Mindfulness Meditation: making friends with your mind

Retreat Description

The single most precious asset you have is your ability to focus your attention.  This ability allows life to come into focus and to be experienced deeply. Unfortunately, it seems that in our culture, companies and social media are all working hard to capture your attention.  At this point they are winning. The average American looks at their smart phone 150 times a day.  Americans increased their time on smart phones 117% between 2014 and 2015, one year!  This amount of distractibility creates its own brand of stress, irritability, and vague sense of discontentment.

What you are losing out on with this much distractibility is being present to your real life in the here and now. When you are present you have the opportunity to investigate your own mind and heart through self-reflection, and to be present to the awesome beauty of nature.  Mindfulness offers you the only way you can actually reverse this trend of distractibility. Please join us for a weekend away from your devices, where you can be present to the natural beauty of the North Georgia Mountains and where you renew your friendship with your own mind through the practice of mindful awareness.

Sliding Scale Tuition

Because we understand that everyone has different financial ability, tuition is on a sliding scale that allows participants to pay according to individual means.  Sustaining tuition is $300; mid tuition is $200; and base tuition is $100.  At checkout, you will be asked for a discount code.  For sustaining tuition, no discount code is required.  For mid and base tuition, please enter the code mid200 or base100, respectively.

Retreat Details

The retreat will be led by Helen Vantine, PhD and Stephanie Swann, PhD. The retreat will mostly be held in noble silence as a way to support self reflection and insight through awareness.

The day will consist of sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful movement, and free time for wandering the beautiful mountains of Elohee. There will also be times for individual meetings with the retreat leaders. In the evenings there will be talks related to the topic of living mindfully. This retreat is rooted in Buddhist psychology and ethical principles.

**Please note that the retreat is held in noble silence. There are 2-3 hours of silent meditation practice in the morning and 2-3 hours of silent meditation in the afternoon. Although it is not necessary, participants who attend this retreat often find it helpful to have an established mindful meditation practice.

What to bring

You will want to bring outdoor shoes for walking and hiking (optional). Indoor shoes, slippers, or socks are fine for inside the house. In the meditation hall slippers, socks or bare feet are permitted. Meditation cushions and mats as well as chairs will be available. You are welcome to bring your own meditation mat and cushion or bench if you like. Loose fitting clothes are best for meditation and yoga. You may want to bring clothing for outdoors as well. If the weather permits we will have an outdoor fire on Saturday evening for those who would like to participate.