Alma Dell Smith

Tuesdays, February 23 - March 30    1:00 p.m - 3:00 p.m.     6 sessions    
Vincent Club, 71 Brimmer Street

In 1899 William James wrote about a visit of Indian philosophers to Cambridge who told him, “It is an invariable part of our Hindoo life to retire for at least half an hour daily into silence, to relax our muscles, govern our breathing, and meditate on eternal things.” This ever-popular Hindu tradition is only one of hundreds of meditative techniques created around the world and across the ages. All religious traditions have some form of practice that invites transcendent experience. Modern secular traditions have focused more on the health effects of meditation or even how to use meditation in the pursuit of success. New Age explorers continue to integrate and expand these traditions in search of a new world order.

We will read and discuss selections from ancient and modern meditative traditions of the East and West, including Christian, Buddhist, and Hindu, as well as indigenous peoples. We will explore similarities and differences among hypnosis, concentration and mindfulness practices, sitting and moving meditations, chanting and breath control, prayer as meditation, and guided imagery. Recent scientific studies of the health and mental health effects and their current use in medicine will be included.

Alma Dell Smith received her B.A. in psychology from Smith College and her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia (1979). She was on the clinical faculty of Boston Medical Center in psychiatry and in BMC medicine’s Women’s Health Group for twenty years. She is currently an adjunct faculty supervisor at Boston University’s graduate training program in psychology. In addition to maintaining a private practice in Brookline, she and her husband, Lyle Miller, have co-authored two popular books: The Stress Solution and Stress and Marriage. She has studied and practiced a variety of forms of meditation over the years.