January 3, 2022 – January 10, 2022
~Seven Day Online Silent Meditation Retreat~
Awakening the heart: Cultivating wise compassion and mindfulness for the new year
Beginning at 6 PM ET on January 3 and ending at 10 AM ET on January 10
Read more about Making a Practice of Online Silent Retreats
Begin the new year with this opportunity to deepen a personal mindfulness practice. This 7-day silent retreat will explore the foundations of mindfulness and the meditative practices of compassion, joy, equanimity and kindness through stillness and movement. Clear seeing and wisdom allow us to know our hearts and minds, as well as the nature of reality. Compassion connects us to everyone and everything, cultivating an open heart towards ourselves and the suffering of all sentient beings.
An extended silent retreat is an opportunity to cultivate and embody awareness and compassion, supported by teachers and the teachings, and is appropriate for beginners or experienced meditators. The retreat will mirror a residential silent retreat and offering LIVE, daily instruction, daily Dharma talks and teacher support, community building in silence online through practice – book ended by opportunities to connect in small groups at the beginning and the end of the retreat. Silent periods of sitting, walking meditation and yoga will support a personal and embodied understanding of the theoretical teachings. An emphasis will be placed on movement practices and accessible yoga that focus on the inter-play between the mind and body.
Kathleen Mitcheom MSN, CNM, RYT graduated from the Yale School of Nursing as a Nurse-midwife in 1981. She has practiced women’s health care for thirty years at the Fair Haven Community Health Center which motivated Kate to pursue areas of integrative medicine including Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy. She has been practicing meditation since 1991 and teaching meditation since 1995 after training at Omega with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. and Saki Santorelli.
Lucia McBee LCSW, MPH, CYI – As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Lucia has extensive experience integrating mindfulness and integrative modalities into a clinical practice since 1994 with elders, high risk populations and persons with chronic conditions as well as their caregivers in a wide range of community, research, and institutional settings. She developed a pioneering practice using mindfulness as well as other complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) modalities to improve the quality of life in community, hospital, clinic and nursing home settings. Learn more about Lucia.
This retreat will no doubt offer some new challenges but will also provide the opportunity to observe our routine life and habits anew. The schedule will be rigorous with seamless practices identical to a residential retreat. Please consider your time zone and the adaptations that will be required. Kate can speak with those of you who anticipate factors in your environment or situation that could interfere.
What to expect on a Silent Retreat is a helpful document that explains what happens on a Silent Retreat.
This retreat fulfills one of the requirements for training to become a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher.
For those on a teacher training path who are taking this retreat as a pre-requisite for formal training at another center, attendance at all sessions during this retreat will be required to receive credit. If you have any questions, please reach out to Kate or Lucia: kate@katemitcheom.com or lucia@luciamcbee.com
FAQ about Online Silent Retreat
What if we need to go outside of the house?
We will give clear parameters for retreating in the world rather than in seclusion. We will ask participants to get food and supplies ready ahead of time so that driving and shopping would not be necessary during the retreat. There will be specific times during the day for mindful food preparation and hygiene.
Could you provide a phone number so that loved ones could call in case of emergency? That way our phones can remain turned off?
Absolutely. I will give you my number to pass along to family should they need to reach you. One of the challenges will be refraining from using the computer for anything other than our live online retreat. Phones should be turned off and put away
Would you keep up updated on the COVID-19 if something drastic were to happen nationwide?
Definitely yes. While this retreat will provide seclusion from the daily news, should something arise that is imminent you would be notified in a timely fashion.
Comments from previous online retreats with Kate and Lucia in 2020 and 2021:
I thought the retreat was transformational and I look at my life and the world differently. I am so eternally grateful for this experience!
What surprised me the most was the experience of togetherness that I felt being part of this retreat. How connected I felt to the group of people participating in this retreat with me, even while being in silence. Walking along side a group of people on a similar path felt very supportive and inspiring.
After this retreat ended, I felt so much lighter in energy, and the expansiveness I felt within my heart was like nothing I had ever felt before. I feel like this was one of the most profound experiences I’ve ever had and I will never forget it.
I feel even more aligned to my true self, and I feel confident that this journey will lead to becoming an MBSR teacher and more. I am inspired and deeply moved to help others experience this way of being.
I expected it to be a good experience, but I didn’t realize my experience was outstanding. The fact of I could get triggered at home anytime, but the next hour, I would be sitting on the mat to work through it, therefore, I could gain many breakthroughs in my practice.
The embodiment which each teacher demonstrates, the cohort connections I made and also the in depth understanding of Buddhaism and the in deepened practice have all prepared me to become a better professional who speak from a place of warmth and kindness.
My theoretical understanding of the mindfulness as well as personal practice and the personal embodiment have all been deepened throughout this retreat. Absolutely. Just the presence alone makes a better impact. I have attended many onsite retreats, I really didn’t think the virtual retreat was going to be as good. I was glad to find out that I was wrong. Virtual retreats need to be a must offering for participants.
You filled my house with love. And in the same way, aware of all the group, a lot of people – like me – going through a lot of challenges, I was discovering moment by moment that I would have strength for being here in silence, plunging deeper and deeper inside myself. It was a gift.
I finally found a way to free myself. There’s a way, and the way is to look, feel, acknowledge whatever arises and stop resisting to things; stop resisting to life the way it is, with its own pain and questions I don’t know how to answer. Acceptance. Confidence. Surrender. And just do my best with all my heart.
I would like to thank you not only for your competence, but for all your love, your humanity, your wisdom, your creativity and your dedication.