Wake Up volunteers Jasmine, Elina, Tom M, Tom G, Nina, Kareem and Joe went to Buddhafield’s Green Earth Awakening camp in July 2014 deep in the Somerset countryside and offered two mindfulness workshops (and had lots of fun too).
Last Saturday, we had 61 people attend the afternoon of mindfulness – WOW! It was a special occasion because
1) We wanted to celebrate 4 years of Wake Up London because our first afternoon of mindfulness took place on 18th September 2010.
2) We had two monastic brothers, Br. Phap Linh and Br. Phap Lai from Plum Village visiting to offer a talk and guide the mindfulness practices.
Thanks to all those who stayed on to celebrate, eat cake and sing songs! Here are some photos from the evening:
Public Displays of Positive Messages is Wake Up London’s latest project to expand positivity in our city.
Last night, 25 people came together with their signs and happily held them up on Millennium Bridge. Some signs read “You are beautiful”, “Thank you for your smile”, “Be fearless, love fully” and ” You’re loved”. The accounts from participants were very positive:
“Incredible experience – totally surpassed my expectations. Wonderful group and amazing reaction from passers-by to our messages along the Bridge. Thanks very much for organising 🙂 ” – Emma
“This was such a great turn out.. This world needs more love and this is the way forward to spreading that positive message to the world! Peace and love” – Shaima
“An absolutely fantastic experience. Surprised by how at ease I felt doing it and humbled by the friendliness of those I met. Thank you!” – Mark
“I would just like to thank everyone for sharing and shining their true essence. I feel so much more connected to my own as a result of the energy and love we were able to exchange. I’m filled (literally) with warmth and gratitude. Thank you all xx” – James
Below are a few pictures. More will be posted on our Facebook page this weekend.
Thanks to everyone who came! We sat at the back of the Turbine Hall. For the first 15 minutes, the space was very quiet, then suddenly, a group of performance artists motioned around us. We were told that they were practicing for an upcoming event. It felt that our stillness and their movements were part of some kind of performance art! Here’s an account by Bob Harvey, a flash mob participant:
Today I went to the flashmob meditation at the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern.. All the time I have been in Italy I have been following these events on Facebook and I was delighted that I could finally make the trip down from my new home in Lincoln.
It started with about 30-40 of us, sitting in a circle on the floor, then the numbers quickly doubled. once we had started.
Then a most amazing thing happened. Unbeknown to Wake Up London, the space we were using had been booked by a contemporary dance group to rehearse their live installation at the same time, so while we were meditating we started to hear the shuffle of feet all around us. About 50 dancers were going through a slow-motion silent routine which gradually built up speed to become a Zen Walk – racing around silently without bumping into each other. All the while our circle was in silent meditation – but the effect on the energy was amazing – as if someone had turned on a high-powered motor.
As the dance group moved away to the other end of the hall, our circle started a resonating OMMM and the energy gradually subsided.
It was the most extraordinary sensation and literally took my breath away.
I spoke to the organiser of the dance troupe afterwards, and they had no idea of teh impact of their energy on our energy. Maybe not everyone had the same experience as I had, but for me it was truly beautiful.
Click here for more pictures.
Dear friends,
Thanks so much to those who attended yesterday evening’s flash mob. It was lovely, as ever, and I’m so happy to see the community growing so beautifully and organically with these public meditation gatherings. So many of us were from different paths and different faiths, or or none, yet we came together as a single community. What is it that binds us together like this?
Also a warm thank you to the sound healers, Amy, Paolo, Mary, Sandira, Marcin, Bea and David (and others I’m not aware of) for bring your wonderful sounds at the end of the sitting.
I wanted to share with the wonderful photos on our Facebook page.
Please check out today’s Evening Standard on page 21 – our event has been featured!
And also we were featured as TimeOut London’s top 5 events of the week!
How wonderful to be getting this much coverage!
We’ll be posting future meditation flash mobs via our Facebook page Wake Up London. You can also join the Meetup group to ensure you get invitations direct to your email, as Facebook doesn’t have that function via a page.
In May, we have some different events planned…
like meditation flash mob through Oxford Street..
And also another event which will involve holding signs displaying positive affirmations to the public, to remind passersby to reconnect to their innate goodness and beauty. We will announce that soon!
Thank you for being there!
Much love
Elina
on behalf of Wake Up London
Be the change!
Dear friends,
if you enjoyed the meditation in Trafalgar Square on 31 March, then please come along to..
Meditation Flash Mob by City Hall
April 26 6pm to 7pm
Go to event details here.
Be the change you want to see in the world!
Join us in a global meditation flash mob co-ordinated with over 80 cities worldwide! The intention of the movement is to expose the world to meditation and expand positivity to every walk of life.
Come experience the power of collectively exuding peace and feel the impact we are having on our city by sitting together, silently radiating happiness and grace in all directions.
This is an event open to everyone, from every path, experienced or not. This is a movement that our entire world is creating together as one unified force to set the momentum for the future of our planet!
Now is the time to create the world we choose to live in!
Click here for the Facebook event invitation
When: Thursday 28th July 6:30pm to 7:10pm
Where: Potters Fields Park, next to City Hall, about ten minutes walk from London Bridge station and fifteen from Tower Hill. City Hall is the distinctive curved glass building which is home to the Mayor of London.
Map: http://tinyurl.com/3hrveh4
6:30pm to 7pm: Sitting meditation in Potter’s Field Park, in the space nearest to City Hall and the River Thames. Spread out across the park or the walkway, as you so wish.
You are welcome to go to the entire event or you can come for part of it. You can meditate the entire time, or you can chill and bask in the peace.
7pm to 7:10pm: Optional sound bath: You can use any mantra or sound, for example, Om, Ah, Ong, Nah or any other sound that calls you personally. If you choose, move closer to one another, donate your physical presence, your positive energy, your voice. It’s also a lot of fun and just sounds awesome to everyone around.
7:10pm: End of sitting.
What to bring: Please feel free to bring your own cushion or stall for sitting meditation.
Bring Everyone! This is going to be a beautiful event that we will all remember!
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“If you are a Buddhist, please come. If you are a Christian please
come. If you are Jewish, Muslim, or belong to or identify with any
other religions, creed, or peace organization, please come. If you are
white, brown, black, yellow, red or any other color, please come.
We shall learn together that wrong perceptions of self and others
are at the foundation of separation, fear, hate, and violence; and that
togetherness and collaboration is possible.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
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Our Goal:
1. To create an environment for people from all walks of life to come together in meditation.
2. To spread awareness of meditation to the public.
3. To come together as a community to send positive intentions out into the world.
4. To show that leading by example is the best way to lead. Simple acts can stimulate major paradigm shifts in thinking
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Pictures from the last meditation flash mob in Covent Garden:
Pictures of meditation flash mob in Covent Garden 28/06/2011
A video of our meditation flash mob in Trafalgar Square: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqZA5cToPgs]
Check out the Guardian article written about the Trafalgar Square flash mob: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/jun/14/trafalgar-square-meditation-flashmob
You can visit http://www.medmob.org/ to see all the other cities who are joining us!
Poster for distribution:
Get in touch wkuplondon AT gmail.com to stay updated and to sign up for future flash mobs.
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Let’s have fun!
Let’s meditate!
Let’s thrive!
Rejoice!
Yes!
Wake Up London is a community of individuals practicing together to promote peace and reconciliation within ourselves and for our planet. We’d love to highlight what’s happening within our community, and how the practice is positively impacting our society.
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