VUE

V an Buren is a busy guy. Not only is he the owner of Live Free Yoga Studio in River Edge, he is also a mindful-living trainer, a public speaker and a musician with two albums under his belt. e author of two books, the most recent titled "A Fool's Guide to Actual Happiness," Van Buren shares a publisher with His Holiness the Dalai Lama—which gives him quite a bit of street cred in the world of meditation. Van Buren rang in the New Year by joining the staff of the Graf Center for Integrative Medicine at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. anks in part to long- time friend of the Graf Center, Laura Rodgers, the newly created Rodgers Family Meditation Program is designed to expand meditation offerings to not only the sick, but also the well. Van Buren, along with other instructors, now lead meditation classes for those with chronic conditions such as cancer or heart disease, as well as those looking to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and manage pain. All of the classes are held at the Graf Center, located inside Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. "While we all need meditation and mindfulness, someone who is going through cancer treatment or any treatment that lands them in the hospital is going to get the most from this practice," Van Buren said. He proposes that while we tend to see suffering and pain as strictly negative experiences, they can oen be the catalyst to look deeper into things, go beyond and ask the questions we have never had the courage to ask before. Suffering can actually be an opportunity to pursue a deeper sense of compassion and wisdom. "is is what I'm hoping to share with people: don't be so afraid of discomfort, pain, stress and anxiety. Don't try to destroy these feelings, instead try to radically accept all of it, to embrace it and get to know it. Know that anxiety and pain will come and go naturally. It's just a passing energy like a thunderstorm. You can't do anything about a thunderstorm, you just let it do its thing and pass. ink of meditation as cultivating the art of leaving things alone." Van Buren said. Leaving things alone can feel counterintuitive, especially in a society obsessed with productivity and forward motion, but Van Buren explains that this concept is not the absence of goals or a vision for the future; it is simply learning to "rest with things as they are." You can develop this acceptance through meditation practice, during which you sit or lie comfortably and draw your attention to your breath. When stray thoughts appear— and they certainly will appear— you simply acknowledge them and leave them alone. is practice is a kind of workout for your mind that teaches you not to react unconsciously or habitually to feelings of stress, anxiety or sadness. "Normally when thoughts and feelings arise we grab hold of them, we identify with them, and we take action based on them—it's like we're slaves to circumstance. With meditation you're learning to just be with things as they are instead of getting lost with them. ink of our minds and our emotions as a web we've created, most of us are like flies, we get stuck on the web and we wonder why we suffer as we do, but there's a different way we can relate to this web—like a spider that can just walk over it," Van Buren said. As meditation continues to snowball into a mainstream trend, there is a renewed importance of remembering why this practice has played such an important role in various cultures since 1500 BCE—not as a Magic Bullet or as a weight loss technique, but as a way of life that can foster deeper compassion, wisdom and a sense of permanent peace. "Because in the end, what does a nice body have to do with happiness? Nothing much." VUE ON WELLNESS V U E N J . C O M 119

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