Fall Weekend Retreat with Marjolein Janssen

“In the outdoors, our mind can wake up and becomes as clear as the still forest pool, our heart opens to a profound sense of love for every living breathing thing, and our body comes to a deep rest. We reconnect with our sense of awe and wonder at the mystery and abundance of being alive.” ~ Mark Coleman

A retreat is a wonderful way to unplug from the busyness of daily life and find restfulness and ease. This retreat will be held partly, or mostly, outdoors, weather permitting. This is a wonderful chance to try a silent meditation retreat while surrounded by the beauty of the Virginia forest. We follow the ancient tradition of using nature to support our spiritual journey. Nature has a many teachings for us, and we will explore some of those throughout the weekend.

We will be practicing sitting and walking meditation. There will also be meditation instructions, Dharma talks and a chance to discuss your practice with the teacher. The retreat is suitable for beginning as well as experienced meditators. During this retreat we will practice the traditional Vipassana meditation.

We will bring in the support of the natural world and we will nourish ourselves with the heart quality of loving kindness (metta). Metta will help us to soften and relax, which is a great support for our Vipassana practice.

This retreat is offered in the spirit of generosity, as a dana-based (donation-based) retreat. This means that no one will be turned away for lack of funds!