“This revolutionary act of treating ourselves tenderly can begin to undo the aversive messages of a lifetime.” ~ Tara Brach
The Buddha taught that you can search the entire universe for someone more deserving of your love and affection than yourself, and you will not find that person anywhere.
And yet, for many of us, it seems much easier for us to offer our care, compassion, and even forgiveness to others than to ourselves. We tend to beat ourselves up, or give ourselves an unnecessarily hard time for our “perfectly human” imperfections.
During this silent daylong retreat, we’ll be exploring a variety of different ways that we can offer more of our love, care, and forgiveness to the person we spend the most time with in this life – ourselves.
The format will include both guided and silent meditation, a dharma talk, and walking meditation both inside and on the lovely, spacious church grounds. Lunch will be in silence, and participants are asked to bring their own.
We’ll be gathering for our retreat on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 5:00 p.m in the beautiful, peaceful, light-filled sanctuary of Grace Episcopal Church, 110 N. Church Street in Berryville, VA. The spacious pews are padded, and the quiet church grounds include a large Parish Hall building, and several different lovely natural places to sit and walk. (*There are VERY limited spaces to sit on the floor if you like to do this; please let us know if this is your preference.)
Please note: These daylong retreats usually fill with a waiting list about 3 weeks prior to the day of retreat. Also, meditation experience is recommended, but not required. These retreats are not recommended for those under age 18.
New to retreats? Read: What Is A Retreat Like?
TESTIMONIALS FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS
“As a newbie, I was unsure if I would be able to hang in … When it was over, I didn’t want it to end and was in deep, deep gratitude for the experience; I know it will marinate within me for a very long time, and the impact will be shared forward and outward. The cadence of the meditations was wonderful, and I surprised myself when tears flowed at various times – such a gift to sit quietly and emote naturally. I look forward to attending again, and again …”
“Shell, thank you for a beautiful and powerful day. This retreat was transformative for me, truly a day of awakening. Thank you for your loving and compassionate guidance.”
“Thank you for leading such a beautiful retreat. I felt completely wrapped up in the comfort, safety and structure of the day. It was pitch perfect.”
“As always, it was a pleasure to experience another one of your retreats; each one is a gem and I cherish them. I really feel blessed to have experienced so many hours of your excellent teaching, you really are an expert at what you do and I truly admire the way you hold the space for us as you lead class and retreats.”
“Yesterday was awesome! Seven hours of silence and meditation, just what I needed!! Great leader, great people, great view, great day!! I feel so refreshed! Looking forward to doing it again in the future! Thanks so much Shell.”
“Thank you again for the fabulous experience, and for your expertise that you are imparting to curious minds such as mine. I am grateful for the exposure, and realize I have much to learn about the art of meditation. Thank you for making my first experience pleasurable.
REGISTRATION:
$85 In-Person Registration; $40 Private online streaming. Late registration is unavailable the day of retreat. Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive detailed instructions, suggestions, and directions.
Refund Policy: $35 of the base registration fee is non-refundable. If you cancel less than two weeks prior to the retreat – for any reason, without exception – your full payment is forfeited, and we cannot offer credit or transfers, including transfer to live-streaming. If you register for online attendance, we are unable to transfer your registration to in-person.