Holding a little bell in one hand, Dr. Om Johari instructed the eight meditation students before him in a Niles classroom to focus on breathing in and breathing out.
As they focused, he occasionally tapped the bell, producing a chime that reminded them to bring their attention back to their breathing.
“His meditation techniques have helped me so much,” said one of the class members, who didn’t want her name used. “It helps me not to worry about things as much as I used to.”
That’s exactly why Johari, 70, facilitates the meditation classes, as well as teaching laughter meditation, sudoku and a certified driving course for people age 50-plus that can get them a discount on their auto insurance.
He started life as a scientist, leaving his native India to get his Ph.D in materials science, specializing in electron microscopy at the University of California-Berkeley.
He worked for 11 years at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, then started his own…
