Mindfulness Retreats

Tune In to Ease:  Cultivating a Healthy Mind

Mindfulness practice develops an open and kind perspective that helps us accept the pleasant and unpleasant aspects of experience and meet the changing conditions of our lives with greater ease and flexibility.

In this retreat we will explore steps toward cultivating a healthier mind: a mind not lost in the past or future; a mind not so filled with the patterns of wanting, a mind capable of happiness and presence. We will investigate the mental qualities that neuroscientist, Daniel Siegel, uses to describe well being: flexibility, adaptability, coherence, energy and stability.
Freeing the mind of unnecessary stress is something we all desire.

Participants will:

• Receive meditation instructions and guidance to develop a personal mindfulness practice.
• Deepen into an already established mindfulness meditation practice.
• Experience the power of a silent retreat environment in helping calm and focus your mind and brighten awareness, moment by moment.
• Learn gentle yoga movement and breathing techniques for healing and renewing energy
• Experience the role of mindfulness, compassion, joy, and self-kindness in the process of healing

All levels of experience and practice traditions are welcome. This retreat is open to new meditators and to experienced practitioners alike.  Basic mindfulness instructions, walking instructions, guided meditations, along with mindful movement will be offered to help us discover joy and ease in our practice. There will be talks by the instructors, and small group discussions will allow reflection on your experience with the instructors and each other.

Each of our instructors has an extensive personal mindfulness practice and many years of teaching in healthcare settings and retreat experience.

Instructors

Jeanne van Gemert, MFA, LMBT, MA, LPC

Jeanne van Gemert is a Mind/Body Therapist utilizing Body-Centered and Expressive Arts modalities as well as Mindfulness Meditation. Jeanne assists individuals and groups to understand, transform and integrate their emotions, beliefs, thoughts and spirit.  Using skilled attention, Jeanne offers collaborative multi-modality interventions that promote the unfolding of individuals' psyches and provide deeply meaningful experiences. Jeanne has been an Instructor in the Duke Integrative Medicine Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program since 1999 and is a graduate of the Community Dharma Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Jeanne is a co-founder and teacher at Triangle Insight Meditation Community in Durham, NC.

Phyllis Hicks, D-Min, LPC

Phyllis Hicks is a psychotherapist, meditation teacher and minister. She directs the Pastoral Care and Counseling Institute, a nonprofit in Durham, NC and offers psychotherapy, Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and clinical training. For twenty-five years she has melded eastern and western understandings of psychology and contemplative practice, studying with a variety of western Vipassana teachers since 1999. She trained intensively with Gregory Kramer in the practice of Insight Dialogue since 2004 and teaches Insight Dialogue retreats internationally. She is a guiding teacher for Triangle Insight and faculty for the Metta Foundation’s Whole Life Program.