Five years ago, on 23 March 2020, a nationwide lockdown was announced due to the COVID pandemic. WCCM meditation groups had to reimagine how they continued their practice.
As the Bristol and Bath region we arranged our first online meditation on December 5th 2020. 26 people attended and I then set up monthly meditations with the support of the UK admin team. ‘Zooming’ forward to 2025 we have now announced our monthly dates for the year.
Throughout the time many people have dropped in occasionally but some have committed to most sessions. It has given the opportunity to meet new people, see ‘old’ faces, bring together people from across the region, make new friendships, gather together and as one group leader remarked ‘If you’re running a group (even a tiny one), it is a treat not to be responsible for a meditation session that involves others.’
WCCM has an overview of the benefits of meditating as a group: The passing on of the gift of meditation is essentially a personal matter. It can be the best way to be introduced to meditation and then to have your personal practice supported and enriched. Through the group you can feel connected to a much wider and indeed global community and also find a deeper connection to the contemplative tradition.
The meditation group is therefore a way into the deeper experience and meaning of meditation by connecting personal experience to community. In a group each person both gives and receives encouragement. ‘It is giving that we receive’. For where two or three have met together in my name, I am there among them’ (Matthew 18:20). Meditation is a journey that is difficult to make alone and we need the support of others if we are to persevere.
The benefits of community are well documented and the lockdowns highlighted our need to be together. Community isn’t necessarily a place where people live but also a place where people come together due to a shared interest, for us this is meditation. Community provides belonging, support and identity; it reduces loneliness; it positively impacts our wellbeing and health; it builds trust and relationship and it can influence and enable us to continue with our personal meditation practice.
Father Laurence begins a new series on February 4 ‘The risk of living together’. The big question is, what do we need to do in order to reconnect with what will help us to live together? What do we need to do to find that connecting point? You can find out more and details of how to join the conversation at www.wccm.org
What does our monthly meditation look like? We use the free zoom which gives us 45 minutes. We meet on a Saturday at 9am, we have a brief time of catching up, a short message is shared by myself or a group member, we do the opening prayer, meditate for 20 mins, read the closing prayer, share a short reflection together and we are normally finished by 9.30am. A great start to your weekend.
Email: wccmsw@gmail.com
Heather Williams