Thank you for your willingness to be a guest teacher at our group meditation. You have been invited to be a guest teacher because we appreciate your skills, knowledge, and experience and believe you have much to offer us.
This short article will help orient you to being a guest teacher at the Boundless Love Project’s group meditation. It will clarify your options as a guest teacher, orient you to the typical agenda of our group meditation, list what decisions need to be made by you, and explain our expectations. We hope this article aids your comfort, clarity, ease, and joy in working with us.
Whoever invited you to teach at our group meditation has hopefully identified your Boundless Love Project liaison and given you their contact information. This liaison will be your point person for everything relating to teaching the group meditation. Direct any and all questions and concerns you may have that are not covered by this article to them.
Questions to Answer
To help us better serve your needs as a teacher, your liaison will be interested in your answers to the following questions.
1. What will be your topic or activity?
What topic do you plan to teach about, or activity do you plan to share? We may have invited you to speak on a specific subject matter or share a specific activity. If so, your liaison will communicate that to you.
2. What changes to the agenda might be helpful, and what parts of the agenda would you like to do?
The below agenda represents our typical agenda, however it can be changed and altered to better suit your needs. The 30-minute meditation is mandatory, yet it can be replaced by another mindfulness practice such as qigong or yoga. Please discuss your ideas on any changes you may want to make with your liaison.
Also, if you are fine with the agenda as is, you are invited to lead as little or as much of the agenda as you feel comfortable doing. Discuss with your liaison what parts you will do and what parts they will do.
Variable • Introduce the speaker
You will be introduced by your liaison before you start speaking. Insert this into the agenda at the most appropriate time given what you decided on who will be doing what.
6:15 pm • Welcome Meditation.
We calm the body and mind and set loving intentions for our time together.
6:18 pm • Welcome and Introductions.
We welcome attendees, share our mission, and explain our nonsectarian nature. Then, we check-in with attendees by having them briefly answer a question that is related to the event’s theme.
6:30 pm • Main Meditation.
A 30-minute guided meditation.
7:00 pm • Meditation Feedback.
People share how the meditation went for them and if they have any questions about the technique or problems that arose.
7:05 pm • Activity.
The activity can be almost anything: a talk, a reading followed by a discussion, a lesson plan, a journaling activity, watching a relevant video, another kind of activity, or a combination of the above.
7:35 pm • Announcements.
Sharing the time and location of our next group meditation, announcing other upcoming events, new resources on the web, and so forth.
7:40 pm • Closing Meditation.
Used to share any benefits we have gained during our group meditation with all beings and all life.
7:43 pm • Speaker Evaluation Forms.
Attendees complete a speaker evaluation form anonymously. This help us know how your event was received by our members. If you would like copies of these, we would be happy to share them with you.
7:45 pm • Finished!
3. Will your talk come from a particular religious or philosophical background?
The Boundless Love Project is both nonsectarian and interfaith. We do not promote any one religious or philosophical tradition as the one and only true way. Rather, we welcome people of all religious and secular wisdom traditions to attend, volunteer, and get involved. Furthermore, we appreciate and embrace all wisdom traditions, and are happy to share their wisdom in a way that helps all people be more loving and skillful.
It would be wonderful if the information you offer is shared in such a way that it can be applied to, and beneficial for, people of all religious backgrounds and those of none. If that is not possible, or if you find it too stifling, and you will need to use speech from a particular religious or philosophical frame, please let us know.
In this case, before your liaison introduces you, they will explain our nonsectarian and interfaith nature, share which tradition you speak from, and encourage people to substitute the words you use for words that make more sense to them, given their own wisdom tradition background. We do this to help everyone feel welcomed and included and to foster appreciation and understanding across the various wisdom traditions.
3. What room set up and audio-visual needs will you have?
Do you have any special room needs? Most of the conference rooms we teach in are small and contain a central desk surrounded by chairs. We can typically fit 6 to 10 people in them comfortably. However, the Dakota County Library offers many sizes of rooms that can be set up with or without tables and with or without chairs. Tell your liaison what your needs are and they will help you get a room that meets those needs.
What audio-visual needs do you have? Will you need a projector and screen, computer with internet, or DVD player? Tell your liaison what, if any audio-visual needs you have, and they will help reserve a room that meets your needs.
4. What will participants need to bring?
Would it be helpful for participants to bring anything such as writing paper and pens, yoga mats, cushions, or something else? If you are teaching qigong or yoga, what type of clothing would it be helpful for participants to wear? Tell your liaison what special instructions will help participants come prepared so they can get the most benefit from your teachings. The liaison will include this information in promotional materials for the event.
5. What dates work for you?
Group meditations typically meet on Tuesday nights from 6:15-7:45 p.m. at one of the Dakota County Libraries.
Your liaison will tell you what dates are available and which location we meet at on those dates. Pick one that works best for you.
6. What kind of meditation will be done at the meeting? Would you like to lead the guided meditation or have your liaison do it?
If you have experience leading meditations, please lead whatever kind of meditation you feel would be most fitting given your chosen topic. Otherwise, work with your liaison to come up with a guided meditation that corresponds to the topic you will be teaching. They can share what might be best given the subject matter of your teachings. Let your liaison know if you would like to lead the meditation, or if you would like them to do it.
7. May we have your permission to videotape, audio record, and photograph you?
May the Boundless Love Project audio or video record your teachings/activity in case we would like to post it to our website? This will give us the option to reach more people with your message.
We may also like to take pictures of the event to use on our website and other materials. Will this be O.K. with you?
8. Provide a summary of proposed talk/activity, personal bio, and photo.
Provide your liaison a short (100 words or less) summary of what you will teach along with a short bio (150 words or less) focusing on your relevant experiences, education, and practice that makes you an authority on your presentation topic.
Also, provide your liaison with a high-quality digital head shot of yourself.
These items will be used to promote your event on our website, in our newsletters, and in other venues. The summary and bio may be edited for length, clarity, spelling, and grammar. The sooner you get this information to us, the sooner we will be able to promote your event.
9. Will you be able to help promote the event on your social media pages?
As promotional materials for your event become generated, your liaison will email you links to the website pages, newsletters, or other promotional materials about your event. Please review them to make sure that all information is accurate. If there are any mistakes, please let us know immediately, so we may correct it.
Then, please share these promotional materials on your social media accounts, and with family, friends, and others who may be interested in attending.
10. Will you be able to arrive 15 minutes before the starting time, or 30 minutes before if you will be using audio visual equipment?
We reserve the room 30 minutes before the group meditation starts. This gives us time to set up the room as preferred, ensure any needed audio-visual equipment works properly, and take a few minutes to center and ground ourselves in the space. It also allows us to be present and welcoming to those who arrive early.
Please aim to arrive 15 minutes before the event, or 30 minutes before if you will need to use audio-visual equipment. Your liaison will meet you then and help you prepare the room to your liking.
11. Do you have any other questions or concerns?
Please let your liaison know if you have any other questions or concerns about the content of the article or about things not mentioned in this article.
Share Your Vision!
We hope you feel inspired and joyful at the thought of teaching at our group meditation. To help you communicate your vision, please answer as many of the above questions as you can, and provide the requested information to your liaison.
To make responding to these questions easier, copy and paste the following text into an email to your liaison. Below each question, write your answer to it.
1. What will be your topic or activity?
2. What changes to the agenda might be helpful, and what parts of the agenda would you like to do?
6:30 pm • Welcome Meditation
6:33 pm • Introductions
6:45 pm • Main Meditation
7:15 pm • Meditation Feedback
7:20 pm • Activity/Talk
7:50 pm • Announcements
7:55 pm • Closing Meditation
8:00 pm • All done
3. What room set up and audio-visual needs will you have?
4. What will participants need to bring or otherwise need to do to prepare?
5. What Tuesday nights (6:15-7:45 p.m.) work for you to teach?
6. What kind of meditation will be done at the meeting? Would you like to lead the guided meditation or have your liaison do it?
7. May we have your permission to audio/video record you to post to our website?
8. Provide a summary of proposed talk/activity (100 words or less), personal bio (150 words or less), and a good quality digital photo of your face.
9. Are you willing to help promote the event on your social media pages?
10. Will you plan to arrive 15 minutes before the start time (6:00 pm), or 30 minutes before (5:45 pm) if you will be using audio visual equipment?
11. Would you like to read the evaluation forms written by those who attended?
12. Do you have any other questions or concerns?
Thank You!
Thank you for your willingness to voluntarily share your wisdom with us. We appreciate your service and seek to make your interaction with us a positive and delightful experience. Please let us know what else you might need to make your time with us more enjoyable.
Wishing you boundless love, peace, and joy!