Qigong Class Schedule: October 12 - 18, 2026
Opening the Aperture: How to Enter Meditation
Cortland Dahl at the start of his journey, with Mingyur Rinpoche in Rajgir, India, 2007
The very beginning of any Qigong practice offers a moment worth savoring. We turn the dial of our minds to “relax”. We release the mental detritus of worry and agenda, and unclench our breath and our body. After a moment or two of this, we’re better prepared to plug into the limitless energy of the Universe.
Dr. Cortland Dahl, contemplative neuroscientist and co-creator with Dr. Richard Davidson of the Dharma Lab podcast (which I highly recommend) calls this moment “widening the aperture”. After living, meditating, and studying with esteemed Buddhist Rinpoches in Tibet, Nepal, and India for many years then continuing his research and education in neuroscience back in the US, he suggests three simple steps to begin any meditation practice, including a moving meditation like Qigong:
1) With the eyes, let attention include the edges of the visual field.
2) With the breath, notice the release that comes with an exhale.
3) With the mind, sit as though you are about to meditate, but haven’t started yet.
As a long-term meditator, I continually search for ways to keep my practice fresh and engaging. I share these three steps with you today, because I’ve found they really help me to settle down and focus. I especially love #3, which I’d never heard before. As Dr. Dahl writes, “You are a little more alert because you are getting ready. But you haven’t begun following the breath or running a technique…If it feels like nothing’s happening, that’s perfect.”
I hope this technique to “widen the aperture” helps you, too, and makes that precious moment, when we leave the limits of our habituated mind and enter into meditation, something to look forward to and enjoy.
Class, Workshop, and Special Events Schedule:
Qigong at the Millbrook Library: Free, live and online classes two Fridays a month, 10-11 AM. We meet next on Friday Oct 23rd. Please register at Millbrooklibrary.org; this adds you to the library’s reminder email. The library will send you the Zoom link: it is NOT the same link I use for my Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday Zoom classes.
“Qigong for Autumn” at the Hotchkiss Library, Sharon CT. October 17th, 10:30-12. Please register for this free, in-person class by calling the library (970) 399-7781. Space is limited, unless weather permits us to be outside.