John BurstonAustralia’s 40-year-old Lifeflow Meditation Center has decided to launch its Learn to Meditate online course for Victorians to help them cope with the mental and emotional stress caused by their state’s extended COVID-19 lockdown.
The six-part online course, which typically costs $ 220, offers a step-by-step program that demystifies meditation and makes it easy to learn simple meditation practices, and most importantly, apply them in daily life. Victorians can get free access to the full online course until the lockdown ends on June 10 by using the promo code VIC100 on the Lifeflow website at https://lifeflow.com.au.
The Lifeflow Meditation Center offers its students a practical and contemporary approach to learning skills from a meditation and mindfulness tradition that is over 2500 years old. It reports on the benefits of meditation, including the ability to relax people quickly and efficiently, improve focus and clarity of mind, reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and gain general well-being.
Last year, Lifeflow saw increased attendance in its advanced meditation classes and a waiting list to attend meditation retreats at its Tara Hills Retreat Center in the Adelaide Hills.
John Burston, director of teaching at the Lifeflow Meditation Center, said the increased demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic was showing greater anxiety. “A crisis brings us the main benefit of face-to-face meditation: the ability to keep our mind calm in the heat of the moment,” he said.
“A big advantage of our online course is that we can support students across Australia. So we can offer free access to anyone suffering from the stress of the lockdown in Victoria. “
Australian research, including 14-day COVID-19 impact surveys of 1,028 adults across Australia by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, suggests that the pandemic “had an immediate and significant impact on the mental health and well-being of the population”. Findings indicate:
- 68 percent of respondents are concerned or very concerned about their health due to the spread of COVID-19
- Compared to pre-COVID-19 surveillance data, twice as many adults reported anxiety, nervousness and restlessness
- One in five (22 percent) reported a high level of loneliness and
- The number of people who reported severe depression doubled from five to ten percent.
After the Lifeflow Meditation Center closed its doors during the first pandemic lockdown in March last year, it made an effort to provide online support to its members to help them maintain and improve their meditation practices. As a result, it redesigned its free Come & Try meditation classes for online access – and attracted almost three times as many people in 2020 as it did in 2019.
The center then redesigned its six-week meditation learning program, which was launched late last year. Learn more at https://meditationacademy.lifeflow.com.au/courses/learn-to-meditate.
Media interviews:
John Burstons is available for media interviews to describe how the online course works and explain how meditation practice can help people calm their minds during this lockdown and the longer-term challenges posed by the pandemic and other aspects of life . To arrange an interview, please call Kath Newland on 08 8379 9001 or John Harris on 08 8431 4000.
The Lifeflow Meditation Center is located at 8/259 Glen Osmond Rd, Frewville SA 5063 and its website is at www.lifeflow.com.au. The phone number is 08 8379 9001.
