Spirit First News - Spirit First

Spirit First Offers Free Meditation Series

Spirit First begins hosting a series of Saturday morning meditation sessions, and we hope you can come! There is no charge for the meditations, but you must contact us at to reserve a seat.

July 17 (third Saturday in July)
10:30-11:30 a.m.
1901 Powder Mill Road
Silver Spring, MD 20903

August 21 (third Saturday in August)
10:30-11:30 a.m.
1901 Powder Mill Road
Silver Spring, MD 20903

Sessions will continue in September but our date is not confirmed.

Our series will include practice of meditations you can use at home to reduce and eliminate stress. Many of our attendees will be new to meditation, so please feel comfortable to come regardless of whether you are a beginner or a seasoned practitioner. We will offer leadings in various meditation practices (including mindfulness practice). Our meditations will begin at 10:30 a.m. and continue up to an hour. Following the meditations we will have vegetarian, whole, organic refreshments available.

For more information, contact Diana at or at 240.274.2367.

Past Events

"Letting Go and Living in Harmony with Yourself" Retreat

Jonathan and Sanjivani - Spirit First Retreat

Spirit First held its Autumn 2009 retreat on October 24 at the River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bethesda. Our keynote speaker, New Zealander Jonathan Evatt, led us in meditations throughout the day and brought our awareness to understanding that the path to Letting Go of a thing lies in the experience of fully feeling it. Carol Thornton opened us to a discussion of letting go of spiritual clutter and the need for creating space, creating a space of acceptance, for those things within our own selves that we judge or despise and want to Let Go of. She also introduced us to mindfulness eating in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. French-Canadian Sanjivani Marie Amma, an Ayurvedic therapist specialized in the ancient Indian healing wisdom of Nadi Vigyan (neurotherapy) and in Ayurvedic medicine for women, introduced us to the Shamanic way of Letting Go. Her meditations were powerful, poetic, and profound.

We had many gifts of music in our retreat day, beginning with the mystical sounds of the flute from Joe Sullivan and the native sounds of the drums from Karima. Jonathan played piano for us on a baby grand. We had a special musical performance from singer/songwriter Felicia Rose and concluded our day with a Sacred Circle Dance led by Sufi Initiate Thomas Maxwell. We were all new to sacred circle dancing and may have stumbled a little in following our steps, but the experience was wonderfully unifying and deeply moving.

I have loved this day of peace with you and look forward to our next gathering.

Spirit First announces 2010 Poetry Contest Winners

First Prize: $150
Second Prize: $75
Third Prize: $50

Spirit First is pleased to announce the winners of the first annual Spirit First Meditation Poetry Contest. An amazing total of 741 entries arrived from 42 states in the United States and 23 nations worldwide. We received entries from 42 states in the United States, with the state most represented being New York (80 entries) followed by California (50 entries). The state of Utah had one single entry (we are grateful for this lone entry...). We received entries from 23 foreign countries including Armenia, Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, England, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Scotland, South Africa, Turkey, Wales ( Cymru). Canada came in with 21 entries, India with 18, and South Africa with 11. We are especially pleased and proud of our participating poets who have a different mother tongue. Thank you for making this extra effort to express your poetry in our English language.