MBSR Graduate Retreat 2 - 4 December, 2011 Friday evening - Sunday afternoon A two day retreat for MBSR graduates in Bowral, Southern Highlands Led by Timothea Goddard and Eva Papadopoulo

Don't meditate to fix yourself, to heal yourself, to improve yourself, to redeem yourself; rather, do it as an act of love, of deep warm friendship to yourself.
In this way there is no longer any need for the subtle aggression of self-improvement, for the endless guilt of not doing enough.
It offers the possibility of an end to the ceaseless round of trying so hard that wraps so many people's lives in a knot. Instead there is now meditation as an act of love. How endlessly delightful and encouraging.

Bob Sharples
Meditation: Calming the Mind

In this retreat we will be spending time coming home to the body and the heart and the mind - to see what is there. It is an opportunity for the sustained practice of bringing curiosity and compassion to everything that arises, and to notice what happens when we do this. We will be using journaling to explore the unfolding of practice over the weekend.
The retreat will be largely in silence, but with opportunities for interviews with the teacher, talks and discussions about our practice in the group.

As the weeks, months or years have passed, you may have noticed that it has been challenging to keep up your commitment to being awake. Over time, you may have lost touch with the changes and discoveries you made as your old coping patterns have re-emerged and captured your attention.

Here is an opportunity to refresh and renew your original promise to yourself. Join with other MBSR graduates in the country-side where your only responsibility is to yourself. Everything is provided for you in regards to food and lodging. Imagine being mostly silent, where there are no phone calls, answering machines, e-mails, and people to respond to. Imagine when there is discussion; it is meaningful conversation relating to the flow of your inner and outer life and how to attend to it with care.

We will be practicing in the good company of fellow travellers, eating wonderful food and walking in the beautiful gardens in Bowral.

Accommodation and food
Accommodation is in single rooms with shared bathrooms, bedding supplied. Catering will be by Lucinda’s Fine Food Café in Bowral.

Venue
Hartzer Park, Bowral

Cost
$395 for accommodation, food and teaching (inc. gst)

Dates
December 2nd (Friday evening 6pm for dinner) until 4th (Sunday afternoon at 4pm)

		Teacher Timothea Goddard "I have found that people's relationship to practice can be incumbered with ideas of duty, becoming just one more thing to do in a day, a burden. I am passionate about the possiblity of meditation becoming an act of intimacy and exploration, rather than a burden." Timothea has trained in MBSR with the Centre for Mindfulness (CFM), UMass, USA and is accredited by the CFM. Since 2007, she has been offering MBSR training and supervision for health professionals. Timothea has worked in private practice for 20 years as a psychotherapist, educator and workplace trainer, having trained in humanistic, psychodynamic and body-based psychotherapy as well as MBCT and MiCBT. Timothea also works with organizations to design and implement coaching and mindfulness based programs for stress development, leadership and facilitation. She is involved in ongoing research projects. She is the Director of Openground - an Australia-wide network of clinicians and teachers offering MBSR and related programs. She is a long time student of yoga, Aikido and meditation and practices in the insight tradition.
		Teacher Eva Papadopoulo Cert.Couns., Grad Dip. Psychotherapy, Mem., A.A.S.P.  Member PACFA Register. Eva works in private practice having trained in body-oriented, contemporary psychodynamic, developmental and relational orientations. Eva has also had extensive experience in teaching meditation in MBSR and as pain-management with cancer HIV and AIDS and has worked in many organizations offering stress and anger management. Her interest in an integrated body-mind approach both personally and professionally has been deepened through many years of training in various meditation practices, yoga, Ortho-Bionomy, Body Mind Centering (BMC) and dance and theatre improvisation.

To Register and Pay

PAYMENT
-	By EFT via internet banking (Account details below) Please record your surname in the reference field. Account details: Account Name: Openground Bank: ANZ BSB: 012-241 Account No: 4990-00818
-	By cheque or money order Please make cheques/money orders payable to "Openground". Post to: Openground 29 Hodgens St Caloundra QLD 4551
REGISTRATION
Click here to register