When: 29 Apr 2025 - 4 May 2025
Where: Online Event
Tutors: Frits Koster, Bridgette O'Neill, Jetty Heynekamp
What’s involved?
This online retreat provides a wonderful opportunity to practice in a supported and sustained way within community whilst taking practice into the heart of one’s home environment. The retreat structure, teaching process and learning community of fellow participants and teachers provide a scaffold to engage in an individual and collective exploration of human experience, supportive of a deepening understanding of mindfulness as a way of being in the world.
The retreat will be structured around perspectives on the four ways of establishing mindfulness from Buddhist psychology and an exploration of four heart qualities known as the Brahmaviharas in Buddhist psychology and as the Four Friends for Life in mainstream mindfulness approaches. These teachings will be offered as a framework to support first-person exploration of experience in formal and informal mindfulness practice – the core curriculum will be the immediacy of personal experience. Whilst having their roots in Buddhist psychology, the themes, teaching, practice guidance and explorations will be presented in terms of their application to mainstream mindfulness programmes such as MBSR and MBCT.
The retreat will include:
- periods of both guided and self-directed practice
- short talks
- sustained periods of silence to enable participants to connect more fully with their inner experience
- time to practice mindfulness informally between the scheduled sessions
- opportunities for group inquiries with the teachers.
The teachers will also be available to talk to people individually as needed.
Frits and Jetty's new book 'Going on a Meditation Retreat - Embracing Silence to Cultivate Mindfulness and Compassion' is due to be published in April 2025.
Who is the retreat for?
This retreat is suitable for people who have attended an eight-week MBSR/MBCT (or similar) course and who have a personal practice of mindfulness. It is open to anyone who meets these requirements and is particularly intended for people who teach or are training to teach Mindfulness Based Programmes and others who are integrating mindfulness into their professional work.
This retreat will enable mindfulness teachers who wish to be included on the BAMBA Listing of Mindfulness Teachers to fulfill the requirement to attend an annual mindfulness retreat. It is also an element of our Training Pathway, delivered in association with Bangor University's Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice (CMRP).
Requirements to attend:
Attendance at an 8-week MBSR/MBCT (or similar). In addition, attendance of at least one day of guided silent mindfulness practice is recommended but not required.
Please ensure you are able to attend the entire event. If this is not possible, please contact us to discuss before submitting an application.
Timings:
The retreat will start at 4pm on Tuesday 29th April and end at 12.30pm on Sunday 4th May 2025.
Retreat Daily Schedule
Tuesday 29th April:
4pm Start of retreat – Orientation
6pm Evening meal & informal practice
8 - 9.15pm Evening practice
Wednesday - Saturday:
7 - 8am Morning practice
8 - 9.30am. Breakfast & informal practice
9.30am - 12.30pm Guidance & practice (including movement/walking practice)
12.30 - 2.45pm Lunch & informal practice
2.45 - 6.30pm Practice sessions
6.30 - 8pm Evening meal & informal practice
8 - 9.15pm Evening reflections & practice
Sunday 4th May:
7 - 8.10am Morning practice & information for last day
8.10 - 9.30am Breakfast & informal practice
9.30am - 11am Practice & Guidance
11am - 12.30pm Interpersonal practice & Sharing
12.30pm End of retreat
Participants will be encouraged to have an intention to cultivate silence to whatever degree is possible for the duration of the retreat.
It is important to us to be able to fully welcome everyone. If you have any specific needs relating to disability or health conditions that may impact on your ability to attend all of the sessions please contact us before the event so that we can discuss ways that can support you.
All times given are UK, BST (British Summer Time). If you are attending from a different time zone, please check equivalent timings in your time zone. Teachers will include discussions around how to manage morning/evening practice sessions for those joining from areas with a significant time difference at the orientation session at the beginning of the retreat.
What to bring/wear:
A mat, cushions and a blanket would be helpful to support your meditation space at home.
Location:
Online, via Zoom.
A Zoom link will be sent nearer to the start date. Please check you have the best internet connection possible. Use of an ethernet cable can improve the quality of the connection.
Our Rates:
Full rate for online event: £427
Bursary-assisted places are available on this event until three months before the event starts. If it is less than three months before the start date of the event, please get in touch to discuss if an application is possible. When applying for a bursary-assisted place, please first register on the event and select the fee ‘I’m applying for a bursary-assisted place’. Once you have registered for the event you will also need to complete and return a bursary application form.
To find out more about our bursary schemes, criteria for bursary applications and to complete the bursary application form please visit: https://home.mindfulness-network.org/bursaries/
Employer's rate - Recognising the large administrative overhead of dealing with employers, we will be adding a £50 surcharge if the employer is paying directly; where possible we would advise applicants to pay themselves and reclaim on expenses to avoid the charge.
The Application Process:
Our application and payment process involves the following steps:
- We receive your application form and assess it to ensure that this retreat is suitable for you. We endeavour to make assessments within a week, but if the retreat leader is on annual leave or on retreat, then this can take a little bit longer.
- Upon offering you a place, we will then invoice you for the full amount.
- Your place is fully confirmed once we receive your payment.
- We will email you the joining instructions in advance of the course.
Payment and Cancellation Policy:
Please read our Terms and Conditions for information regarding payments and cancellations.
For more information:
Please email us at retreats@mindfulness-network.org.
Click here to sign up to this event.
