About Us
Mayu
Japanese: cocoon
- a place of stillness and protection that allows great transformation
Sanctuary
- shelter or refuge one can turn to for help, relief or escape
- a source of aid or comfort in times of difficulty
A meditation center as unique as your spiritual journey
Mayu is a community meditation center honoring all contemplative practices.
We offer companionship and spiritual support to people of every background, belief, and level of experience.
Mayu is a co-op: member-owned, member-operated, and member-supported. Our retail store and classes are open to the public, with discounts for members. Our drop-in meditation, foot baths, and private retreat room are open to members.
At Mayu, we know meditation. Our staff and our teachers are committed meditation practitioners. The advice and recommendations we offer come from our own experience, and what we’ve learned from our teachers and our fellow meditators.
We believe meditation is way of life, rather than a hobby or a trend. We're delighted with all of the attention mindfulness is getting in the media today, but we know that the benefits of meditation really come with patience, dedication, and community. That's where we come in.
Our Beginnings
Mayu started in 2011 as an innovative community meditation center. In the heart of one of Denver’s busiest neighborhoods, we opened our doors as a drop-in center without affiliation to a spiritual lineage, religious teacher, or specific tradition. Our goal was to bring meditation into the everyday lives of ordinary people. Whether for the beautiful, serene atmosphere of our sanctuary, the relaxing walk-in services, or the wide-ranging contemplative classes, visitors expressed wonder and appreciation for our unique oasis.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
~ Buckminster Fuller
Our Evolution
We began operations as a traditional for-profit business model, and reconciled our inventive vision to it. After three years of rapid growth, we could feel something special emerging. Our visitors became members, members became enthusiastic advocates, and little by little a community of like-minded practitioners was forming.
At the same time, we began to feel the constraints of conducting ‘business as usual.’ As meditation practitioners, our management and staff saw the necessity in aligning our business practices with our personal values. In 2015, we took the pivotal step to convert Mayu into a cooperative corporation (a co-op) – a collectively-owned, democratically-controlled enterprise based on equality, responsibility, and sustainability.
“When we find a good story and fully give ourselves to it, that story can act through us, breathing new life into everything we do. When we move in a direction that touches our heart, we add to the momentum of deeper purpose that makes us feel more alive.”
~ Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone, Active Hope
Our Maturity
In the years to come, Mayu Meditation Cooperative will continue to evolve, offering services and companionship to anyone on the inner journey. Providing sanctuaries of stillness, both literal and figurative, remains our mission. Working collaboratively with our community of member-owners will always be our method.
If you’ve felt the need for more balance and purpose in your life, if you’ve wanted companionship while navigating your spiritual path, or if you’ve wondered how to contribute to a more enlightened economy, we warmly invite you to join our exceptional community at Mayu!
Our Philosophy
1. In the absence of chronic negative influences, the body tends toward health and the heart tends toward happiness.
Mayu exists as a reprieve from the obstacles, obligations and worries of daily life, in order to let hearts and bodies mend naturally.
2. Each person has within a reservoir of wisdom, creativity and resilience that is cultivated through moments of stillness and silence.
Mayu exists to offer a profoundly peaceful environment in which people may again become familiar with their forgotten inner resources.
3. Because an ill person can be joyful and a healthy person miserable, one cannot underestimate the relationship between mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health.
Mayu exists to promote the advancement of mind-body disciplines, and to make the integration of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health more acceptable and accessible.
4. Even in the midst of life’s most tumultuous moments, there exists in everyone an undisturbable place of clarity that arises with awareness in the present moment.
Mayu exists to demonstrate that every moment in life is precious, unrepeatable, and instructional when honored with gentle attention.
5. We formulate ideas, construct our self-identity, and behave based on how we perceive the world around us.
Mayu exists to spotlight the beauty and benevolence that is often overlooked, but which exists in abundance.
6. Contentment is a long-term endeavor that requires an on-going commitment and reprioritizing of one’s life agenda.
Mayu exists to provide continual reassurance and support to those who are inquisitive about, and dedicated to, examining the meaning of a life well-lived.
7. When people feel safe in their own skin and comfortable in their life situation, they radiate a sense of serenity to everyone around them.
Mayu exists to encourage mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being, which always brings greater harmony to the community at large.