Meditation Society
The Meditation Society aims to offer anyone the tools they need, through meditation, to cultivate a happier, more compassionate and less stressful life.
We believe this could be of benefit to people of any background or faith and we are committed to the cultivation of a warm and welcoming atmosphere.
The Meditation Society is part of the Students' Guild and is open to students – see the Students' Guild webpage for the Meditation Society for details of the current committee members and how to join.
If you are a member of staff (or a postgraduate research student) you may be interested in the Buddhist Chaplaincy's Mindful Meditation sessions.
Aims and Objectives
- To provide members with the tools and tips they need to practise meditation, and to benefit from this practise.
- To hold biweekly group meditation sessions.
- To have regular events/socials which members can attend.
Society Activities
The following text describes the activities of the society when not socially distancing – please see the Students' Guild webpage for the Meditation Society for details of current sessions on Zoom.
Our sessions on Monday evenings aim to be mindfulness-based, beginner-friendly and varied in content. These usually consist of two or three student-led guided meditations based upon well-known sources, such as the online meditation platform 'Headspace', Mindfulness CDs or books given to us by local Buddhist monasteries and temples.
Our sessions on Thursday evenings consist of longer meditations led by the Buddhist Chaplain, John Danvers. These sessions alternate weekly between informative talks about various meditative and/or spiritual traditions, and creative activities such as minimalist sound making, writing haikus and drawing.
We invite various teachers from the wider Exeter community to guide one-off sessions, such as monks from local Buddhist monasteries as well as therapists from Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction professions.
We also facilitate altruistic opportunities, organizing volunteering events that aid the local community. This might involve helping at the homeless center or running one-off activist events. We encourage the use of our social media presence to generate these events as the students see fit.
We have regular (typically, fortnightly) socials that range from meals, to nights out under the stars, to walks in Exeter's glorious landscape.
The society also has over thirty books that have been donated by members; these can be borrowed at any time throughout the year.