3 hours ago
The Fullerton Public Library Conference Room offered some respite from a hot Saturday afternoon as attendees participated in a “Meditation at the Library” workshop.
This workshop was not the first of its kind; the library invited the Fullerton Zen Meditation Center in 2024 to offer the workshop on the second Saturday of every other month. The center serves as the Fullerton branch of a larger nonprofit called Buddhaland on Earth USA, which opened a new headquarters in Torrance, California in January.
Meditation teacher Tracy Lee said attendance varies each time the workshop is held. Some workshops would receive about 30 attendees with others having only three; 10 people attended this particular session.
However, he and his wife, fellow meditation instructor Viki Chao, treat each session the same no matter the turnout.
“We basically cherish every single encounter, even if it’s one person,” Lee said. “It doesn't really matter how many people. The most important part is how well connected we have (gotten) with the audience.”
Chao first introduced Lee to meditation in 2003. He has since become a board member at the meditation center.
Bookended by a lecture and discussion about meditation, led by Lee, Chao started the guided meditation by instructing everyone to stretch while remaining seated.
The group then did shoulder and belly breathing exercises, learning how to properly exhale through the nose and picture the inside of one’s mind and body. To cap it off, Lee instructed attendees on how to practice the exercises at home.
Some attendees came in with prior meditation experience. Irfan Razi, who does remote work for a legal firm, had dabbled in meditation over 10 years ago and was driven to start doing it again to improve his day-to-day lifestyle.
“Basically, it's wanting to be able to recalibrate things a little better, so that I can prioritize better,” Razi said. “Then it has a cyclical thing of getting more done, feeling better about it and more of the priorities get done.”
Razi admitted to feeling additional stress from reading about current events that are directly and indirectly impacting his community. He considered the workshop, particularly the breathing exercises, to be extremely helpful.
“There is a way for all of us to better ourselves and hear and think about things, perspective and our conception,” Razi said. “If you can do it, why not try to do it, even if you're young or if you're old?”
David Lee, a Fullerton resident and project manager (with no relation to Tracy Lee), had been aware of the workshops through his role as president of the Fullerton Public Library Foundation. He was able to participate for the first time on Saturday.
While he had practiced meditation before, he had never done it in such a structured manner guided in the workshop.
“I found it very informative, very relaxed, going through the workshop and the fundamentals of meditation,” David Lee said. “If people understand the ways of doing it, it's a lot easier.”
Both David Lee and Tracy Lee agreed that workshops like “Meditation at the Library” help bring the library and its community together and further promote the pursuit of knowledge. Tracy Lee referred to the library as the “trees of knowledge” and said the root of the tree is the desire to learn and connect with others.
