Non-residential Weekend Retreat, in-person at the Cherry Hill Co-Housing Community in North Amherst
Taking Refuge Together in the Dharma
with Rebecca Bradshaw and Jean Esther
Friday, January 26 7:00-9:00pm
Saturday, January 27 9:00am-8:00pm
Sunday, January 28, 9:00am-2:00pm
Volunteers are an important part of the IWM 2024 weekend non-residential meditation. Please click here to review our volunteer needs and sign up to volunteer.
We are delighted to once again hold our annual non residential retreat IN-PERSON (conditions permitting) in 2024 at the Cherry Hill Co-Housing Community in North Amherst.
Amidst the challenges of life personally and globally, it can be significantly restorative to take time in our lives for silent retreat. In the company of beloved Sangha, in the quiet of winter, we will open to our hearts and touch into the innate compassionate wisdom that is our true home. We will sit and walk in meditation together, contemplate the wisdom of the dharma, and share together in large and small groups.
There will be a potluck meal on Saturday evening and a prepared lunch offered on Sunday. To support the container of our retreat please plan to attend the full retreat from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Covid protocols will be followed, including rapid testing upon arrival, and optional masking depending on conditions. There will be a section of the meditation hall reserved for masked participants who would prefer to sit near other masked folks.
Please plan to bring a rapid test, a dish for the Saturday evening potluck (refrigeration available), and an individual lunch for Saturday.
We look forward to this sacred time together with you.
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Suggested donation: $90-$175 registration + teacher donation (teachers rely on the practice of dana - we encourage you to consider giving teacher dana equal to or greater than what you gave for registration). * Teacher dana for this retreat will be evenly divided between the teachers.
Everyone is welcome to all of our offerings regardless of ability to donate. If you would like to attend, and are unable to make the base donation ($90), or would like to donate less than $65, please email us at [email protected].
IN-PERSON LOCATION: Cherry Hill Cohousing, 120 Pulpit Hill Road, N. Amherst, MA
See COVID protocols and more info further below.
Important note: chairs available; if you prefer to sit on zabuton/cushion, please bring your own.
Please bring your own covered water bottle.
Rebecca Bradshaw, Guiding Teacher Emeritus of the Insight Meditation Society, has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1983 in the United States and Myanmar and teaching since 1993. She completed her dharma teacher training at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, where she is part of the three-month retreat teacher team and leads retreats for young adults. Rebecca teaches a body centered approach to meditation, infused with large doses of loving kindness and intimate connection to the natural world. She has a master's degree in Counseling Psychology and is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). Her book, Down to Earth Dharma: Insight Meditation to Awaken the Heart will be released in November 2024. For more information and her schedule, please see her webpage at www.rebeccabradshaw.org.
Jean Esther, MSW began formal meditation training in 1975. She has been training in the Theravadan Buddhist tradition since 1982 with senior Western teachers as well as Burmese and Western Monastics. Since 2008, she has undertaken extensive teacher training in both Vipassana practice and non-dual awareness. Jean's dharma teaching is informed by over 42 years of practice as a psychotherapist integrating spiritual inquiry and somatic awareness with psychological understanding. For over 20 years, she trained with renowned Jungian analyst Marion Woodman, exploring the awakening of consciousness through the body, psyche and the arts. The wellspring and root of her work are the Buddha's teachings on love and wisdom. Jean is a Guiding Teacher of True North Insight in Ontario, Canada. A senior teacher at InsightWM, she also teaches at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and across the US and Canada. In addition, she has a private psychotherapy practice in Northampton, MA.
COVID PROTOCOLS (if the protocols change for this retreat, IWM will inform all registrants):
- Rapid testing upon arrival (please bring your own rapid test)
- Masks optional.
- There are windows that can be opened to provide fresh air and cross-ventilation.
- Co-housing has an improved ventilation system. In addition, a Field Control Trio Plus portable air purifier will be running (H13 HEPA with an ultraviolet light component).
- Fresh HEPA air filters are located in all rooms at CHC, including two in the great room.
- There will be a section of the hall reserved for participants who are masking, who want to sit with others who are masking
*In keeping with the Buddhist tradition of dana (generosity), the suggested registration amounts for our classes and retreats do not include any payment for the teacher. The teachers are paid entirely out of the students' generosity. Please consider giving a donation to the teacher in order to support their ability to continue to share the dharma. We encourage you to consider teacher dana equal to or greater than the amount you gave for registration. You may give a donation at the time of registration and/or give later donations through our teacher dana link or in-person at the course/retreat.
You can give online, in-person, or send checks to Insight Western Mass, 116 Pleasant Street, Suite 242, Easthampton, MA 01027. FYI: we check for mail once per week.
