Alyth’s Meditation Room Opening

Why would 45 people cram themselves into a smallish room at Alyth on a hot Wednesday evening?

We were there for the inaugural evening of probably the first dedicated space for meditation in a British shul.  The room is peaceful and plain, with a newly decorated clean white look, its only ornaments are flowers, a few leaflets and a lot of chairs and cushions.

Mika Borthwick, who runs Subtle Yoga, led a guided visualization to help everyone relax, handing over to Maxine Levy, who runs Kavanah Yoga with Alyth’s Rabbi Mark at JW3.  The force behind the initiative is Danny Newman, trainee Rabbi and founder of HaMakom (The Place), which integrates Jewish teachings and traditional Buddhist meditation practices and recently held its second annual retreat in May.

Open-ness was a key theme of the evening. One participant passed around a special wooden Star of David, which fitted together neatly, and some scented oil, both given to her by a renowned teacher. Others shared wise words that they had heard, or their own personal experiences. “It’s wonderful that we can be in a shul and be open and receptive to other ways into our spiritual aspects,” commented one participant. Another mentioned the amount of Jewish people who tended to look outside Judaism for spiritual guidance, and spoke of his relief that these people might now have a way to return to our religion to find what they were looking for.

The meditation room is open to anyone who wants to lead a relevant session.