Still Forest Pool
Still Forest Pool
Still Forest Pool
Mission Statement
Still Forest Pool Center for Mindfulness of the Capital Region brings together people dedicated to cultivating and nourishing awareness in the world and in our lives. This awareness, called mindfulness, is intrinsic, universal, and transformative. Our mission is to promote health and wholeness through outreach, education, and opportunities to experience mindfulness.
Mindfulness Opportunities
We seek to provide opportunities to practice mindfulness for individuals, groups, and organizations. We have begun offering the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, eight week program, modeled on the UMass Medical Center program, developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. We plan to provide workshops on mindfulness of varying lengths, designed for specific events and organizations. The Center is interested in presenting on topics including; mindful parenting, mindfulness and relationships, mindfulness and addictions, and mindful approaches for dealing with anger and depression. The core of all the mindfulness practice opportunities offered by the Center is mindfulness meditation, as utilized in the MBSR program. Meditation in this way involves observation of constantly changing internal stimuli and is directed toward the inner experiences of the individual, and also external stimuli
as they arise. A sustained focus and awareness leads to a deep sense of intimacy with the self and facilitates the healing of body, mind, and heart. To support and renew the ongoing practice of the graduates of our programs, we will offer regular day long practice opportunities. This will involve a full day of sitting, walking, and related meditation practices. We will collaborate with other organizations to provide information about local and regional opportunities to practice, attend retreats, and pursue opportunities for deepening the practice of mindfulness.
Teaching
Teachers affiliated with Still Forest Pool, Center for Mindfulness of the Capital Region, are also practitioners of mindfulness whose teaching is grounded in a steady and sustained commitment to daily mindfulness meditation practice, self-knowledge, silent retreats, and continuing education in mindfulness and mindfulness instruction, as well as a commitment to bring as much depth, honesty, and integrity to this work as possible. We will use the recommended guidelines for MBSR providers (Kabat-Zinn, 1999) in selecting teachers for all of our workshops and MBSR classes. Our teachers consortium will engage in ongoing growth and development as teachers of mindfulness practice through group practice. We will provide on-going support, supervision, and training for our teachers. We will provide information, support, and guidance to those seeking to meet the qualifications for teaching.
Research
We will assist with research in the field of mindfulness-based stress reduction by providing resources and data about the effectiveness of mindfulness to those seeking pertinent information. We will maintain an up-todate collection of articles and research in the field of mindfulness and provide access to this collection. We will collaborate with research efforts both locally and nationally in order to contribute to strengthening the body of knowledge on mindfulness and its benefits.
Beginning early in her life, Lenore had an interest in natural methods of healing and religions and philosophies that used meditation as a tool for acquiring insight and knowledge. Lenore came to formal meditation practice in 1991 and she began to study insight meditation with experienced teachers. While watching a program entitled Healing and the Mind, she saw a segment describing the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts and was immediately inspired. She saw this as a way to bring together her commitment to her meditation practice and her desire to be an agent for healing. This led her to embark on a new path toward teaching mindfulness. Lenore Flynn has been presenting stress management classes, teaching mindfulness practice and speaking to groups in hospitals and wellness centers since 1993. She has a Masters Degree in Complementary Therapies. She completed an internship at the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1994 under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Lenore is a Registered Nurse with over 30 years of nursing experience. She believes that mindfulness practice and meditation together with your own personal beliefs can create a path leading you to peace, happiness and healing. Her experiences incorporating these practices into her life as a woman, partner, and mother fill her teaching with warmth and humor.
Stephen Flynn, BS
Steve first tried meditation upon returning from Vietnam in 1973. Through it sparked an interest in him, he didnt begin a practice until many years later. Steve attended a five-day retreat with Jon Kabat-Zinn and practiced with other formal teachers in the early 1990s. He began bringing the mindfulness practice; the meditation practice and healing practice together and made it a life practice. Steve Flynn has been presenting stress management classes, teaching mindfulness practice and speaking to groups since 1993. He has a Bachelors Degree in Human Development. He completed an internship at the Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in 1997 under the direction of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Steve is a counselor with the NY State Department of Corrections; he has a background in addictions counseling. He is a Vietnam Veteran and he has taught mindfulness techniques to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder at the Stratton VA and Albany Vet Center. His practice is directed towards victims of trauma and the pain and addiction that result.