Mindfulness and Matters is scheduled to open in West Hartford on Sept. 1, 2016.

Image courtesy of Kim Green

By Ronni Newton

A dream that West Hartford resident Kim Green has dared to dream is about to become reality when she opens her very own meditation studio on Sept. 1.

Since last winter, after recovering from a life-threatening MRSA infection acquired in the hospital, Green has been leading guided meditation sessions on Thursday evenings at Saint Peter Claver Church in West Hartford. Over the past several years meditation has been become Green’s salvation, a tool that has helped her calm her mind and face each day with strength and positive energy.

West Hartford resident Kim Green will open Mediation and Matters on Sept. 1, 2016. Courtesy photo

This is not just making lemonade out of lemons. Green has Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, has had 60 operations in the past 18 years, and has endured countless doses of chemotherapy. Her husband was laid off from his job last year. But through the support of family and friends, her very strong faith, and now meditation, she has faced everything that life throws her way and she’s excited that she can now share “Mindfulness and Matters” with others.

“I wanted a place to call my own, what’s brought me so much contentment,” Green said. “There’s no one else in the area yet, and this will be very unique,” she said of the non-denominational studio that will be a safe and comfortable place for people to drop in and learn about mindfulness.

“I had been googling spaces around the area, but rents were astronomical,” Green said. Then, after a trip to the dump with her husband on Fourth of July weekend, Green said she stopped at Blaze and Bloom at 485 New Park Ave. and happened to meet the building manager.

She learned that a medical supply business had moved upstairs, leaving a 300 square foot ground floor space empty. “I’ve felt a pull for so long to that place,” Green said of the eclectic 485 New Park building, and the rent was affordable. Someone else had already expressed interest, but after a few days on the wait list, Green got a call telling her she could have what she called “the coolest little place.”

“Ken was ecstatic,” Green said of her husband’s reaction. “He said, ‘Just do it!'”

Green plans to start slowly, with meditations twice a day probably in the mid-morning and early evening. The space is fairly small, and can accommodate about 15-20 people at one time, she said.

In addition to meditation, there’s the “and Matters” part – a retail business featuring “things related to peace and mindfulness,” Green said. Many of her friends are artisans, and she plans to offer a mix of things that represent her and make her feel good.

She also plans to host community events and fundraisers, for example a “Sit for the Cure” to benefit Komen Southern New England.

Green has already started painting the Mindfulness and Matters studio at 485 New Park Ave., and said the decór will be similar to Blaze & Bloom, featuring repurposed and reused objects. It sends the message of “being content with what you are,” she said.

“I’m so anxious to do it for myself,” said Green, who has worked in retail at places like Giftology and Toy Chest.

Green is working on her website and planning a soft opening on Sept. 1 with a grand opening later in the fall. The timing is perfect she said, now that her daughter Tessa will be a senior in college and her son Torrie – the one she was pregnant with when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998 – will be a college freshman this fall.

Two weeks ago Green wrote the following in a post to her blog, “Eighteen Years of Pink“:

I have had a dream for the past two years. I watched it almost fade from view last summer when I was fighting for my life. I have a dream to share with others, the tool I have found to help me understand myself, find more peace, and above all, accept myself; just the way I am. No more pretending. The real deal, flaws and all. What a relief, what a gift!

I was busy today… I applied for my CT Business License. I re-tweaked my business plan some more. And…. I got my key to my very own meditation studio that now officially has the name of:

                   Mindfulness and Matters
                  ~ Meditation and much more!

My dream is coming true. Dare to dream, it will happen for you, too!

“We feel like we’re on the right side of the page for the first time in a long time,” Green said of her family.

“It’s fun, it’s exciting, and I hope it will be well-received.”

For information about Green’s ongoing meditation sessions at Saint Peter Claver and to keep updated on plans for the studio, follow Mindfulness and Matters on Facebook or visit her website.

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