As a result of practicing metta we become more empathetic, more considerate, more kind, more forgiving, and in general, more loving, friendly people.

The Toronto Zen Centre periodically offers an extended course in the practice of Loving-kindness Meditation. Sessions are held on consecutive Wednesday evenings from 7 to 8 p.m. Each session includes lectures, meditation instruction, practice periods and discussion.

The scheduling of the next Loving Kindness Course has not yet been determined. Please check this section later, for the dates of the new Mettabhavana course, to be held in the Fall of 2010.

For more information or to register, please contact the Centre, or view the brochure.

Larry Johanson, a senior member of the Toronto Zen Centre, is a public speaker in the fields of communications, personal development, and leadership. His firm 'Becoming Achievers Seminars' offers various on-site workshops and seminars to interested businesses, conventions, trade groups, and public or private organizations. As a long time practitioner of Zen meditation, Larry has also worked for many years in the corporate world. He has used this unique combination of personal life-experience to develop a one-day seminar on stress reduction -- whether found within the work environment or encountered in daily life. The seminar, called Mastering Breath Awareness--An 'MBA' in Managing Stress gives participants an opportunity to learn about various advantages of practising breath awareness, including:

• How stress affects your physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually;
• How to use your breath to create physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being;
• How to find and breathe from your core and the importance of doing so;
• How to reduce the constant chatter and noise in the mind and increase concentration;
• How to live in the present and banish worry and stress;
• How to release accumulated stress and get a good night's sleep.

A seminar workbook, and an accompanying CD, helps to provide a bridge from exercises & techniques reviewed in the seminar to incorporating them into one's personal life.

For more information on Larry Johanson, on other courses that he offers, or to contact him, please visit the Becoming Achievers website at: www.becomingachievers.com.