The Power of Presence – Mindfulness Association Member’s and Teacher’s Retreat

Friday 6^th March at 7pm to Wednesday 11^th March at 3pm

With Heather Regan-Addis and Jacky Seery

Price: £250.00 for MA Members

Booking: Please contact info@mindfulnessassociation.net

During this retreat we will be exploring the Power of Presence, by grounding in the body, abiding with the support of breathing, cultivating an attitude of compassionate holding and resting in open awareness. There will be teachings on the above topics and opportunities for sharing our experiences with each other through mindful enquiry.

However, the focus of the retreat will be the practice of presence, including mindful QiGong movement, body awareness practices and daily life practices.

The first weekend of this retreat will include the option of attending sessions from our spring membership weekend, led by other MA tutors.

This retreat is suitable for those who are just starting their mindfulness training as well as those who have years of practice experience. It is suitable for mindfulness teachers and will meet the BAMBA retreat requirements including periods of silence. To meet the needs of mindfulness teachers, there will be some optional sessions during the retreat to support mindfulness teachers in developing their teaching practice, in particular enquiry skills. For more details about the MA Membership please click here.

The teacher inhabits the practice of mindfulness. This is particularly conveyed through the teacher’s body in terms of his/her physical and non-verbal expression. Embodiment of mindfulness involves the teacher sustaining connection and responsiveness to moment-by-moment arising (within self, within individuals and within the group) and bringing the core attitudinal foundations of mindfulness practice to all of this. These attitudes are non-judging, patience, beginner’s mind, trust, non-striving, acceptance, and letting go (Kabat-Zinn, 1990).

In this weekend and retreat we will explore what the power of presence means.

On this retreat we will be embarking on a journey to cultivate and deepen our embodied presence through teachings, practices and opportunities for sharing.

Drawing on the Compassion, Insight and Wisdom courses, these will include practices for deepening our sense of  feeling rooted and grounded in the body; mindful movement practices for cultivating ease and flow; practices for cultivating compassionate presence;  and practices for tapping into the wisdom that naturally resides in the body. All of these contribute to the experience of embodied presence which gives rise to a wellspring of qualities that enriches every aspect of our lives.

We will also be looking in more depth at the qualities of Embodiment explored in Domain 3 of the MBI-TAC : present moment focus, responsiveness, calmness and vitality and the natural presence of the teacher. We will look at the attitudinal qualities of embodiment in more depth, exploring how it is to be patient, accepting, trusting, not judging or striving.

There will be opportunities to enhance and practice your inquiry skills too as well as share with your like-minded community of mindfulness teachers.

This retreat will satisfy your retreat requirements for your BAMBA registration.