Green Tree Meditation Center

I had a strange misleading and strange experience, I would not recommend.
First and foremost, I attended Green Tree Meditation’s «Free Introductory Session,» but learned meditation else where. I believe this technique works and anyone can learn this easily online in a day without a price .
My problem isn’t with the technique, it’s with how misleading Green Tree Meditation is when it comes to business practices. I understand that teaching meditation takes time and energy and hey we all need to make a living, but what’s unethical is how GTM’s website says, «There is no one set fee. Instead, we follow a time-​honored tradition of having the student determine their own course fee based on a few simple guidelines. In essence, we have an individualized course fee that each person determines on their own according to their means.» Then the site promotes to attend a «free» intro class.
If the «guidelines» are so «simple,» why not put them on your website?
I felt completely embarrassed and guilted and I see why it’s hard to say no to the guy the runs GTM, Christian. I went into the intro class thinking, this is great, I don’t have a ton of cash right now and I want to change my life, and here is a teacher that will allow me to «determine my own fee.» I was willing to be honest with what I could afford. The minimum cost to learn your mantra (a meaningless word that you can easily find free online) with Christian is $ 500 but he wants more, his rule is «one weeks salary.» He asked me what I did for a living when he was greeting everyone before the intro, so of course I couldn’t claim 500, I had a full time job, but it didn’t meant I could even afford the minimum. At the time I was making 1500 a week before taxes (but paying off some giant student loan bills & rent in LA), so my mantra would have costed me $ 1,500. So yes there is «no one set fee,» but it’s misleading, there is a set fee, and that wording beats around the bush. For legal purposes, GTM’s wording can’t be held against ‘them’. From there the scale goes up to thousands according to your income. His justification is that it’s a four day course and you learn the technique and blah blah blah… When I asked why it was so expensive to learn a word and repeat it in my head while sitting quietly, Christian got kind of heated as he tried to explain. He said it was an «age old tradition to bring offerings to your meditation teacher.» I asked nicely and was a good question.
At first I thought I wanted to pay to be part of the community, Christian seems to have students that seem like great people. But on a business end, through wordplay, GTM advertises the cost of learning how to meditate as «determine your own fee» and lured me in by having me come in for a ‘free’ course, then at the end of the free course, I along with other people were passed a piece of paper and pens without being given any explanation of what the paper was. At I first signed thinking it was a newsletter signup, but there’s fee at the bottom that I actually agreed to pay, which is my one weeks salary and must be the minimum of $ 500. He wanted me to pay right away. It was hard to say, «um i’m going to think about it» because then he pushed dates on me in front of everyone. «We’re going to start tomorrow, so you should pay now so you can start with all of us.» I personally felt by passing out the paper without explaining it’s purpose was a guilt tactic method. He ‘nonchalantly’ tried to collect the paper from me, but I and my best friend whom I brought with me wouldn’t give it to him. He went from all smiles to straight faced, it was so awkward. It’s nice GTM has a «lifetime» follow up, but instead of Christian promoting himself as a somewhat not for profit spiritual teacher with a «determine your own fee» course, he should promote himself as a spiritual business man who teaches and who wants to make a profit because he values what he does. If GTM was more honest and didn’t play word games, ‘they’ would have had my respect and business. We all need to make money.

In the past I thought meditation was just not my thing. I took classes from Insight LA, Against the Stream and read all sorts of books about meditation but just could not sit still. I sort of gave up on the endeavor until a friend of mine had great results after learning from Christian. At the time I battled with depression and could not sleep through the night without my anti-​depressants and anti-​anxiety pills. Three months after taking the course with Christian I was able to get off of the drugs and sleep with ease.
As with anything you get what you put in. It is a reciprocal relationship. If you do the practice, you will see benefits. And if you have questions, you just need to ask. The course is wonderful and the continued follow-​up (in the form of weekly group meditations and follow-​up emails) is priceless. I feel very lucky to have stumbled into Green Tree.

I’ve never meditated before and never considered it until a friend suggested I try Green Tree. I took the 4 day course and absolutely loved it! Under Christian’s humor-​filled and loving guidance, I was able to meditate and release some stress, be more present and focus. I look forward to further enriching my life and continue the Sunday group meditations at Christian’s! If you are looking for ways to improve your life, the meditation course that Christian leads is a great way to start!

Christian is fantastic!
I found out about Vedic mediation through Light Watkins class and Christian subbed for him one day when he was injured. So my review is based on the few days that I saw him speak during our intro week and during Sunday’s gathering.
I just read Allison’s review below and I think it’s unfortunate that her misunderstanding of the class and the process of Vedic meditation was so limited to just the 4 days she spent in the introductory class. I think if you take full advantage of the community of teachers and students, the Sunday gatherings, and the refresher courses, the money spent up front becomes a drop in the bucket down the road.
It was very clear to me from the beginning that the fee was one weeks salary based on your annual income. I too am a mom of a 5 month old and have a lot of expensive demands (cost wise) on the family right now. I am also a freelance photographer and am working on a start up so my income is relatively low right now but I based my payment on the income received over the last year.
It took me a while to process the cost of this class partially because I didn’t know what I was getting into and it’s tough to make an expensive commitment to the unknown. But after attending the 4 day class I understood that it was an investment in my lifelong learning of meditation, not just a four day course.
Of course there are drop in donation based courses that I could have taken but it became apparent to me that I needed not only a class but a teacher. I’ve been in and out of meditation classes for the past 10 years and I am by no means a «great» mediator but I like knowing that I can call or email someone whenever I need to with questions.
If you are interested in making meditation a lifelong endeavor I highly recommend this form of meditation. If you respond well to very positive, uplifing, and laid back teachers… then Christian is your man.

UPDATE — I’m not sure which «Allison» the owner is referring to in his response to my review. 1) I have no kids, 2) I don’t have an organic diet, and 3) I’ve never had raw dairy products in my life. He must be confusing me with another student.
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I do not recommend this place.
I went to Green Tree about two years ago. I scoured the website to look for the price of the classes but could find none. When I finally called, the owner said, «Just come and you’ll learn all about it.» I explained to the owner that because I was in between jobs, I was looking for something affordable.
After sitting through the introductory session, I was told that the one week course would cost one week’s salary. Because I was in between jobs, I didn’t have a salary obviously. I told them this and they said «give what you can afford.»
However, when I tried to give them $ 150 in cash (mind you, for just a week’s worth of classes), Teresa, the owner’s wife balked and said, «If you’re not working now, you need to give us one week’s salary of your former salary.» She got pretty aggressive about this which made me really uncomfortable. I had told them well in advance I was looking for something reasonable, and they were not candid at ALL about their pricing.
Sadly, I ended up giving them the money but I felt so uncomfortable about the whole thing that I never went back. Meditation should happen in a safe, comfortable place. It’s hard to relax when you feel you have been misled and are being harangued about pricing from the owners.
The owner and his wife also claim that they will be your meditation coach «forever». Well, forever is a long time and I don’t really buy that.
Last thing: the post above by Teresa is a total sham — she’s posing as a customer, but she’s the wife of the owner. Not cool.
Long story short — I felt really played by these people; I’m sure they mean well, but the whole thing made me feel really uncomfortable. There are a TON of meditation places around the westside that you can go to for donation only: Insight LA, Against The Stream, Self-​Realization Fellowship, Ananda, to name just a few…

Earlier this year, I was close to reaching a breaking point; I was really overwhelmed. I knew I had to find a way of creating balance in my life. I had tried meditation before but found it difficult to «turn my brain off» and was not able to reap the benefits I’d heard came with the practice.
I attended the introductory class at Green Tree after having looked for learning opportunities on the Westside. Christian’s ability to describe the physical, emotional, and scientific effects of stress on the body was eye-​opening. I subsequently signed up for the basic meditation course. While his teaching technique is personal and laid back, Christian is able to supply a tremendous amount of information and tools to his students.
I have experienced a shift in my life since applying what I learned and am grateful to the Green Tree Meditation Center.

I have tried to learn to meditate for years without success. However, with Christian’s guidance I was doing it easily every day with an amazing amount of stress relief.

As a student at USC, I saw meditation as a practice that seemed far fetched from me– I thought it had nothing to do with me. I thought: meditation is just another one of those things that «zen» people do. Never did I think that I would become a meditator.
After each meditation, I am of a clear mindset, extremely relaxed, seemingly happier, and more motivated than ever. It feels as if I just took a long nap and dreamt of the solution to my problems while doing so– all in 20 minutes.
I understand if you are skeptical at first, and don’t believe that you need it. However, if you give it the chance, your skeptic self will be proven wrong by, well, yourself! It’s not the knowledge and persuasion of the instructor that will lure you in (although this does makes the course and practice especially wonderful)… it’s the experience of meditating for the first time. You WILL experience a noticeable, physical and mental difference.
The instructor is extremely nice and approachable and guides you through learning meditation very well. He will not leave anyone behind! And as for Vedic meditating: if you are in any way stressed in your life or feel you need more clarity, or even if you don’t feel that way (like I did when I decided to try meditation), Vedic meditation WILL help you. How it’ll do so? It’s hard to explain, but words can only say so much right? I can rave about it all day, but if you don’t try it, you won’t know what the rave’s all about.

I have never before written a Unilocal review, but felt inspired by this course and wanted to share. Christian is a wonderful instructor who makes Vedic Meditation something that is accessible, practical as well as powerfully life altering. Probably the best thing I have done for myself over the past three years.

Vedic Meditation is a highly recommended supplement to the work I do as a Chiropractor, Nutritionist, and Brain Balance Kineologist. This type of meditation is very helpful in particular for those experiencing OCD & ADD disorders in addition to the well documented overall health benefits and stress management it provides. Christian Bevacqua leads Green Tree Meditation at his home in Venice. He offers free intro to meditation talks. I Highly recommend it for all.