You are welcome to the Self-Led retreat at the Friends Meeting House,
Who’s it for?
These self-led retreats are suitable for anyone with basic meditation experience. This could be from attending a group retreat, for example, or an eight-week mindfulness course. Although Insight Meditation is rooted in Buddhism, all traditions and backgrounds, both spiritual and secular, are very welcome.
What’s the format?
The day is silent and based around alternating 45-minute periods of sitting and walking meditation with no teacher or guidance. There’s also a carefully curated recorded dharma talk to listen to, a shared lunch and, at the end of the retreat, a chance to break silence and discuss the day’s experiences as a group.
Where is it?
In the light and airy surroundings of the Quaker Meeting House , 300 Gloucester Road, Horfield, Bristol BS7 8PD. An oasis of calm amid the busyness of Bristol. The group has sole use of the entire meeting house, including a wonderful enclosed and secluded garden.
When is it?
On the first Saturday of every month. The front door to the Meeting House opens at 10.15 am. You will then have 15 minutes to settle in before the retreat starts. The retreat finishes at 5.00 pm.
Payments
A donation of £20 waged or £7.50 unwaged towards the costs of the day. Payment for the day is in cash or by an online bank transfer. For bank transfer details, please contact lesleywye2@gmail.com.
What should I bring?
Please bring a vegan or vegetarian contribution to our shared lunch and whatever else you need to feel comfortable. For example, a mat, cushion, meditation stool, blanket or thick socks. There are plenty of chairs to use.
Can I get more involved?
Would you like to get more involved? You can join a small friendly team that helps organise the retreats. The commitment is light, and we welcome new volunteers. Find out more by dropping me an email or having a chat at the retreat: David Ringsell david@talk-it.biz
Can I find out more?
Please email David Ringsell at david@talk-it.biz. Happy to answer any questions. The group sends a monthly reminder email with the upcoming retreat date and details of the talk. If you’d like to be added to the distribution list, please email retreat@gmx.co.uk. Your email address won’t be used for anything else.
Retreat participants have said …
- I was new in Bristol and looking for a friendly meditation group to keep motivating my practice.
- I meditate for my emotional self-regulation. The retreats definitely have helped to reset my brain after a couple of stressful weeks.
- I also like that it’s self led and everyone just does their own thing. It feels supportive of connected autonomy
- I like the “quiet” in the company of others. The street noise, sirens and noise from the gym somehow supports the sense of quiet, calm and stillness within the retreat for me.
- I like the physical spaciousness and ambiance.
- A great opportunity to go deeper; and to focus on a sub sect/approach that’s important to me. I like your selection of talks which are always interesting and usually resonate with something inside.
Retreat talks
Titrating our Dukkha
54:30 Insight Meditation Community of Berkeley
David says:
This month’s talk was given by James Baraz. It is called Titrating our Dukkha. James asks can meditation heal past traumas. What are the dangers of working directly with difficult emotions? James provides some helpful and practical suggestion on how to take it one step at a time. He provides a simple toolkit for healing traumas both big and small. Though mindfulness meditation instructions generally suggest paying attention to what is predominant, focusing on overwhelming emotions especially those rooted in trauma is often not beneficial. This talk, which includes the Buddha’s teachings on working with difficult emotions as well as theory from Somatic Experiencing (SE)—an approach to working with trauma—explores how to work with intense emotions by touching them a little at a time.
Explore and listen to an archive of the dharma talks played at the monthly self-led retreats since 2016 by clicking anywhere on the picture below.
