Continue to Practice with us in 2013 ! Dates for Mindfulness, Meditation, and Conferences:
May 25th Day Of Mindfulness in The Desert : A Day long retreat of Mindfulness meditation, yoga, Mindful Eating, and talks by the teachers. Rancho Mirage, Ca with Beth Mulligan and Hugh O’Neill. Learn more and register here.
Summer Mountain Mindfulness Retreat!
July 26-28th in Idyllwild, Ca : learn more here
This summer you can spend a whole weekend learning and practicing mindfulness meditation, walking, and enjoying yoga in the mountains, at our Summer Mountain Mindfulness Retreat. July 26-28th at Yokoji Zen Mountain Center. As always we’ll be offering foundational mindfulness practices in a retreat format, in a beautiful monastic setting enjoying delicious vegetarian food. We have the great pleasure this year of partnering with Celeste Brooke-Young from Insight LA Celeste teaches Basics of Mindfulness for InsightLA and has been meditating and practicing Yoga for more than a decade, including Yoga in the Hatha, Ashtanga and Anusara traditions. In 2006, she found a natural calling in teaching Yin Yoga while studying with Eckhart Tolle’s partner, Kim Eng. Celeste received her certification to teach Yoga from Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley in 2007.
We’ll also be joined by Noelle Pederson, music therapist and director of programs at Resounding Joy Inc a non profit organization the helps people heal through music. Learn more about this wonderful organization at : Resounding Joy Inc 
I have participated in Noelles workshops and found them to be absolutely transformative and tremendously fun! This retreat is great for people who want to learn about the benefits of Mindfulness experientially (the only way you really can learn about it) and haven’t been able to do the eight week course yet, and or alumni of eight week MBSR
We’ll have classes June through August, including the Mindful Woman (Starts June 4th and MBSR Starts July 9th) at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative medicine at UC Irvine. Please check their website for details and registration.
Other Local Mindfulness Events
May 11th :
A special conference for Physicians at UCSD.
May Workshops at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center including a class with Shinzen Young May 29th: learn more here
June 1st: A Day long retreat with Larry Yang, through Insight Community of the Desert in Rancho Mirage, CA learn more here
June 8th a Special Day with Tara Brach at Insight LA learn more and register here.
June 23 A Day long retreat with founder and guiding teacher Trudy Goodman learn more and register here.
May Message From Beth Mulligan- Founder Mindful-Way
Come Just as you are: Sono Mama
Recently Hugh and I were invited to teach mindfulness practices and mindful yoga to a group new to us, The San Fernando Valley Hongwanjii Buddhist Temple, as part of their first temple retreat. They are a warm, truly committed and connected group (sangha) of all ages, races and backgrounds. We felt truly embraced and honored. They practice under the great guidance of Reverend Patricia Usuki and are deeply grounded in the Buddha’s teachings. Our role was to bring in the way Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and others have translated these teachings and practices into modern western language and brought them into major Medical Centers, universities, schools and businesses, in ways shown through research to provide health benefits and vastly improve quality of life.(The main form is an 8 week curriculum called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR).I came away profoundly touched by the way group treated us, worked joyfully together and by the Sunday morning talk that “Rev. Patty “ (as they call her) gave on Sunday morning. First she asked us to reflect upon all the things we were grateful for that allowed to us to be at the retreat as well as things we were grateful for that occurred during the retreat. “ You probably notice that the list is really endless. Now reflect for a moment on something unskillful you may have done or thought during the weekend, remember in Buddhism we don’t think so much in terms of good and bad but rather skillful or unskillful.” Then with a slight giggle, she continued,” Like me you have been mad that we ran out ice water for a while or that all the blueberry bagels were gone. Or perhaps you found yourself judging someone.” I found myself recalling a moment when I not only judged someone, but also shared my judgments with another person thereby spreading my negativity. “Now,” she said, “See that one does not negate the other. Even when we are unskillful, we are still receiving all the good the universe can offer. It’s not conditional on our perfection. There is a Japanese expression that embodies what our practice is all about. The phrase is ‘SONO MAMA’, it means just as you are. Come just as you are with all your foibles, strengths, just as you are.” (another translation I read is “just as it is” . Our mindfulness practice is a way we can embrace ourselves and this often difficult life just as it is and as we are without judgment, and with compassion and kindness. As Suzuki Roshi said, “You’re perfect just as you are, and there is still room for improvement”. Join us to learn, get support and grow your practices at one of our many offerings this summer (check the schedule here), and a big thank you to Reverend Patty and the Hongwanjii Temple and all of our teachers everywhere through all time.
Book recommendation of the month: Just One Thing by Neuroscientist and psychologist Rick Hansen 
This book of short practices is something I often read in the morning before I sit.
” These are great practices- wise, straightforward, scientific,and nourishing. They can transform your life.” Jack Kornfield PhD
“Delightfully clear and practical, this book distills profound insights from ancient wisdom traditions, modern psychology, and cutting edge neurobiology into simple techniques anyone can use to live a happier, saner, more rewarding life.” Ronald Seigle Professor of Psychology , Harvard Medical School author of the Mindfulness Solution
Here’s a great talk by Dr. Hansen, ‘Stress Proof Your Brain’
Did you know that there is new magazine called Mindful?
