Mindfulness Retreats

The Heart of Healing

The human mind and body have an amazing capacity for healing. Extensive research has shown that this capacity can be engaged and enhanced by a range of mindfulness practices. One such practice, mindfulness meditation, has the potential to reduce stress, anxiety and depression, improve immune function, and has proven to be effective in treating a number of chronic physical conditions.  Meditation becomes even more powerful in combination with the practice of compassion, which can provide a buffer against negative feelings, enhance health and wellbeing, and is associated with greater life satisfaction.

This retreat will provide training in these two powerful mindfulness practices, as well as guidance in gentle yoga, yogic breathing, new approaches to chronic pain, and in the use of imagery for healing.

All levels of experience and practice traditions are welcome.  This retreat is open to new meditators and to experienced practicioners alike.  Basic mindfulness instructions, walking instructions, guided meditations, along with mindful movement will be offered to help us discover hte 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.

Participants will:

Experience the role of mindfulness, compassion, joy and self-kindness in the process of healing

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

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

Instructors

Mary Brantley, MA, LMFT

In addition to teaching she has developed and taught a course based on loving-kindness meditation. She is co-author of The Gift of Loving-Kindness: 100 meditations on Compassion, Forgiveness, and Generosity from New Harbinger Publications.

Mary Matthews Brantley has been practicing meditation for over 25 years. She has done many intensive retreats and her teachers have included Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Larry Rosenberg, Rodney Smith, Ruth Denison, Joan Halifax, and Thich Nhat Hanh. She has been an instructor in the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program at Duke Integrative Medicine since 2000. She has a master’s degree in psychology from Pepperdine University of California.

Sasha Loring, M.Ed, LCSW

Sasha Loring, M.Ed., LCSW is a meditation teacher, psychotherapist and health educator.  She has considerable experience with meditation and yoga, has led retreats in centers around the country, and has taught the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses and the Mindfulness Training for Professionals program at Duke Integrative Medicine.  She has studied Medical Chi Gong, and specializes in mind/body therapies.  She has developed a number of courses/workshops on mindful eating and is the author of the book Eating with Fierce Kindness:  A Mindful and Compassionate Guide to Losing Weight.  Sasha has been interviewed on several radio stations, and for the Wall Street Journal, Body and Soul Magazine, and for the eMindful internet education Web site.