Meditation classes on Long Island: What to know

Find a comfortable position, close your eyes, focus on your breathing, repeat a mantra. Sounds pretty straightforward. Or is it?

“While meditation is simple, due to the nature of the wandering mind, in the beginning it is not easy,” said Bhante Kottawe Nanda of the Long Island Buddhist Meditation Center in Riverhead. “However, with patient practice, meditation becomes its own reward and gets much more enjoyable and effective.”

Meditation is a practice of focused concentration to gain clarity, balance and a relaxed physical and mental state. For some, it can also be a path to rebirth and enlightenment.

“As you spend time in silence every day, you reconnect with your true authentic self and wholeness, and start to reflect that in your day-to-day life,” said Preety Wadhwa, a Chopra-certified meditation teacher who holds classes at Yajamahe Yoga & Sacred Sound Sanctuary in Northport. “Meditation helps you remember your infinite, unbounded true nature and is the most direct way to experience inner silence and well-being.”

Born and raised in India, Wadhwa said she began her spiritual journey as a child and has studied yoga, Vedantic philosophy and meditation. When she moved to the United States in 2020, she said she vowed to “teach the life-transformative practice of meditation in its most authentic and purest form.”

Bevin Vieweg, 48, of Northport, said she takes classes with Wadhwa regularly. Even a few minutes of quiet contemplation, she said, can change the course of her day.

“Before finding Preety’s class, I had attempted to cultivate a meditation practice on my own with limited success,” said Vieweg. “Not only have I learned how to deepen my meditation, but she has provided me a wealth of knowledge on the origins of meditation and the various methods/benefits of practicing mindfulness.”

She added, “I never realized how good it can feel to just breathe. On the days that I meditate, I am happier, more focused and productive. It allows me to handle the noise and stress of the world mindfully and be more fully the person that I wish to be.”