The Buddha taught many mindfulness tools to help us to live; one of the most powerful and accessible of these is to become aware of sensations in our body. On this retreat, we will begin by exploring one aspect of this, mindfulness of our natural breathing process. This can help create an inner refuge of renewal and touching peace. We will then widen the scope of our mindfulness practice and see how difficult emotions, pleasure and pain, can be grounded in the body. This can help us lessen our reactivity and increase our resilience and equanimity. As practice continues, we will explore the possibility of being grounded in the body while giving space to the full energetic range of our experiences, so that they can unfold naturally, and we can let go of painful and unhelpful clinging. Running throughout the retreat will be the exploration of how an embodied sense of presence can help us to live with less judgment, and more clarity, compassion, and ease.
This workshop will combine reflection, guided and silent meditation periods, and time for discussion at the end. All levels of experience are welcome.
Matthew Daniell is the guiding teacher of NSIMC. He has been practicing Buddhist meditation since the 1980s, including over a decade in Asia, where he practiced Zen intensively in Japan, Tibetan Buddhism in India, and Insight meditation in Burma, India, and Thailand. Read more about Matthew on his teacher page.
The fee for this program is $48 ($45 cash or check). To register and pay online, click below; if paying by cash or check, send an email to northshoreimc@gmail.com.