Mindfulness Meditation Retreat FAQs

WHEN

#1 Schedule - Morning (9-10:30am ET) and Afternoon (3-4:30pm ET) Sessions 

The morning and afternoon sessions are structured to make it possible for you to bookend your day staying in contact with the themes presented while balancing life, work and relationships.  

Thursday, October 8

  • Afternoon: Welcome & Overview: The Full Aliveness of Inhabiting Grief and Joy in Modern Times (3-4:30pm)

Friday, October 9

  • Morning: Arriving into Sacredness with Body-centered Awareness (9-10:30am ET)

  • Afternoon: Integrating the Sacred Feminine into Healing Grief and Welcoming Joy (3-4:30pm ET)

Saturday, October 10

  • Morning: Grief of Letting Go. Reconciliation and (Self-)Forgiveness (9-10:30am ET)

  • Afternoon: Homecoming: Belonging to Ourselves through Wildness, Wisdom and Wholeness (3-4:30pm ET)

Sunday, October 11

  • Morning: Closing Ritual: Bringing full aliveness into daily life (9-10:30am ET)

WHERE: Virtually By Zoom. Please reach out to Karen or Ashley with any questions or help getting set up with zoom.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

First retreat? Seasoned practitioner? All who identify as women and/or non-binary are welcome whether you are a seasoned retreatant or this is your first time.

 Please note: If you are in the midst of a life trauma, emotional upheaval or instability that might require individual support beyond our scheduled meetings, the retreat format may not be a good match at this time. Should you have any questions about this, please contact Karen or Ashley.

 

RETREAT LEADERS

Karen Bridgett

Karen is a seasoned meditation practitioner with years of retreat experience. With a home in West Virginia, she is attuned to the natural setting of the retreat center and how supportive an environment of beauty and tranquility is to bringing ease into the hearts, minds and bodies of retreat attendees. She is a parent, entrepreneur and free spirit who relocated her family back to Amsterdam in 2017 and has the vision of leading meaningful retreats for women (re-)finding their voices around the world.

karen@potentiaconcepts.com

 

Ashley Gibbs Davis

Ashley is a Qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher, in a 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teaching cohort through the Berkeley Greater Good Science Center and Sounds True, a Certified Integral Coach and a Certified Dare to Lead Facilitator with an MBA from Yale University. She works with groups and individuals to build skillfulness in emotional intelligence, mindfulness, change resilience, empathy and authenticity. She has a lifelong love of studying and bringing to life the teachings of wisdom traditions. She is a wholehearted entrepreneur and parent who plucked up her family in 2018 to travel the world and then relocate to Colorado.

ashley.gibbs@midtownassociates.com

NEW TO MEDITATION?

Some helpful (and optional) links here to get you oriented…

REGISTRATION FEE

The retreat is offered on a sliding scale of $325 - $175 per person based on ability to pay. Please pay at your highest ability as this allows us to scale the fee structure to accommodate a range of financial means. (If a fee presents any challenge for you, please contact Ashley or Karen directly to scale or waive the fee. No one will be denied access based on ability to pay the course fee.)

Payment accepted by Venmo (@Ashley-Gibbs-Davis) or by credit card through Square.

DANA

At the end of the retreat, you will be given the opportunity to offer Dana (Generosity) so the leaders may continue teaching and preparation for future retreats. This is often viewed in the spirit of gratitude for past attendees who offered generosity so that this retreat could be held and a paying-it-forward to future attendees who will benefit from your offering of generosity.

We cannot recommend an amount to donate as these practices are considered invaluable. Your offering should be given from the heart and your honoring and responsible consideration of your financial situation. More info: https://imcw.org/Blog/the-tradition-of-dana

CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY: Contact Ashley and Karen if unforeseen circumstances arise that prevent you from attending,

HOW TO PREPARE FOR A HOME MINI- RETREAT

Designate a space in your home where you set an intention for stillness and practice. This may be an entire room or simply a chair or cushion.

MEALS

Plan your meals in advance if possible. Choose meals that are nourishing and delightful. As the container of this mini-retreat is self-compassion, hold the intention to honor yourself during this time by showing your body care and compassion.

NOBLE SILENCE - Whew! What a relief!

For those of you who were a deer in headlights about noble silence you’re off the hook! That said, you’re invited to find as much quiet as you can during the retreat dates. This might be incredibly challenging if you live with roommates or a family. The practice of wise speech invites us to pause before speaking. We can ask Does this need to be said? Does it need to be said right now? Why am I saying this? How am I feeling? Is there a response I’m seeking? This simple pause and NON-JUDGING exploration can yield interesting insights even if we continue on to say what we were already planning to say.

Observing silence for extended periods on retreat is a common practice to allow our systems to settle and bring an inward focus to our experience. Most often, we are focused on the external world as we engage in daily life through relationships, work, social media, etc. Observing noble silence, and any silence at all, is a sacred practice that allows the revved mind and body to find a level of calm that is healing and restorative.

DRUGS AND INTOXICANTS

While on retreat, it is a supportive practice to refrain from any use of mind-altering substances including alcohol, nicotine, or other intoxicants (with the exception of physician-prescribed medications.) This may or may not be challenging in a home environment. As with practicing silence, simply paying attention to what happens when we set an intention to refrain from a behavior, there can be a lot to notice and grow in our awareness.

DEVICE-FREE ENVIRONMENT

Typically retreats are device-free. Being device-free during an at-home, mini-retreat during a quarantined lockdown might be a wildly absurd suggestion. Here again, the invitation is to set an intention and notice, with kind attention, what comes up. Are there times where device use is a filler or distraction? If so, notice what arises if you pause to consider why you are using a device and ask whether it serves you.

The practice of retreat invites you to notice, without judgement, the twitchy muscles that may have you reach for a device! 😊

IS MEDITATION FOR ME?

My mind is always racing. I think my mind is too busy to meditate. Is this for me?

This is a really common question with the thought that “Meditation might work for other people but it’s not for me.” If you wonder this you are not alone. The objective of meditation is not to leave or clear our minds until they are completely absent of thoughts. Rather, with practice, you may find that when you are meditating your thoughts and emotions are still present but are not so consuming. Meditation and mindfulness are about practicing awareness and acceptance towards ourselves, our thoughts, and strong emotions – not making them go away.

More questions? Contact Ashley at ashley.gibbs@midtownassociates.com or Karen at karen@potentiaconcepts.com