Waking up to the Present: Vipassana Meditation and the Body

Using ethnographic methods I examine the process of learning vipassana meditation, a form of meditation in which the practitioner focuses on their bodily sensations, and the ways in which learning this form of meditation affects the practitioner\u27s daily life. I employ reflexivity alongside an ethnography of the particular to capture my experiences as the student of a Thai Theravada Buddhist monk who teaches at a temple in Portland, Oregon. Through this process I have found that learning vipassana meditation pervades numerous aspects of daily life, extending beyond direct instruction and meditation practice, bringing about perceptual changes in reality as learned concepts become embodied through both meditation and lived experience

2010 YCAP Needs Assessment Report

This report outlines the Yamhill Community Action Partnership (YCAP) areas of need, strength, and improvement. Low income and unemployed individuals receive significant support through YCAP programs, including transportation, housing, and bill pay assistance. YCAP programs were assessed during the spring of 2010 through a client survey

Discussing Diagnosis in Gluten Intolerance Communities

Individuals within gluten intolerance communities, whether online or in support group settings, regularly discuss their narrative experiences with illness and diagnosis, culminating in the identification of gluten intolerance as being the source of what may have been years of suffering. In this way their experiences with illness and the social interactions that have accompanied their illness are structured into a brief narrative that creates continuity and order out of a chaotic experience. Through the analysis of ninety-one blogs and ethnographic fieldwork conducted at ten support group meetings and one national conference, I examine the relationship between the recitation of these diagnosis stories and an individual\u27s subsequent adopted role within the group. The performance of a diagnosis story effectively gives the performer an expert status on their own experiences and the knowledge they have attained through those experiences, and with this authority, they are able to participate as active contributors within the group. The sharing of a diagnosis story also legitimizes the individual\u27s diagnosis of gluten intolerance, regardless of how it was made, as their narrative situates the individual in opposition to the consumption of gluten, which is often recognized as a common enemy throughout the community