Health Matters

Engaged Enlightenment

Group enjoys connection, health benefits from daily meditation at Vann Park

BY JODI KEEN • PHOTOS BY RILEY GUERZINI

Each morning, Vann Park on Evansville’s East Side welcomes a flurry of activity. Walkers trot their dogs across the lawn. Runners stretch their legs by tracing the park’s perimeter. Families converge on the playground, children ambling across the jungle gyms and slides. Pairs sit at picnic tables for a friendly game of chess.

Amidst the bustle, just before 9 a.m. — weather permitting — a small clutch of people congregates on a patch of grass on the far west end of the park. Setting up camp under a broad canopy of trees, they settle into lawn chairs and greet each morning by freeing their minds. Through 20-minute sessions, the group practices meditation, quietly communing with themselves and stilling their thoughts and breathing. They’ve found that the sessions start their day on a positive note.

Meditation itself is not a new practice. Its history traces back to sixthcentury BCE Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist traditions. Its earliest purpose is less clear: Historical studies show it could have been a tool for contemplation or socialization. Meditation took root in early Eastern religions as a way to commune with God and oneself, and the practice has since moved to the western world. In the past 20 years, it has gained a more mainstream following for its research-supported health

RESTFUL RECHARGE Friends and neighbors gather each morning to meditate at Vann Park, an idea originated by Lorenzo Minor.

benefits, but for the group of friends gathered each morning at Vann Park, the daily sessions have provided a much-need grounding after a tumultuous year.

A RAY OF LIGHT IN A PANDEMIC Meditation was a path Lorenzo Minor had already embarked on before the group formed. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Minor, a longtime local baker and namesake of the former Lorenzo’s Bistro on south Hebron Avenue, began practicing meditation each morning at the park. After a few sessions of solo meditation, he invited friends and neighbors to join in — something they were eager to do since it naturally allowed for social distancing.

The group enjoys a smattering of conversation before and after the sessions. Minor chooses a meditation topic via the app Headspace; although the sessions are mostly silent, they are themed around certain affirmations or goals. A woman’s soothing British accent — the app offers a small collection of voices to choose from

COMMUNING WITH NATURE As the group practices meditation, its members have become more in tune with the surrounding nature, particularly a family of hawks that calls Vann Park home.

— softly narrates the sessions, leading participants through breathing exercises and silent recitations for about 20 minutes. The group usually consists of about a halfdozen friends and neighbors. Most are retired from a wide variety of professions — accounting, psychiatry, social work — and have time to devote to morning meditation sessions. Participant Patricia Harralson says many in the group already were meeting for dinner parties two or three times a week, so daily meditation became a way to stay connected to one another during state-mandated stay-athome measures.

“There’s a basic group,” Minor says. “The little group we have is extremely comfortable together, and very loyal.”

Listen On Listen On Our App Our App

9 IN A ROW EVERY HOUR WHILE YOU WORK! 9 IN A ROW EVERY HOUR WHILE YOU WORK!