Dates: Monday, September 17, 3:00pm – Sunday, September 23, 11:30am
Sliding Scale: $1505 – $685, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 392R18.

This retreat is already in progress.

Retreat Description:
This retreat is suitable for both beginning and experienced meditators. We will work primarily with the first of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness – mindfulness of the body. The “32 Parts of the Body” meditation has rarely been taught in the West; you will be introduced to it from an Insight perspective of the true nature and wonders of the body. This practice has also been used for healing illness and most importantly to help eradicate the erroneous view of self. Various methods will be taught to strengthen mindfulness of the body and to explore the mind/body connection.

We will follow the usual format of an Insight Meditation (Vipassana) retreat, with periods of sitting and walking meditation, as well as qigong sessions for further exploration of mindfulness of the body.

Quotes from past participants:
“This retreat helped me realize more deeply the true impermanence of my body while cultivating a deep appreciation and gratitude for the miracle and mystery that this human body represents.”

“I really came to realize that my body, indeed, is a vessel in the truest sense of the word. I have always had great respect and awe for the workings of the human anatomy and physiology, but meditating on its parts and functions brought me even closer to the wonder of it all.”

Spirit Rock extends a special invitation to young adults (age 18-26) who wish to attend this retreat at a rate of $35 per night, on a first come, first serve basis. A limited number of special rates are available, please apply early.

Teachings are appropriate for all, including health care professionals. Health care professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program when working with clients. Continuing Education (CE) credit available. See below for more information.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals-

Based on the content of this workshop, health care professionals will be able to:

• Integrate the theory and practice of mindfulness meditation in ways useful to clients;
• Communicate to clients, and incorporate in a professional setting, the positive effects of deepening the quality of concentration in order to reduce stress and improve well-being;
• Use, and describe to clients, ways to identify and ease mental and physical compulsions by developing kind, open, and non-judging attention;
• Incorporate practices when working with clients to identify and establish a greater balance of compassion for oneself and others;
• Incorporate skills to work more effectively with stress, and be able to share these skills with clients;
• Utilize non-judgmental, moment to moment awareness of the relationship between the body and mind, in ways that may be shared with clients;
• Incorporate mindfulness meditation skills with clients to improve their sense of well-being and personal life control.
• Identify at leases 4 benefits of mindfulness meditation that are useful in health care;
• Describe the relationship between a health care professional’s mindfulness practice, and improved clinical outcome;
• Incorporate mindfulness of breath practices to develop presence moment awareness, and to calm the mind in preparation for, and when working with clients.
• Utilize a variety of qigong movements in preparation for clients or patients in ways that may reduce stress and improve patient care.
• Utilize a variety of qigong movements after working with clients or patients to cultivate qi in ways that may prevent burnout and emotional exhaustion.
• Utilize qigong techniques to strengthen the endocrine and immune systems, in ways that may reduce anxiety and tension.