Mindfulness practice has been shown to increase our self-awareness and ability to regulate emotions, and improve our relations with others. Mindfulness is an important component of compassion, which requires awareness and clear-seeing into our stress, both as individuals and collectives. Compassion involves acknowledging stress and suffering, combined with the wish or actions to alleviate the stress. One of the ways our society and systems perpetuate suffering is through oppression, which arises when there is a power imbalance, where some groups are over-empowered and other groups are treated as inferior.

This silent retreat is for those already teaching or interested in teaching mindfulness-based programs (MBP) such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Therapy and Mindful Self-Compassion. In addition, it is open to individuals who would like to further develop their mindfulness meditation practice. A familiarity with mindfulness meditation is expected. An important aspect of teaching MBP is the requirement to have a personal mindfulness practice. This 5-day retreat will consist of sustained periods of silence, (vital for deepening a personal practice and fundamental to teaching), afternoon sessions of engaged inquiry into exploring the attitudinal foundations of mindfulness, additional meditation practices to foster and strengthen kindness and compassion, and evening talks. Throughout the week there will be scheduled group and individual meetings with the teachers. The Retreat meets the requirements for teacher training and certification at the Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute, University of California at San Diego.

This silent retreat is for those already teaching or interested in teaching mindfulness-based programs (MBP) such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention Therapy and Mindful Self-Compassion. In addition, it is open to individuals who would like to further develop their mindfulness meditation practice. A familiarity with mindfulness meditation is expected. An important aspect of teaching MBP is the requirement to have a personal mindfulness practice. This 5-day retreat will consist of sustained periods of silence, (vital for deepening a personal practice and fundamental to teaching), afternoon sessions of engaged inquiry into exploring the attitudinal foundations of mindfulness, additional meditation practices to foster and strengthen kindness and compassion, and evening talks. Throughout the week there will be scheduled group and individual meetings with the teachers. The Retreat meets the requirements for teacher training and certification at the Mindfulness-Based Professional Training Institute, University of California at San Diego.