Insight Meditation Modesto will be offering a benefit daylong with Lori Wong on Saturday, June 18, 2011, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm at Doctors Medical Center, 1441 Florida Ave., Conference Center, room 1, Modesto, CA (the Conference Center is the building between the parking structure and the emergency department) on:

Exploring Mindfulness of the Body

We will explore and develop mindfulness of the body and investigate how mindfulness of the body can bring greater ease with difficult sensations, emotions and mind states into our daily lives.  The day will include experiential sessions and guided meditations with alternating sitting and movement periods including walking, qigong and other movement explorations.  If you come for a partial day and arrive during a sitting period, please enter quietly and sit in the rear until the sitting period is over.  Most of the day will be held in silence in order to cultivate a still and quiet mind; opportunities for questions and discussion will be provided.

Lori Wong has been practicing mindfulness meditation since 2003 and is a Community Dharma Leader in training through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA.  Her mentor teachers in the program are Gil Fronsdal of Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City and Eugene Cash of SF Insight in San Francisco. She has been a student of tai chi and qigong for two years – her teacher is Sifu Neil Thomas of the Kung Fu Institute in Modesto.  She has been on the board of the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City and is currently on the board of the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies and is a founding director of the Buddhist Insight Network.  She leads an Insight Meditation sitting group on Tuesday evenings in Modesto and will be teaching a 6-week Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation course beginning June 26th at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County.

This day is freely offered and is a benefit to help support the development of the Insight Retreat Center in Scotts Valley.  All donations from the day will be given to the Insight Retreat Center (a non-profit 501(3)c organization).  If you wish to write a check, please write it to the Insight Retreat Center.  Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch, if you would like.  Feel free to bring a meat dish for yourself if you require additional protein in your diet.  Dress in loose and comfortable clothing.  For the sake of those who may have sensitivities or allergies, please do not wear scented or perfumed products.  If you have a meditation cushion, please bring it.  Chairs will be available.  Suitable for beginning and all-levels of practitioners.

Insight Meditation Modesto will be offering a daylong with Jeff Hardin of Sacramento Insight Meditation on Saturday, April 16th, from 9am to 4:00pm at Doctors Medical Center, 1441 Florida Ave., Conference Center, room 1, Modesto, CA (the Conference Center is the building between the parking structure and the emergency department) on:

Service as a Meditative Practice: A Study and Practice Daylong

Given all of the chaos in the world, there is a seemingly endless call to be of service to others. We do this daily on an individual level with our friends, loved ones, and even ourselves.  We can also get involved in service with volunteer organizations.  Regardless of what shape our helping takes, it is important to approach service with wisdom and compassion.  Using mindfulness we can investigate our internal and external experience before, during, and after helping others.  When we act from the stability of our insight meditation practice we have a better chance of being helpful without unintentionally harming ourselves or others.  This daylong retreat will look at service as a practice of meditative awareness.  We will alternate periods of discussion with sitting and walking meditation. There will be a brief slide presentation of examples of service and ample opportunities for sharing our experience.

Jeff Hardin has been practicing meditation since 2000. His areas of interest are participating in residential meditation retreats, studying the original discourses of the Buddha (the Pali suttas), and international humanitarian relief work. He teaches meditation as a community mentor for the Sacramento Insight Meditation group. He is on the boards of Insight World Aid, the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Folsom Pathways Sangha.  He also volunteers for Buddhist Global Relief. He is enrolled in the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders (CDL4) 2-year training program.  His supervising teachers are John Travis and Gil Fronsdal. Jeff works as an emergency room physician in Sacramento.

This day is offered by Insight Meditation Modesto and Jeff Hardin. Donations for Jeff and Insight Meditation Modesto are gladly accepted. Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch.  If you wish to sit on the floor and have a zabuton and/or meditation cushion, please bring it.  Chairs will be available.

For the sake of those who may have allergies or sensitivities, we kindly request that you do not wear any perfumes or other scented products to this workshop.

Insight Meditation Modesto will be offering a daylong with Carla Brennan on Saturday, March 12th, from 10am to 4:30pm at Doctors Medical Center, 1441 Florida Ave., Conference Center, room 1, Modesto, CA (the Conference Center is the building between the parking structure and the emergency department) on:

DON’T WASTE YOUR PAIN: 
A Mindfulness Retreat on Working with Suffering

To be alive means that we sometimes experience pain and discomfort. Learning to meet this discomfort with presence, non-reactivity and open-heartedness is one of the most important lessons of being human. We can discover how it is possible to find freedom and peace in the face of difficult, challenging circumstances.

This retreat will explore mindfulness practice and its skillful use in working with physical and emotional pain. The day will flow between silent sitting and moving meditation periods as well as teaching sessions with reflection exercises. For both experienced and beginning meditators.

Carla Brennan, M.Ed., teaches regular meditation classes, daylong retreats, residential retreats, nature-based retreats and other programs in the Santa Cruz area and beyond. Carla is particularly interested in teachings that can be easily integrated into daily life situations.  Her sangha is called, “Bloom of the Present” (www.bloomofthepresent.com) and meets weekly for dharma talk and meditation in Felton, CA.  Practicing Buddhist meditation since 1975, she has been trained in the Theravadan, Zen and Tibetan traditions and was a primary teacher with Vipassana Santa Cruz for five years. In 2009, Carla was approved by the Spirit Rock Teachers Council to be a Vipassana teacher. She has also been a Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher for 18 years, is an artist and former psychotherapist.

This day is offered by Insight Meditation Modesto and Carla Brennan. Donations for Carla and Insight Meditation Modesto are gladly accepted. Please bring a vegetarian potluck dish to share for lunch.  If you wish to sit on the floor and have a zabuton and/or meditation cushion, please bring it.  Chairs will be available.