AWAKENING MINDFULNESS & COMPASSION:
A Five-Night Silent Meditation Retreat
in Collaboration with Big Bear Retreat Center
WITH DIANA WINSTON, LESLIE BOOKER, MARVIN G. BELZER, AND LISSA EDMOND
September 28 - October 3, 2023
Join Diana Winston, Leslie Booker, and Marvin G. Belzer, and Lissa Edmond (movement) for a five-night silent retreat in the beautiful natural setting of the Big Bear Retreat Center, only two and a half hours from Los Angeles. We will spend our days deepening our meditation practice in the service of cultivating wisdom and compassion needed to transfer out to our lives. As we settle our minds, supported by nature, we can see ourselves and the world with deeper clarity and allow our inner wisdom to emerge.
The retreat will include sitting and walking meditation with ongoing guidance, lecture and instruction from the teachers. We will also have an opportunity to practice cultivating positive emotions, mindful speaking and listening, mindful eating, as well as experience the depth of stillness that can come through an extended period of practice.
This silent retreat is suitable for beginning or experienced students. It meets the requirements for the MARC IPP and TMF programs.
COST INCLUDES MEALS, LODGING, TUITION, AND TEACHER COMPENSATION
*No dana for this retreat is expected*
Visit Big Bear Retreat Page for Cost Details
RETREAT SCHEDULE:
Sept 28: 2-4pm Registration and Arrivals
Oct 3: 12pm Checkout and Retreat Closing
ACCOMMODATIONS:
The Center consists of several single-story buildings and cabins for dining, meditation and sleeping. Our residence cabins are large furnished and comfortable with 3-4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, living rooms, a full kitchen and decks outside in nature for shared use. Our residential cabins and rooms are simply furnished with a balance of comfort and simplicity. All beds are twin, and all bedding is provided by the center.
THE MEDITATION HALL:
Our beautiful meditation hall is a large room that accommodates most meditation and movement retreats. We have supplies for most participants, but guests are always welcome to bring their own supplies (not required). Guests can typically expect to have access to a zabutan (large cushion), zafu (small cushion), yoga mat, blocks, a meditation chair, a blanket and a selection of other yoga and meditation props with limited supplies. If you’re unsure, please contact us or visit our welcome guide for more details.
MEALS:
The Center provides fresh, healthy meals made with seasonal and organic ingredients to support a nourishing time in retreat. Meals begin with dinner on arrival evening through to breakfast on departure morning. For this retreat, meals will be offered to support meditation retreat practice with a simple medium breakfast, hearty lunch, and light dinner (typically soup and salad). All meals will be vegetarian, and we accommodate most major dietary restrictions. Snacks will be available in the dining hall 24/7, including teas and coffees. The Center has refrigerators in the cabins and dining area for guests to store their own snacks – please bring any foods that might support your time here.
WORK MEDITATION: This retreat will include a daily work meditation service period, or “yogi jobs”, around 30-minutes a day. This is an opportunity to practice in service of community and bring your practice into daily roles at the center. More details and a sign up sheet will be shared at registration.
RIDESHARE: For this retreat we have set up a self-organized rideshare page that you can visit at anytime before. We will send email reminders closer to the retreat. We encourage ridesharing when possible. https://www.groupcarpool.com/t/ugzv8o
COVID POLICIES: For this retreat we are requiring a rapid test on arrival day. Masking and vaccines are optional.
Guests are asked, when possible, to bring their own rapid tests or test before travel on arrival day. Tests will be available at center for those that did not bring.
For any questions please contact [email protected] or visit the website bigbearretreatcenter.org
RETREAT LEADERS
Diana Winston
Diana Winston, Director of Mindfulness Education Email: [email protected] Diana Winston is the Director of Mindfulness Education at MARC, the author of The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering your Natural Awareness, and the co-author, with Susan Smalley PhD, of Fully Present, the Science, Art and Practice of Mindfulness. She has taught mindfulness for health and well-being since 1993 in a variety of settings including the medical and mental health field, and in universities, businesses, non-profits, and schools. At UCLA she has developed the evidence-based Mindful Awareness Practices (MAPs) curriculum and the Training in Mindfulness Facilitation (TMF), which trains mindfulness teachers worldwide.
Leslie Booker
Booker brings her heart to the intersection of Dharma, Embodied Wisdom, and Liberation; using this framework to support folks in creating a culture of belonging. She shares her offerings as a university lecturer, public speaker, and Buddhist philosophy and meditation teacher. Booker began training at Spirit Rock through the Mindful Yoga and Meditation training (2012), and supported by her teacher Gina Sharpe, continued her formal Dharma teacher training in the Community Dharma Leaders Training (2017), and the 4 year Retreat Teacher training (2020). Throughout these years, she has worked as the Director of Teacher Trainings for Lineage Project.
Marvin G. Belzer
Marvin G. Belzer, Ph.D, Associate Director, MARC Email: [email protected] Marvin G. Belzer, PhD, has taught mindfulness meditation for twenty years. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences. For many years he taught a semester-long meditation course in the Department of Philosophy at Bowling Green St. University, where he was an Associate Professor of Philosophy. He teaches an undergraduate course at UCLA (Psychiatry 175: Mindfulness Practice and Theory) and teaches mindfulness in many different venues.
Lissa Edmond (movement)
Lissa (they/she) is a certified meditation and mindful movement teacher as well as a board-certified mental health nurse practitioner. Lissa began a dedicated practice in yoga and the dharma in 2008 as well as in qigong in 2018. Lissa studies in the Insight and Zen Buddhist traditions. Lissa identifies practice as a deep form of love and care and is particularly interested in the intersections of dharma, justice, and embodied radical care. Lissa shares practices that are compassionate, accessible, and trauma-responsive for the wellness and liberation of all beings. For more information, please visit https://embodiedheartmind.com