Aware Meditation Inc. will bring its inaugural Mental Health Awareness Event in collaboration with Rise Up Comedy, Hot Medusa Comedy at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles on August 27th, 2022.

Mental Health Awareness Wellness is the foundation of the event. The fundraiser hosts mental health education, information about non medication proven stress reduction techniques & laughter via live comedy. Laughter has scientifically proven to swap cortisol in the bloodstream with, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins naturally. These reduce anxiety, feelings of dread and depression, decrease blood pressure, muscle tension and improve cardiovascular health, mood, cognitive function to name a few. No better format to release stress, learn about anxiety solutions while feeling uplifted knowing that the ticket price is going towards a non profit.

Rise Up Comedy, is a comedy-minority based collective (female, BIPoC, LGBT, Mental or Physical Disabilities) led innovative outreach project of Los Angeles-based Aware Meditation Inc. They produce shows with clean comedy that emphasizes positivity, uplifts the talent, audience, and hosting location. Performances are free of racism, sexism, prejudice, and abuse. The Los Angles show collaborates with Hot Medusa Comedy a female, BIPoC, & LGBT led entity. Comics include rising local stand-ups Suwon Weaver, Paula Jane Newman, Nikole Denise, Keith Graber, newcomers Truc Nguyen, Julie Stinson and Colorado based Lou So. It is hosted by the Zephyr theatre in Los Angeles.

“We are fusing awareness, healing & fundraising in one swoop” said the Aware Meditation Inc founder & chronic pain warrior Paula Jane Newman, who has shared her meditation instruction on ABC’s “Celebrity Wife Swap” and on other television programs and podcasts. A U.S. immigrant at 19, she paid her own way as a first gen college student at Carnegie Mellon University but overworked fulfilling the American Dream and within 5 years she sustained a repetitive stress injury in an office which forced her life to turn 180. “Everything fell apart, my health, my dreams, my romantic status & my capacity to make money. I just filmed the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie and couldn’t even dress myself. I sank into deep depression, was unable to sleep due to the pain, & my body developed a tolerance to the prescribed pain medication.” However, it was her examining the causes of her mental pain that led to her physical health shift. “My constant sense of doom and despair was centered in my mind not my body. I realized this tracked back further than when I sustained my injury and the only way to address the deep rooted trauma issues was to put down all suppressants/mood shifting substances that were masking my awareness of these root causes and do the inner work.” It was during this time she found meditation to cope with anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. She became a teacher of these practices to help others who were in similar financial situations as herself. “These services should be available to all, not just those who can afford it. Stress makes all conditions intensify. Release the stress and we have a deeper capacity to adapt and heal”.

Aware Meditation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides simple, self-sufficient stress reducing techniques aimed at eliminating stress and expanding cognitive capacities. Through its Global Outreach Initiative, Aware Meditation makes instruction available to lower-income and marginalized people at no cost.

The Mental Health Awareness, Comedy and Meditation Show will take place at 1:30 p.m. on August 27th at Zephyr Theatre 7456 Melrose Ave, in Los Angeles. For more information on the event, or to schedule an interview, contact Aware Meditation.

Tickets are on their website via Humantix https://www.awaremeditation.com