Meditation Flash Mob in Austin, TX (inside the Capitol Building)

Here's a video showing a meditation flash mob in Austin, TX

Meditation Flash Mob: Texas State Capital Building from Greenheart Creative on Vimeo.

New Meditation Flash Mob tour coming soon.

Hello world, I have been busy with other projects for the last couple of years (mainly getting my MBA), and I am ready to return with full force to this wonderful experiment called the public meditation project. I will soon announce a tour around the US organizing public meditation displays and doing short lectures.

If you're reading this and think I can come to your city please let me know!

I would love all of your help organizing the meditation flash mobs :-)

Love and light,
-Alex

The ID Project, Also using Public Meditation :-)

Wow! Talk about Viral!

I just found two separate Public Meditation Project groups on Facebook that I had no idea about. Please check them out, and if there isn't one near where you live... what a great opportunity to start your own :-)

Public Meditation Project DC

Public Meditation Project Vancuver

Still very busy with our sustainability documentary, Green Light, please also check that out, we're planning on releasing it in September. http://www.greenlightthemovie.com

Love and light,
-Alex

Temporary Hiatus

I'm sorry people but I've been pre-occupied with other projects recently. I am working on a feature-length movie about sustainability, consciousness, and social change called "Green Light" you can find out more about it at www.greenlightthemovie.com the trailer may be viewed here:
Green Light Movie trailer

In the meantime I'm starting a different personal awareness project called "10 thousand hours to a higher self". You can check that out here: www.my10thousandhours.com

I will return to meditating in public eventually, I miss the freedom of it. I look forward to developing it into a successful non-profit in the next few years(?).

Keep on shining that light!

Love and light,
-Alex

PMP update

It seems like public meditations are slowly but surely finding their way into the mainstream of society. I encourage everyone to grab a friend and go meditate in public: at a park, at school, at a busy intersection, or at a mall.

With the US elections in everyone's minds for the next couple of weeks, it'll be interesting to watch what kind of twists and turns we take as we grow into a higher consciousness.

Keep your eyes open :-)

Love and light,
-Alex

Public Meditation In Iowa CIty- International Peace Day

Yesterday we went to Iowa City Iowa to celebrate the UN's International Peace Day by performing several Public Displays of Meditation along the crowded parts of the city.

We have lots of great video footage, but unfortunately not a lot of pictures. The videos will be up shortly, so sit tight :-)

About the event:
It was about 20 of us meditating. We picked out 3 locations and performed 10 minute meditations in each location. People came by and looked, others stopped and asked questions, but most people simply stared as they walked past.

The weather was fantastic, and the people were great to be with.

Since Iowa City isn't exactly a major metropolitan city, the feeling was more like meditating in nature.

Videos up soon!

Love and light,
-Alex

Iowa City Welcomes the PMP!

Sunday, September 21st is the UN's International Peace day.

The Public Meditation Project will perform Public Displays of Meditation around the intersection of Iowa Ave and Clinton st. We'll be there between the hours of 3-4pm on Sunday.

Anyone is welcomed to join us, you can email publicmeditationproject[at]gmail.com for more info
:-)

We will be joined (in spirit) by the Oekomed group in Germany who will be meditating on the same day.

Love and light,
-Alex

Public Meditation Project featured in Info3

Sebastian Gronbach, our friend over at Oekomed, has written about and published an article about public meditation in a German magazine called Info3.

They used the pic on the left which I feel has become my flagship image.

Unfortunately, I don't speak German, so I can't tell you how amazing the article was. Luckily, my girlfriend is German and she has promised to translate it for me :-)

I feel that more and more people are catching on to what's happening here. Not just the public meditation thing, but also what it implies: It implies that we are ready to be that peace we've been trying to live inside.

The inside is becoming the outside, and that's the way change always happens.

Love and light,
-Alex

Meditation Used for Social Activism?

It is really quite a peculiar idea. How can something so peaceful and silent be done amidst the hustle and bustle of a big city? Some may say that it's probably harder to meditate in public than it is in private. But in reality, it's quite easy. In fact, some of the best meditations I've ever had have been in the middle of lots of noisy, restless people. What better way to make an impact and be the change you wish to see?

The best story I heard was from Francisco Ramos Stierle, he was meditating in protest of the deforestation of part of is university campus, and he got arrested and charged with "disturbing the peace." You can read the whole article here.

Another, less conflicting example of using meditation as a tool for social activism, is the Interdependence Project. Known as the "ID project" they are a group out of New York that incorporates meditation workshops with eco-activism and community service in the East village area. You can watch a video about their latest event: About 30 New Yorkers gathered to meditate, create art, and raise awareness about plastic bag initiative.

There are many wonderful groups just like this springing up all over the place. If there isn't one around you, maybe you're the one to start one up!

Love and light,
-Alex

Public Meditation for International Peace Day, Sept 21st

There will be a Public Meditation held in Iowa City, IA on September 21st. This day marks the United Nation's International Day of Peace, and this website talks more about it and how you can participate.

If you are around the Iowa City area, and want to participate in our Public Meditation for International Peace Day, then contact me at publicmeditationproject [at] gmail.com to ask for specifics.

Also, check out this emerging site... it's called the Public Peace Project

Love and light,
-Alex

One Million People Meditating in Public?

So here's the deal: the Public Meditation Project will organize one million people around the world to meditate in public spaces, and show their inner peace to the world. Imagine people in every city, town, and country meditating at a specific time in public spaces like parks, malls, streets, sidewalks, museums, you get the point. Since this is a decentralized movement, it can happen easily if everyone organizes 4-5 people they know, and gets others to do the same... think "pay it forward" or "pyramid scheme with a purpose."

Do you want to take part in this adventure? I hope so, because I don't exactly know how it's going to happen. I just know that today it isn't hard to organize one million people to do something fun and exciting.

I guess the first step is to set a date. When does this work for you? Can ALL one million people do it that day, or do we need to invite more just in case? :-)

More updates coming soon, and suggestions for dates, of course, are always welcomed...

maybe we could link up with the Global Peace Meditation and Prayer Day next year?
Those guys are great.

Love and light,
-Alex

Meditation Unleashed...

I am planning a public meditation for September 21st, in Iowa City, Iowa. It's "International Peace Day," so it's quite fitting for our cause.

I've only just set the intention to get ONE MILLION people meditating in public all over the world simultaneously. I think it is more than doable, seeing how more people practice meditation than do Yoga.

Right now,More people than ever are doing yoga, and that means even more are meditating.

A lot has happened in the last couple of months for this movement. Let's continue to be the change.

Peace OUT! literally...

Love and light,
-Alex

The Revolution is in your hands…Here’s how to do it

I’ve been getting a lot of requests for help in creating a Public Meditation Project group in various different places across the US…there’s already one in Germany :-)

What is Enlightenment? Magazine (August, 2008 issue) featured a story about the Public Meditation Project and said that the movement “…may represent the next big thing among Gen-Y spiritual seekers in America, and the trend seems to be catching on fast.”

Since this is a decentralized, grassroots movement, I am posting simple guidelines so all Public Meditations are the same even if they are geographically separate. I ask that you please use the Public Meditation logo exactly as it appears in all flyers, promotion, articles, etc. It is under a creative commons license(see bottom), and you are free to download and use. (PMP logo here, and here).

How to Conduct Your Own Public Meditations PDF

Sample Flyer for Public Meditation Groups

If you feel you are a Spiritual Activist, you should take a quick glance to the Principles of Spiritual Activism found on this link.

I have to make a special mention of the Oekomed blog, it is a group led by Sebastian Gronbach who is doing Public Displays of Meditation in Germany using this same concept and framework.

Below are some pics from their blog and others I’ve received from the meditating public:

The only “leader” in this revolution is the guiding inner light inside of you.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

The PMP gets national attention!

The latest issue of What is Enlightenment? magazine has written a short article about Public displays of meditation. It mentions the Public Meditation Project and quotes me a few times (page 18, August Issue). It also mentions Max Simon from Selfcenteredtour.com- They are trying to get 1 million young people meditating. I've been in contact with Max, he's a good guy.

At the same time I was featured on Dailygood.org, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I'll share with you all now the pics and comments I've received from people all over the world. Speaking of which, check out this blog - It's in a language I don't understand, but I know they are blogging about meditating in public. The only reason I knew they were doing public meditations was because they pretty much copied our logo, and the pics easily give it away!

Thank you for all of your support!

World Peace begins with Inner Peace.

Love and light,
-Alex

Public Display of Peace... on the streets of Chicago

We held a "Public Meditation for Peace and Sustainability" on the streets of Chicago featuring about 20 students and innocent bystanders. We brought the peace wherever we went and spontaneously meditated in various Chicago landmarks while people looked on and asked questions. In a big city like Chicago, you seldom get the chance to visually experience peace. We see a fast-paced sea of stress and people feeling rushed and missing the moment. Our intention was to display peace, in almost an artistic form, and let people get curious about meditation and sustainability. There's been lots of recent talk about sustainability and "green" but seldom do we ask ourselves where it comes from. We cannot have a peaceful and sustainable planet without peaceful and sustainable people, and this is what we wish to cultivate. Furthermore, our cause is young and relevant to the times. Meditation isn't some weird esotheric ritual but a statement to the world that says, "I am truly being myself."

Keep checking back with us as we'll be uploading videos and more pictures from our adventure in Chicago. If you'll like to contact me for info about our project, you can reach me at publicmeditationproject(at)gmail(dot)com
Love and light,
-Alex

Public Meditation Project in Chicago March 23

PUBLIC MEDITATION for peace and sustainability

Date: Sunday, March 23rd
Time: 1pm
Place: At the "Clark and Lake" station in the lobby of the Atrium Mall

Come and close your eyes with us for peace and sustainability. And join us for several public meditation sessions along Michigan Ave.
For exact details contact: Alex at PublicMeditationProject@gmail.com

*The Public Meditation Project does not advocate any specific form of meditation. All practices, techniques, rituals, etc, are honored and respected. One does not need to know how to meditate in order to participate. A peaceful intention is the only requirement.

New Logo and new massive trip to Chicago!

The Public Meditation Project will be in Chicago March 23. We'll be meditating around the Art Institute of Chicago, and probably march down to City Hall and meditate there. This will all happen around noon on the 23rd. We'll have exact times and locations within a couple of days.

We'll have shirts displaying sustainability messages like: "Recycle," and "Buy Local." The purpose is to show that sustainability begins from the inside.

Everyone is welcomed to join us! Even if you don't meditate/pray/etc. Come and close your eyes with us for peace and sustainability's sake. You can even come and just take pictures of us (30+ people meditating in public). That'll be an event in itself.

Email Publicmeditationproject@gmail.com for more details.

See you in Chicago!

Meditating in Public- Back to Chicago soon... Come and join us!

The Public Meditation Project intro-video is now an "award-winning" video (you can watch it here). It won the "Quantum Shift Outstanding Video Award" last December, and it is currently KarmaTube's "Video of the Week."

We're planning a demonstration of peace in Chicago to take place sometime around the weekend of March 21st. We'll probably take a tour of the most crowded Chicago malls (if you're from Chicago, please tell us where you would like to see us meditate), and everyone is more than welcomed to join us.

We'll get some press coverage, and we'll also have the Tidal Wave Productions film crew there for a movie about Sustainability and Consciousness.

We're planning on making shirts that display messages not just about peace, but also about sustainability and awareness (For example: "Buy Organic," "Buy Local," "Recycle," "Stand for Corporate responsibility," etc)

If you come out and join us you can get a shirt... or you can make your own :-)

I'll also post information about how you can easily start your own Public Meditation crew in your city or neighborhood.
It's time for collective action! Let's build awareness and get active! And by that I mean: Let's get settled within ourselves so that our awareness of unity brings about actions that are sustainable and peaceful :-)

Email me with your own Public Meditation stories- publicmeditationproject@gmail.com

Love and light,
-Alex

A short intro to the Public Meditation Project...

This video is a short intro to the Public Meditation Project (2:33). The current mission is to get everyone (who is adventurous enough) to publicly go out and display their peace. Prayer, meditation, drawing, etc. Whatever brings you peace, do it in public so that other people can see it.

Then take a picure or a video, send it to publicmeditationproject@gmail.com and you'll be featured in this blog! Think of everyone you know that would like to do this and tell them too!

Ours will be a very peaceful revolution...

Watch more videos like this at www.quantumshift.tv

Love and light,
-Alex