In an effort to ease the mental health challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to reach community members in the safety of their homes, the Community Mindfulness Project (CMP) shifted their in-person mindfulness programming to online and call-in options. Mindfulness and meditation programs that were once held at local libraries and parks have been available seven days a week for the past year via Zoom and Conference call. Current schedule is available at CommunityMindfulnessProject.org.

Elevated levels of stress and anxiety in the community have driven people to search for various types of intervention and support. The mindfulness programs offered through CMP are free of charge and open to the public via these distance options, and help people support their physical, psychological, emotional and social well-being.

Various types of mindfulness and meditation are offered through the organization, each with its own method for providing respite, and all of them based on neuroscience. A well-known Mountain Meditation provides examples of steadiness and strength during uncertain times, whereas a Body-Scan Meditation provides an experience of allowing everything to be exactly as it is, without wishing to change it.

Alongside The New Canaan Land Trust and Let’s Talk About It New Canaan, CMP will host a Forest Bathing event at the Browne Preserve in New Canaan, at 10am on July 13. The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, which translates to “forest bathing’”, is the medicine of simply being in the forest. It is a research-based framework for supporting healing and wellness. The event costs $5 and all ages and abilities are welcome.

For more information and to register for the Forest Bathing event, visit CommunityMindfulnessProject.org.