We are a community of meditators. In the last Crazy Wisdom Community Journal there were listings for 25 different organizations offering meditation. Many more people practice as part of church, temple, or mosque prayer time. Some meditations are specific to cultural or religious traditions, while others do not require membership to participate. Mindfulness is now a trending topic, prompting articles, videos, social media threads, and books to be available.
Questions for Paulette Grotrian, Co-Founder of Ann Arbor Center for Mindfulness
By Maureen McMahon
Maureen McMahon: Paulette, you have a long history of teaching Humanities at Washtenaw Community College (WCC) and you trained at U-Mass Medical School Integrative Medicine Center for Mindfulness. Now your teaching has shifted to meditation. How did you begin to learn meditation and what were some highlights of your training? What was it like?
Paulette Grotrian: My first experience with meditation was in the 1990’s with Transcendental Meditation. In early 2000, I met a teacher who taught Mindfulness, Martha Kimball, who is in Ann Arbor and is retired now. I studied with her for quite a few years. In 2010, she suggested I become a Mindfulness teacher. That took me by surprise, but she said, “You get it. You have something to share.”
I began my mindfulness teacher training at Omega Institute, where Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), was my teacher; I went on to study in his program at University of Massachusetts Medical School, and after silent retreats at Spirit Rock in California, much coursework, and Intensives, I became a qualified MBSR teacher. I have been teaching in the Ann Arbor area ever since. For me, it has been a personally and professionally rewarding journey.
MM: Is there an Ann Arbor Center for Mindfulness initiative you are most excited about? What is your current focus with teaching and facilitating Mindfulness? Who’s attending?
PG: A group of us started the Center for Mindfulness in 2015. We Mindfulness teachers and practitioners found strength in collaboration, that we can support each other, and that we have much more to offer the community as a resource. This year we added Teacher Support Meetings for those who use Mindfulness in their professions, and this has increased our personal and collective effectiveness.
As for my current teaching, in 2016 I trained to be a Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) teacher and will be teaching that course again in the fall in Saline, along with a MBSR course in Ann Arbor. This June, I’m excited to teach a five-day MBSR Intensive, June 21-25, 9:30–3:30 p.m. at the Naturopathic School of Healing Arts in Ann Arbor. This will be the first time the Intensive has been offered in the Ann Arbor area. It is designed for those who would find it hard to take the 8-week course. Also, it is ideal for teachers. Registration is open on my website. Additionally, I host a weekly drop-in meditation called Open Meditation Saline on Tuesday mornings.
As for who attends, MBSR and MSC are really for everybody. Participants include those with health challenges; some dealing with loss and grief; folks dealing with anxiety or feeling overwhelmed, including university students; married couples interested in learning mindfulness together for a healthier relationship; and those newly retired.
MM: What are some groups or partnerships you are excited about working with to teach MBSR?
PG: One exciting development is at WCC, I taught an MBSR course to Campus Services in the Facilities Management Division and I’ve done some work with faculty through Professional Development. WCC Facilities Management leadership is strongly considering the training for their managers and eventually for the whole division. In short, there is a desire to build the principles of MBSR into the fabric of the workplace.
MM: Sounds like it can change the place from the inside out. Thank you, Paulette.
For more information on Paulette’s class offerings, visit mindfulnesswithpaulette.weebly.com.
The Arrival of Consciousness Science at the University of Michigan Medical School
The Center for Consciousness Science at the U-M Medical School was inaugurated in June 2014 by its Founder and Executive Director, Dr. George Mashour. That was around the same time that Dr. Tarik Bel-Bahar arrived in Ann Arbor. We were approached by Bel-Bahar in mid-2015, who suggested that CCS’s mission and activities might be ripe for a story in the CW Journal. We agreed. So what follows is an interview with Dr. Bel-Bahar, about the Center and its work. For long-time Crazy Wisdom Journal readers, this is a “must-read” about exciting work on the frontiers of consciousness research being done right here in Ann Arbor, right at the University, in the Medical School, no less.
Pink Castle Fabrics — A World of Creation and Joy
Last issue, Crazy Wisdom profiled Maker Works, a local business offering space, tools, and teaching about woodcraft, metalworking, and other hands on skills. This issue, we are profiling another business offering space, tools, and teaching, but in a very different medium. Pink Castle Fabrics has a small retail space on the West Side of Ann Arbor, and may seem modest to outsiders. But with a global reach through their online community, retreats, and Instagram feed, Pink Castle Fabrics invigorates and innovates in a uniquely modern format.
In the Heart of the Wood on a Rainy Night — Reflections on Black Pond Woods
An equinoctial night in 2016. It’s raining. The injured raptor birds, often used in educational programs, sleep in little wooden houses on the hillside. Community gardens and orchards await spring, leaves poised to unfurl and earth to be turned. It is the night of the salamander survey at Black Pond Woods.
In the Company of Cats — Ann Arbor’s First Cat Café Lets Visitors Enjoy Feline Companionship and Cat-centered Activities
The sun is just peeking over the horizon, burning off the last tendrils of early morning fog, as instructor Lisa Norgren begins teaching her yoga class. The studio is dim; a soothing fountain trickles gently in the back of the room. Students stand in front of their mats, talking softly. The room eventually becomes quiet. The cats awaken, stretch and start to roam.
Crafting Beer, Creating Community
"I never imagined a time when craft beer would become so mainstream,” said Rene Greff, co-owner of Arbor Brewing Company brewpub in Ann Arbor and ABC Microbrewery in Ypsilanti. In 1995, when Rene and her husband, Matt Greff, opened the brewpub on Washington Street, craft beer was anything but mainstream. A few brands were paving the way, including Samuel Adams in Boston, Sierra Nevada and Anchor Brewing in California, and Bell’s Brewery in Michigan, but American beer sales and consciousness were dominated by light, insipid lagers produced by mega-breweries like Anheuser Busch, Coors, and Miller.
A Day in the Life of a Farmer — Kris Hanna of Old Pine Farm
This past summer I was privileged to visit Old Pine Farm in bucolic Manchester, Michigan, where a variety of breeds are raised to produce high quality beef, pork, chicken, and lamb. I found my host, farmer Kris Hanna, wrenching a piece of equipment when I pulled into the driveway by her charming yet modest farmhouse. I noticed she had little by way of “garden or landscaping,” which she later explained is not her area of expertise. Her son did a fine job of perennial plantings in the area surrounding her homes’ entrance as a Mother’s Day gift. The iconic Midwest red barn with silo stands proud among several smaller barns and paddocks, dappled by a background of rolling green fields.
For Want of a Nail: How the U-M’s Innovative Faculty Scholar Program Could Fade Away, or Continue to Thrive
In 2013, Professor Ana Baylin found herself in a professional crisis. After training as an M.D. in Spain, getting her Ph.D. in Nutrition and Epidemiology, and working at the U-M School of Public Health, she found herself wanting to do… something else. A colleague encouraged her to enroll in the Faculty Scholar Program (FSP), a year-long educational group. The faculty in the program study recent research on integrative medicine, such as meditation, yoga, and chiropractic, as applied to cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic pain, and mental health. By exposing professionals to the benefits of other disciplines outside their own, and building bridges based on science between medicine (disease treatment) and health (vitality and well-being), faculty find themselves creating new methods and solutions to patient problems. The program has been innovative and successful, and a key element in the slow but steady growth in the acceptance of integrative medicine at the University of Michigan.
At the Heart of Everything is Dharma — Getting to Know Tsochen Khandro and Traktung Rinpoche of Tsogyelgar Dharma Center and White Lotus Farms
The Tsogyelgar Dharma Center is a singularly dynamic and vibrant Buddhist community set on farmland just a few miles west of downtown. Now in its 26th year of existence, the community may be best known for spawning White Lotus Farms and its delicious baked goods and dairy products. Founded and guided by an American-born couple, Katie and Stuart Kirkpatrick (who have been known by their Buddhist names for decades now), Tsogyelgar includes its own self-built Stupa, magnificent self-generated Buddhist works of art (thangkas), poetry nights, CDs of beautiful and spiritual music, and dozens of local and nationwide followers dedicated to living in a conscious and compassionate way.
Reinaldo Couto — A Journey from Violinist to Alexander Technique Teacher
For much of his life, Reinaldo Couto was a professional classical violinist, as a chamber musician and as a member of a number of major orchestras in his native Brazil, Europe, and the U.S. In 1990, in his late forties, he made a big career change. He started studying to become a certified Alexander Technique (AT) teacher.
Room to Breathe — Organizing for Happiness and Harmony
How one's personal space, be it home or work, is organized has a great impact on one's energy, productivity, and sense of self. Organization, use, and harmony among multiple users of the space all have a hand in affecting our well-being. To some, well-organized means sparse, but this can be detrimental to usability and may not work for everyone. Luckily, there are a number of tools at our disposal to bring organization and harmony to our living spaces.
Creative Outlooks: Questions for Robb Johnston and Rachel Nisch
Robb Johnston’s first book, The Woodcutter and The Most Beautiful Tree, tells the story of a beautiful tree and an eager woodcutter who would like nothing more than to chop it down (and hear his ax go “Thwickety-THWACK!”). Johnston created the detailed, colorful illustrations using watercolor, ink pen, color pencil, and acrylic paint. Described as “gorgeous” in a Kirkus Starred Review, the book was also named to Kirkus’ Best of 2011 list.
Raising EMMA
Husband and wife team, Mark Skowronski and Michelle Kahlenberg, own and operate a small sustainable farm, called EMMA Acres, west of Ann Arbor proper in the beautiful farming community of Manchester. They raise primarily heritage breed livestock in a sustainable and humane way. Their organic practices are inspired by the likes of Joel Salatin.
Bringing Integrative Medicine to the Ann Arbor Veterans Hospital
Allison Mitchinson walks through the Veterans Hospital in Ann Arbor as an old hand. Sliding around groups, easing her way through the busy hallways, she confidently guides me until we come to a nondescript door that leads to an inner office area. Here, at her desk, “whole person treatment” is taking its latest step in a long journey. Mitchinson, a licensed massage therapist, creates integrative care within the hospital environment. She and two colleagues are using their expertise to help local veterans address pain and health issues. They are also publishing research about their work.
100 Indian Music Nights
Earlier this year, on the second Saturday night in May, the Crazy Wisdom Tea Room was crowded by 8:00. It was Indian Music Night. (Indian Music Night # 95 to be exact, but more on that in a minute.) A quintet of musicians sat in chairs at the front of the room, their backs to the windows that look out on Main Street. John Churchville, the founder of Indian Music Night, was warming up on the tabla (the traditional Indian hand drums), while Dan Ripke picked out notes on his acoustic guitar.
DROUGHT Juice: Cold-Pressed and Home Grown
The James sisters file in one by one, and Jenny, 29, the first to sit down, begins nibbling on a cookie and happily chattering away. All of the sisters are tall and dark haired, with an infectious energy about them that extends naturally to their business, DROUGHT Juice, the successful raw juice company based out of metro Detroit.
Spiritual Emergency: It’s Not All Falling Apart But Forever Together
The vortex of energy in my chest swelled so powerfully that I could hardly believe Haley could not feel it as she lay next to me in the bed. I writhed in absolute terror, oppressed from every angle. There was no escape from this abyss I’d discovered because there was no escape from myself.
Rose Quartz — It’s All About the LOVE!
The soft pink emanations of Rose Quartz ultimately radiate deep, pure love. This unconditional love energy forms a new foundation where inner peace and contentment become a personal reality.
Walking Across Michigan: A Brief Conversation with Author Will Swartz on His Experience Hiking the Michigan Shore-to-Shore Trail
Will Swartz has been a teacher, librarian, school administrator, coach, trainer, and salesman, and now adds writer to this list with the publication of his first book, A Walk Across Michigan: Hiking the Michigan Shore-to-Shore Riding and Hiking Trail. The book follows Will from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan as he explores the history of Michigan, the hiking trail, and his options for the next chapter of his life.
