Welcome!
About the
Home Practice Program
A Message from Shinzen
Young
Many
people experience immediate positive effects from Mindfulness, but its real
power to foster broad and deep psycho-spiritual transformation only becomes
evident through ongoing practice. The problem is that most people are not able
to get away on a regular basis to do extended retreats. Without regular retreats
it is usually difficult to realize the exponential growth potential of the
practice. Family and work responsibilities, the expenses involved and the travel
required prevent the vast majority of those ready to take on a regular practice
from doing so.
To
overcome these barriers I have developed a unique program of monthly phone-based
"mini retreats." These retreats involve guided practice, self practice, group
discussion and a chance for one-on-one private interviews with a teacher - just like
onsite retreats do. But these retreats are delivered via conference call to your
home or anywhere you happen to be in the world. They typically last four hours.
Many
of these mini retreats emphasize a specific theme such as working with emotions,
managing physical discomfort, dealing with difficulty concentrating, maintaining
practice in daily life and so forth. Taken together they represent a unified
ongoing curriculum covering all facets of Mindfulness practice.
It
is my hope that participating every month or two in relatively short but tightly
structured programs will produce cumulative effects comparable to those you
might get from onsite retreats in a practice center.
How to Get Started
Home
practice weekends always begin on the second Friday of the month, so it’s easy
to plan ahead. Five independent programs are offered during each practice
weekend.
These programs represent an ongoing
curriculum in mindfulness. Therefore some of them have prerequisites. However,
each month there will always be at least 1 or 2 programs that require no
previous experience whatsoever. You can begin your Basic Mindfulness
training with any of those programs. After that, you can grow in two
directions...
Go deeper...by continuing to practice the focus option(s) that you
already know--reviewing their Foundations and taking programs that Drill,
Sharpen, and Apply them.
Go
broader...by learning new focus options.
When you see the benefits of the practice, you may want
to learn how to share the practice with others by participating in the
Facilitator Training Program.
Check out all the
Types of Programs
Check out the Monthly Schedule and Registration
You can also get started by
browsing the
practice manual or by doing on-site classes, seminars and retreats with Shinzen Young or his
facilitators. Visit
www.Shinzen.org for a complete schedule of his on-site programs.
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