Mindful Shenandoah Valley - Meditation Community

Both In-Person and Online Streaming Options Available

All phenomena are constantly changing, arising and passing and arising and passing again into something new – including ourselves. “Life” is really a continuous flow; a verb instead of a frozen noun. Yet so often we suffer because of our very human tendency to grasp and cling to what is essentially in motion – especially our own identity as a solid and unchangeable “self.”

Freedom and ease come from being able to recognize, allow, and align ourselves with this minute-by-minute, second-by-second flow, and to identify more with the vast, loving ocean of awareness that is simply riding the waves of experience.

During our time together, we’ll be exploring a variety of guided and silent meditations to put us more in touch with the changing flow of phenomena, a talk on annica (impermanence), silent walking meditation, lunch shared in silence, and quiet time in nature.

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 5-day meditation retreat, we’ll be deeply exploring and nurturing the heart practices of kindness, compassion, joy, and a sense of profound ease (or equanimity) – for the person we spend the most time with – ourselves.

In the Buddhist tradition, these four essential qualities of heart are called the Divine Abodes, or the Bhrama Viharas, which translates as the “dwelling places of the gods.” And the idea is that, through our practice, we can not only nurture these qualities, but eventually, we can become these qualities … and “dwell there,” in the home of our body, mind, and heart.

Our silent retreat together will include dharma talks, periods of both guided and silent meditation, walking meditation, and Q&A sessions about these essential practices. Check-in will be from 4-6 p.m. Thursday, and the retreat will end at 12:45 p.m. Monday, followed by lunch.

Some meditation experience might be helpful, but the practice and its teachings is applicable to all, and all are welcome.

THE TEACHER: Shell Fischer, founder and guiding teacher of Mindful Shenandoah Valley, offers more than 35 years of extensive mindfulness practice and study. She is a Buddhist teacher, trained in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition at Naropa University – the nation’s leading contemplative university – and in the Theravadan Vipassana (Insight) tradition by Dr. Tara Brach – one of the world’s foremost Insight teachers. She is also a graduate of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction teacher-training program led by Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, founder of MBSR and the Stress Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.
Prior to teaching, Shell wrote about mindfulness and yoga for national magazines. Her main focus as a teacher is on metta (loving-kindness) practice, and her hope is to guide her students in nurturing even more kindness and compassion for themselves, and for all the situations they find themselves in throughout their lives, through the practice of meditation and mindfulness – which she believes everyone can learn.

THE RETREAT CENTER: Peterkin Camp & Conference Center, 286 Clubhouse Rd., Romney, WV
Nestled in a valley of unsurpassed natural beauty, and surrounded by the South Branch of the Potomac River, the sprawling, private campus at Peterkin offers a refuge of quiet, serenity, and peace amid the rush of our everyday lives.

Peterkin boasts 1,400 acres of private forest with clean mountain streams and miles of hiking trails. It is about 60 minutes from Winchester, VA, and about 2 hours from Washington, D.C. There is also a beautiful outdoor yoga pavilion, 200-year-old poplar trees, walking paths right along the roaring creek, and a walk to The Falls.

This serene, secluded center includes comfortable beds (single or shared) with shared bathrooms. The exquisitely quiet meditation hall on campus sits right next to the creek, and is heated and air-conditioned, with windows that also allow the sounds of nature to be enjoyed while practicing.

The food service staff provides nutritious, delicious vegetarian meals, and special dietary needs can be accommodated with notification prior to the retreat.