Queens County couple offers free meditation course

Hundreds of thousands of people around the world practice this type of meditation. “It made such a difference in my life that I wanted to keep doing it,” says Downey, “and as I grew up in this yoga I realized it was something I was really interested in sharing with other people.”

Downey describes this meditation as a simple, natural and inexpensive solution to stress, worrying or fatigue. “It’s called Sahaja Yoga Meditation and one of the definitive characteristics of this meditation is that it’s always free,” she says.

Sahaja Yoga Meditation was founded by Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize two times.

Downey is originally from Ontario and Kuhn from Switzerland. The couple has taught Sahaja Yoga in California and South America, to name just two places.

They moved to Mill Village in the summer of 2006 from Calgary, Alberta.

They now have a one and a half year old son.

Downey is taking time off as a teacher to be a stay at home mother, while Kuhn is self employed in the real estate business.

They have taught classes in Bridgewater and are currently teaching in Halifax. “We had a strong desire to start a program in Liverpool because this is really our hometown,” explains Downey.

They each have over 10 years of experience in Sahaja Yoga Meditation. “It’s not a physical yoga;” people do not have to bring mats or leotards to the class, Kuhn says with a laugh. “What we’re going to do is start with seven weeks and we’ll see how the interest goes,” adds Downey.

One benefit of learning Sahaja Yoga Meditation is people can become more balanced and reduce stress, says Kuhn.

The seven-week course begins March 4 at 6:30 p.m. in the Atlantic Superstore community room.

Everyone is welcome; registration isn’t required.