering, needs, and challenges as trail markers and cairns for travelers on the road. The struggles of students and teachers in schools and difficulties of nonprofit organizations not being met appeared and took shape. While the practice of mindfulness and MBSR had not yet been applied in these areas, it became apparent that they could offer life-transforming benefits. Even in the face of my own limitations, which were many, the pillars of mindfulness delivered insights, discoveries, and important new beginnings.
I AM GRATEFUL for the gift of trail markers and cairns along my walk illuminating and charting new directions. I share highlights of my personal journey with you to offer testimony to the power of stillness, mindfulness meditation practice, and inspired reflections which have guided me toward living a more awakened life filled with fruitful new beginnings.
Being interconnected in a large circle of students, teachers, counselors, friends, seekers, and compassionate community leaders in the Miami community and the world is truly a blessing.
With love and deep gratitude,
Valerie
Panel Discussion for ‘Resilience’ – The Biology of Stress & the Science of Hope
Dr. Jud Brewer shares tips for calming an anxious mind (video)
Autistic Not Psychotic – Increasing Awareness & Preventing Tragedies
In 1973 when Judge Steve Leifman was interning in Tallahassee for a state senator, his office was notified that a parent was seeking help for their child being held inappropriately in a South Florida State Hospital. He found the young man tied to the bed, both arms and legs in restraints, and enormously overweight from the Thorazine (antipsychotic medication) hospital staff had been injecting him with. But the bloated young man strapped to the bed was not psychotic. He was autistic.
RESOURCES
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- Mental Illness in Children: Childhood Illness and Supporting the Family, Rosemary Sheehan 2017
- Exercising the Mind to Treat Attention Deficits, Daniel Goleman in NY Times WELL blog, 2014
- What Is Mindfulness, and Why Do Kids Need It?, by David Gelles in NY Times WELL blog
Creating Great Cities through Mindful Leadership and Comprehensive Systems
Civic leaders across America are aspiring to build flourishing communities. They have a vision for breaking down the silos to bring mindfulness training to leaders across all sectors in their cities. Engaged on the ground, cities like Flint, Michigan, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Boston, Massachusetts are countering rapid change and uncertainty, isolation, divisiveness, health problems, environmental degradation, and economic uncertainty with innovative social strategies rooted in mindfulness, compassion, and inclusivity. Why not Miami, Broward, and Palm Beach?
New approaches to social infrastructure, just like good physical infrastructure, are needed for communities and schools to thrive.
VIDEO: Mindful Cities in Jackson Hole, Wyoming with Sara Flitner, (1:06)
VIDEO: Mindful Cities in Flint, Michigan with Gerry Myers(0:52)
Breaking Ground for new Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery
The South Florida Behavioral Health Network (DBA Thriving Mind South Florida) held their groundbreaking ceremony for the long-awaited Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery on May 31. The 208-bed center, located at 2200 NW 7th Avenue in Miami, is designed to offer high-quality treatment and a full continuum of care.
READ MORE IN SOUTH FLORIDA HOSPITAL NEWS