Hello,
Newcomers are quite welcome to join us on Saturday mornings. However, experience has shown us that some preparation before coming your first time is preferred to "just dropping in to try it out".
Coming to a group sitting with experienced meditators if you've never practiced before is a little like joining some runners for a 10K run when you haven't run since high school gym class. Sitting very still, for two half hour sessions, is quite a lot for some people. If you're already meditating for 20 minutes or more, fairly regularly, you'll probably get alot out of it. If you haven't really practiced on your own, I would suggest you try it at home, first, and see if you like it.
This Link http://www.mro.org/zmm/meditation/index.html contains excellent instruction on sitting Zazen. I really can't add anything to it. It will get you started in meditation on the right "foot" (actually, your rear end- ha, ha).
The book we recommend to people new to Zen practice is Everyday Zen by Charlotte Joko Beck. You can find it at Davis-Kidd, Borders, on line, and we keep a small stock at the Barn. We list some other great books on our website, as well.
Group meditation is a wonderful way to support one's individual practice, but the group sitting is not the primary focus of Zen practice- it's the everyday, hour by hour, moment by moment attempt to be present and mindful. You don't need to wait to join a class or a group to get started on this path!
You can visit our contact page for more information.