Category: Community Updates

“My root condition still seems to be lucidity, alertness”

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving. Join us tonight as our weekly Monday meditation resumes at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

I picked another short meditative reading from Trembling, Still by Stephen Jenkinson. Concerned about his neurodegeneration due to Parkinson’s, Jenkinson describes a visit to his banker. I find him both dramatic and sharply funny, and I find deep contemplative value for all of us in this passage. The line that sticks with me is this one: “My root condition still seems to be lucidity, alertness. I just can’t find the vernacular sometimes to make the ‘we see each other, right?’ connection” (p. 140).

Our foundation instruction is to keep the breath in your awareness. Your body has been breathing all day, mostly without your noticing. We bring this automatic bodily process into conscious awareness, letting the body breathe in its own way and feeling the sensations of breathing. We will continue to develop focus using different anchors, including the breath at the nose, the movement of the diaphragm, and other sensations in the body.

To join us, find the meeting link on the Meditation Community webpage:

UPDATE: There is no meditation session this Monday, October 12, due to Thanksgiving. See you again for meditation on Monday, October 19. The final session will now be on Monday, November 16.

QUESTION: Have you had any trouble joining the online meeting? Please let me know by email on my About page (or comment on the Substack newsletter). I have been using the free Swiss platform Proton, but if it is not stable, I will switch to something else.

“Is there a clarity waiting, of the kind that is elsewhere now but will be bountiful then?”

“I take the position there’ll be no cure, that’s sure. But there may be respite. The torque may leave off my hand and my foot, and put them both in the manner of stillness. And if it does, what shall I do with that stillness? What do I think the tremours are keeping me from now, the arms of which I see myself running into? Is there a clarity waiting, of the kind that is elsewhere now but will be bountiful then?” — Stephen Jenkinson, Trembling Still, p. 133

I will share the passage above at the beginning of our gathering. It is worthy of contemplation, whether or not you have Parkinson’s.

Our online meditation invites you to create a sacred inner space in your own home. We establish a meditation posture, then guide you in developing focus through the breath and other meditation anchors before continuing into a period of silence. We close with a compassion meditation that supports your return to daily life.

To join us, find the meeting link on the Meditation Community webpage:

Reminder Meditation Community gathers online this evening 7 p.m. EDT. The session last about 30 minutes.

In my preamble, I read a short passage from Stephen Jenkinson’s book, “Trembling, Still.” It is a deeply personal and contemplative account of living with Parkinson’s disease and neurodegeneration. Written in a poetic, sometimes difficult style, the book turns his diagnosis into a meditation on five recurring themes: impermanence, embodiment, uncertainty, limitation, and attention in adversity. His particular experience becomes a way of contemplating the universal experience of being embodied, vulnerable and alive.

The meditation invites you to create a safe, sacred space in your home. We establish a meditation posture, then guide you in developing focus through the breath and other meditation anchors, continuing in a period of silence. We close with a compassion meditation that supports your return to daily life.

To join us, find the meeting link on the Meditation Community webpage

https://johnmiedema.art/meditation-community/

The fall series of the Meditation Community begins tonight at 7 p.m. EDT.

This first gathering will be an information session plus a short meditation.

I will explain the explain how meditation works.
I will discuss the new Meditation for Parkinson’s initiative.
I will introduce a method of noticing and reducing distractions by counting them. This is optional.

We will also have a short meditation.

Future sessions will include 30 minutes of meditation, along with approximately ten minutes for settling in and questions.

To join us, find the meeting link on the Meditation Community webpage:

https://johnmiedema.art/meditation-community/

The first gathering will be an information session

The fall series of the Meditation Community begins Monday, September 21, at 7 p.m. EDT and continues each Monday for eight weeks. There is no cost to participate.

The first gathering will be an information session. I will explain the meditation format, discuss the new Meditation for Parkinson’s initiative, and introduce a method of noticing and reducing distractions by counting them. We will also have a first meditation.

Each subsequent session will include 30 minutes of meditation, along with approximately ten minutes for settling in and questions.

To join us, find the meeting link on the Meditation Community webpage.

For the latest updates by email, along with occasional essays, subscribe to the newsletter.

Thanks,
John Miedema
Alcove QC

Help build Meditation for Parkinson’s

The fall series of the Meditation Community begins Monday, September 21, 2026 at 7 pm and continues each Monday for eight weeks, ending November 9. Each sitting consists of 30 minutes of meditation, plus ten minutes for settling and questions. There is no cost.

The meditations in this series invite you to create a safe, sacred space in your home. We establish a meditation posture, then guide you in developing focus through the breath and other meditation anchors, continuing in a period of silence. We close with a compassion meditation that supports your return to daily life. Participants are encouraged to practice daily between online sittings.

During the first sitting, I will introduce an original, simple, and effective method for noticing and reducing distractions in meditation. It involves counting distractions. It is entirely optional. You can read more about the method in this article: Counting Distractions in Meditation.

I especially welcome people living with Parkinson’s disease or other neurodegenerative conditions. There is a beautiful paradox in practicing meditation, a discipline of stillness, while living with a condition that progressively defies it. Meditation is not about outer stillness but inner stillness. Be certain that you belong here. I have Parkinson’s. Join me and help build Meditation for Parkinson’s.

View updates at my website. For timely updates delivered to your inbox, along with my essays on meditation, subscribe to the Meditation Community newsletter on Substack.

Thank you,

John Miedema

A Standardized Method for Counting Distractions

The online Meditation Community, facilitated by John Miedema of Alcove Quebec, will begin a new eight-week series during the week of the Fall Equinox. There is no cost.

Meditation sessions will be held once each week on a weekday evening. A community poll will determine the final day and time.

This series will focus on cultivating sustained attention to the breath. Participants will also have the option of using A Standardized Method for Counting Distractions in Meditation (link). This practical method provides a measurable way to observe improvement in concentration over time while reinforcing the benefits of greater attention, mindfulness, and well-being.

This autumn I would also like to formally welcome people living with Parkinson’s disease. As someone with Parkinson’s myself, I understand that meditation can seem intimidating. Parkinson’s is often associated with tremor, while meditation is commonly associated with physical stillness. In practice, however, physical stillness is not the goal. The deeper practice is the cultivation of inner stillness and stable attention, regardless of what the body is doing.

To receive updates, participate in the scheduling poll, please subscribe to the Meditation Community newsletter: https://meditationcommunity.substack.com/. You can also visit my website: https://johnmiedema.art/.