Nourishing the Roots of Joy

Carleton Memorial United Church 740 Melfa Crescent, Ottawa, ON, Canada

A tree blooms when it's nourished with water, sun and soil and space to grow. Joy is a blossoming of the heart with its roots in the development of awareness, kindness and ethics. We can't snap our fingers and make ourselves feel joy, but we can live in ways which cause it to grow and flourish. Teachings, meditation practices, exercises and discussion in this daylong retreat will open our eyes to how we can each nourish the roots of joy in our lives. Everyone is welcome: this is suitable for beginners as well as more experienced meditators. Registration Information: Registration can only be done HERE. Members of Mindfulness Ottawa: a special rate for current members of $40. General Public: $55 regular rate. Reduced rate for students, unemployed and retired: $35. Our sliding scale fees are intended to not exclude anyone; please contact us if you need additional reduction in fee. Free-will donations (dana) to support my teaching practice will be invited at the end of the day. Space is limited to 40 participants! Register soon to ensure your place. Cancellation policy: You may cancel and receive a reimbursement of your registration fee up to 24 hours before the event begins. After that no refund will be given but you may transfer your ticket to someone else. Please inform us as soon as possible if you need to cancel. What to bring: Please bring cushions, benches and a yoga mat or blankets if you wish to sit on the floor. These are not provided on site. Chairs will be available. Bring a light lunch; tea will be provided.   Further information: mindfulnessottawa@gmail.com

$35 – $55

The Awakening Heart

Galilee Centre 398 John Street North, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

Insight meditation offers us a way towards freedom from habits of confusion, clinging and resistance, the drivers of human suffering. As drivenness diminishes, we come home to who we truly are and can be open and intimately present in the unfolding of life. The warm quality of presence is love; our deepening practice reveals the boundlessness of an awakened heart. This retreat will explore within our own experience how insight and wisdom free us to love wholeheartedly, and how love liberates us from the painful delusion that we are isolated and separate. This retreat is recommended for people with a foundation of meditation practice, and a previous insight retreat. There will be optional Feldenkrais (Awareness Through Movement) sessions offered by Janet Maxwell.   Registration Information ARRIVAL TIME: 3:30-5:30 pm, Wednesday, July 18. The retreat will conclude by lunch on Sunday, July 22. Everyone is welcome to stay for lunch. COST: TNI is dedicated to offering affordable rates to all. TNI retreat fees are on a sliding scale basis that allows participants to pay according to individual means. Fees do not include compensation for the teachings, and teachers rely on the generosity of retreatants for a sustainable income. There is an opportunity to offer dana (donations) to the teachers at the end of each retreat. The deposit is included in all of our fees. Sliding Scale:              $505– $575 - $640 Deposit:                      $255

$505 – $640

Relating to Ourselves and Others with the Hearth of a Buddha

Galilee Centre 398 John Street North, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

Co-Teacher: Jean Esther  When we go on retreat and dive into silence and inner awareness we have the opportunity to recognize and release the habits of mind that limit our freedom and peace. Possibly the most challenging and important arena into which we bring our practice of mindfulness is relationships. While we may want to respond to our intimate relations, colleagues, friends and neighbors with authenticity and an open heart, relationships are often the context in which old reactive patterns are triggered. In this retreat Daryl Lynn Ross and Jean Esther will explore how to be intimate with ourselves, and authentic and compassionate in how we relate with others. The retreat schedule will include sessions of mindful speaking and interaction as well as times of silence, all engaged in with a spirit of kindness. Sitting and walking meditation, teachings, mindful movement and discussions about practice will round out the retreat schedule. This retreat is open to all, and is not specifically designed for couples. Couples and individuals of all sexual and gender orientations are welcome.  Please note: we ask that couples not share a room together.   Registration Information ARRIVAL TIME: 3:30-5:30 pm, Thursday, August 9. The retreat will conclude by lunch on Sunday, August 12. Everyone is welcome to stay for lunch. COST: TNI is dedicated to offering affordable rates to all. TNI retreat fees are on a sliding scale basis that allows participants to pay according to individual means. Fees do not include compensation for the teachings, and teachers rely on the generosity of retreatants for a sustainable income. There is an opportunity to offer dana (donations) to the teachers at the end of each retreat. The deposit is included in all of our fees. Sliding Scale:              $390 – $440 - $490 Deposit:                      $195  

$390 – $490

The Four Noble Truths: Undoing the Causes of Our Suffering

Galilee Centre 398 John Street North, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

The Four Noble Truths are the core of the Buddha’s teaching. They are a plan of action to release the stress, anxiety, and tension in the mind, heart, and body. The teachings approach this in a non-conventional way. We are not trying to change anything, but are learning to be with life as it unfolds. We use the calm, peace and well-being that come from meditation as a springboard for greater insight into our life and our true nature. Insight is the doorway to wisdom and...

$505 – $640

Daylong Retreat – Moral Intelligence and Integrity: An Afternoon of Meditation, Teaching & Community

Yoga on the Park Studio 5582 Sherbrooke St. West (metro Vendome, aut #105), Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Buddhist moral teachings are not a list of do's and don'ts that we are supposed to follow. They are guidelines and practices that develop inner discernment to help us live with integrity and kindness. At the heart of the matter is a commitment to minimize the harm we cause in the world and to support life. Morality, along with wisdom and meditation is an essential element of the Buddhist Path. To have integrity in our thoughts, speech and actions supports the love, insight and...

$30 – $50

Abiding Mindfully in the Body: Meditation and Yoga Retreat

Galilee Centre 398 John Street North, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

The Buddha said, "There is one thing that, when cultivated and regularly practiced, leads to deep spiritual intention, to peace, to mindfulness and clear comprehension, to vision and knowledge, to a happy life here and now, and to the culmination of wisdom and awakening. And what is that one thing? It is mindfulness centered on the body."  The first mindfulness practices that the Buddha taught were attending to the body— coming to our senses. Mindfulness of the body is an invitation to open to...

$505 – $640

Nourishing the Roots of Joy: An Afternoon Retreat

Yoga on the Park Studio 5582 Sherbrooke St. West (metro Vendome, aut #105), Montreal, Quebec, Canada

A tree blooms when it's nourished with water, sun and soil and has space to grow. Joy is a blossoming of the heart with its roots in the development of awareness, kindness and ethics. We can't snap our fingers and make ourselves feel joy, but we can live in ways which allow it to grow and flourish...

$30 – $50

Relating to Ourselves and Others with the Heart of a Buddha

Galilee Centre 398 John Street North, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

When we go on retreat and dive into silence and inner awareness we have the opportunity to recognize and release the habits of mind that limit our freedom and peace. Possibly the most challenging and important arena into which we bring our practice of mindfulness is relationships. While we may want to respond to our intimate relations, colleagues, friends and neighbors with authenticity and an...

Moving Through Loss and Grief to Freedom

Loyola House 5420 Highway 6 North, Guelph, ON, Canada

Loss is part of life; no one escapes change and loss. We might ourselves feel lost, not knowing how to continue on when someone we love has died, a relationship ends or a dream or vision no longer seems possible. Sitting together, with the guidance of the teachers and within the stability of meditative awareness, we will explore how to compassionately accept the pain and confusion of loss, see its universality and be open to...

Simple, Profound and Liberating: Discovering the Essence of Dharma

Galilee Centre 398 John Street North, Arnprior, Ontario, Canada

Vast numbers of wonderful books and discourses have been written and spoken about Buddhist teachings, yet the essence of the practice is profoundly simple and miraculously liberating. When we wholeheartedly open to the unfolding of life as it is, not turning away, distracting ourselves or imposing our beliefs on how things should be, we experience the fullness of life living through us. Within the silence and warmth of the practice community, with the guidance of the teacher, we will meditate together and...