What we’re about
WHAT WE DO:
We provide a variety of mindfulness meditation experiences (classes, workshops, retreats, mentoring, one-to-one teaching, and therapy), including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) 8-week classes.
"As long as you are breathing, there is more right with you than there is wrong with you, no matter how ill or hopeless you may feel." - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Our mission is to help you open up to all that you are and all that you can be through mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness is "paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgement" - Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness is a form of meditation that stems from Buddhism and is often referred to as Insight Meditation or Vipassina Meditation. Mindfulness meditation is not just practiced on the cushion, through sitting meditation, but it is incorporated in all that we do in our daily lives, moment by moment. In mindfulness we learn to clear our minds, open our hearts, and live life fully through our bodies. Through this process we open up to a greater sense of wholeness and wellbeing within ourselves and a vast connectedness with others and the world. As we build the muscles of mindfulness meditation, we live more fully in the present moment and experience life from a greater stillness, which aids us in relating to both ourselves and others with increased clarity, compassion, calmness and creativity, and less fear, anxiety, and stress. Thirty years of research has indicated that mindfulness meditation is associated with significant decreases in stress, pain, physical and emotional distress (including depression, anxiety, grief and loss), and improvements in sleep, energy, health outcomes, and quality of life.
TEACHERS:
NANCY BRUTSCHÉ, MSN, RN, PMHCNS-BC
Nancy is a board certified Clinical Nurse Specialist and psychotherapist with 30 years experience in health and wellness and a specialty in mood and anxiety disorders. She was trained in Cognitive Therapy through the Beck Institute of Cognitive Therapy, in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) through the EMDR Institute, and have incorporated various theoretical frameworks in my work. Nancy has worked with people with a variety of mental and physical conditions and of all ages. She has had a regular personal meditation practice for over 12 years and extensive training in Mindfulness Meditation, including MBSR, MBCT, Mindful Eating Conscious Living (MECL), and mindfulness in chronic illness, in death and dying, in managing anger, and more. Nancy is a graduate of a two-year program through the Meditation Teachers Training Institute (MTTI) with teachers Tara Brach, Jonathan Foust, Hugh Byrne, and Pat Coffey. She has been incorporating mindfulness in my work for over eight years.
STAN EISENSTEIN, MSW
Stan is a full teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW). He is a graduate of the Meditation Teacher Training Institute, a two-year certification program with senior Insight teachers Tara Brach, Jonathan Foust, Hugh Byrne, and Pat Coffey. Stan also teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and other mindfulness-based courses. He is a mentor for several online courses taught by Tara Brach, and is a meditation leader for Telesangha. He also works with individuals in instruction on using meditation and mindfulness to bring a greater sense of peace and freedom in daily life. Stan is a former high school physics teacher (32 years) who has been meditating for 30 years and has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2004. Stan earned a Masters of Social Work in 1998. You can check out this weekly class and his teachings by following this link: http://www.meetup.com/Columbia-Insight-Medi... (http://www.meetup.com/Columbia-Insight-Meditation-Group/)
We Hope You Can Join Us!
Upcoming events
1
MEDITATIVE REPARENTING SILENT 5-DAY RETREAT - In-Person and Online Hybrid
Sevenoaks Retreat Center, 403 Pathwork Way, Madison, VA, US[NOTE: An RSVP to this Meetup event is not sufficient for registration. To register and pay for the event, please follow this link.]
ABOUT: Reparenting is a powerful process for healing stored emotional and psychic tangles that keep us stuck and suffering in our lives.
As we go through life, especially in childhood but also into adulthood, we encounter messages and challenging events that do not get resolved. These unresolved issues stick in our subconscious experience like thorns. Until they are resolved, these psychic thorns affect our mood and our capacity to navigate life challenges. New situations that remind us of the old ones that are unresolved are taken to be threatening, and we find ourselves getting unskillfully reactive.
If we are to resolve some of these psychic thorns or tangles, we need to replay the old situations that brought them about – but in a new way, a way that resolves the situation. Our younger self needed someone to help us through the challenges. We needed a parent that could attune to our needs, understand the situation, and help us to navigate the difficulty. No external parent can do this all of the time. The one who is most capable of helping your younger self through challenges is the adult self you are now. You have lived through the experience of your younger self. You know intimately what your younger self was (and is) experiencing. And you have wisdom from life that can help you to discern what your younger self most needs to help them move through the challenges and come out the other side with a sense of well-being.
In the process of reparenting, we learn to use meditative imagery and body sensations to bring our wisest adult selves to our stored younger versions of ourselves. We learn to form a relationship with these younger versions. We learn to care for them, and they learn to trust us. Once a relationship is established, we learn how to guide our younger versions of ourselves through some of the challenging situations they encountered in a way that releases the psychic thorns or tangles. Each thorn that is removed brings a sense of relief or ease that has a direct through line to your current self.
This retreat will consist of talks about stages of reparenting and caveats for how to most safely work with the process, guided meditations, periods of unguided sitting and walking meditation, and group meetings with teachers.SAMPLE TALK AND MEDITATION: Healing Conditions - The Practice of Reparenting
TEACHER: Stan Eisenstein has been guiding self-inquiry and other meditation practices since 2012. He is a teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, with founder Tara Brach. Stan is a an instructor for various courses: Mindfulness-Basted Stress Reduction; Inviting Chronic Pain and Illness to Tea; Self-Inquiry. He is also a mentor for the international Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, taught by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, and run by Sounds True. You can explore Stan's bio and recordings of Stan's teachings at his website: staneisenstein.com
LOCATION: Seven Oaks Retreat Center in Madison, VA or Online via Zoom Video Conferencing.
RETREAT FEES:
Single room (limited availability): $1090 (waitlist only)
Shared room: $860
Camping: $740
Online: $350.00
Please note that retreat fees only cover direct expenses for this event, such as room, meals, and administrative costs. In keeping with the Buddhist tradition, the teachers and retreat managers receive no payment. Donations offered by students at the end of the retreat are appreciated and support the teachers and retreat managers in continuing to make the teachings available to all.QUESTIONS AND SCHOLARSHIP REQUESTS: Contact Stan at imcwcolumbia@gmail.com
TESTIMONIALS
Even though I have been meditating for 15 years with many retreats and courses, this Meditative Reparenting retreat was the most transformative. I found so many old situations in my life that were still stuck, and in this retreat learned to address them with insight and love. I will take it again in order to keep growing by healing old wounds.
~MoThis retreat provided specific and profoundly effective guidance, not only on how to make inner child contact but how to foster an on-going, loving relationship at different ages and in the midst of good and bad times. I can't recommend this retreat enough.
~KentAs a long time psychotherapist and psychotherapy client I found the work to be profoundly helpful. As a teacher Stan excels: he embodies his teachings; he presents the teachings in a systematic way, building idea upon idea; he communicates clearly; he listens with attunement.
~Diane1 attendee
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