Accessible. Affordable, Meaningful Mindfulness Retreats
This summer- On-Line
Counts as a prerequisite for teacher Training
In April 2020, Mindful-Way along with the UCSD Center for Mindfulness did it’s first virtual retreat. By April of this year we had completed 10 of these with people participating from all over the world; even if they were in an extremely different time zones. In making a quick pivot to support people during the pandemic, we took a leap of faith not knowing how it would work. We were, and continue to be amazed.(Read testimonials and more here) Each time we’ve been deeply moved by the comments people share at the end. The main theme is the surprise folks find in being able to drop deeply into their lives- at home and experience a peace and depth of awareness in the midst of family and other things that could pull us away from the present moment. When we go on a residential retreat as Hugh and I have done for many years both as participants and teachers, our distractions and choices are removed from us externally. Ideally we don’t have devices with us, and/or the retreat center has no wifi or cell service. We eat simple food that is prepared for us. We leave our family and friends and colleagues behind. And then at the end the biggest question in the room is ; “How can I take this feeling home with me?” We go home and reenter…trying to keep the momentum of extended practice going. When we do a retreat at home, we have to make those choices many times a day, when we have the support of the schedule the teachers and most importantly the group! We make the choice not to pick up the iPad, or open the refrigerator during walking meditation. We feel the urge to go on Social media and we decide not to follow that urge and notice that it goes away on it’s own… . We see that we can be less plugged in at home, we can be silent, and we can find inner refuge. Many people with children, partners or elderly parents they are caring for find that when they do have to interact with people during the retreat, we have the opportunity to do and see everything as practice. During our last retreat, one of the participants had to step away to help with a difficult interaction between two of his children. He texted me and said, “I have just experienced the most grace filled parenting moment I have ever had. The whole way I handled it was in the spirit of the retreat and it felt like the kids could sense it”. There are many things I love about leading these retreats – at the top of the list is the inclusivity, that comes from accessibility and affordability. So many people have said, “I’ve always wanted to do this but I could never get away, or I couldn’t afford it…
We have 2 retreats in June : https://centerformsc.org/online-silent-meditation-retreat-2/ June 8th– 13th Through the Center for Mindful Self Compassion. And June 22nd-27th through Mindful Leader https://www.mindfulleader.org/mbsr-silent-retreat#simplero-section-1616697712760