On Nov 10th, 2016, Danielle Fazzolari founded Stoop Meditation, in response to an increasing political divide and decreasing kindness manifesting in our society.
Without answers on how to move forward, but with the strongest belief in the power of community and mindfulness, she offered a free guided meditation class on her stoop for her neighbors, with one mission:
““To remind ourselves that it’s okay to feel, and to remind everyone that we have community all around us, we just need to turn to one another.””
What was intended to be a one time offering evolved into a weekly meditation series on the stoop, to continue bringing community together in this mindful way. No judgment on the stoop, no labels, just a bunch of neighbors meeting and hanging out - just as they are!
Why a Stoop?
In its physical form, a stoop is a set of steps, leading up to a home.
But a stoop represents so much more than that. At Stoop Meditation, the stoop represents a place of gathering, where neighbors meet for the first time and where strangers become friends.
IT’S AN OPEN, WELCOMING, FREE TO BE SPACE.
We meditate on the stoop because it can be that simple - we don’t need a fancy place, advanced technology or tons of money, to come together. The stoop is convenient, it’s free to use, and it’s embedded with years of community history. It radiates the energy of all the neighbors that sat there over decades of time, talking, laughing, and going through life together - the joys and the hardships.