Caregivers Retreat: Ease the Mind and Replenish the Heart with the Brahma Viharas (Lovingkindness, Compassion, Sympathetic Joy, and Equanimity)
DaRa Williams, Yong Oh, Dawn Scott
Thursday, November 5 – Sunday, November 8
Whether you care for an ailing spouse, special needs child, an aging parent, a beloved being, or precious community, caretaking during these turbulent national and global times can be all-consuming. If you are feeling weary, disconnected, overworked, or overwhelmed, come rejuvenate with nourishing and calming dharma and meditation practice. Uplift the heart and settle the mind with the Brahma Viharas (loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity practice). Learn valuable breath and body practices that you can incorporate into your daily life for cultivating a sense of balance and harmony. This is a spacious retreat to learn, practice, and renew in community.
Open to all—beginner and experienced meditators alike.
Cost is sliding-scale: $160, $200, $260, or $400, your choice. Registration fees support the Insight Meditation Society’s work online and at our physical retreat centers in Barre, MA. Scholarships ($80) are available. We welcome you to reach out, nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. For more information, please email imsonline@dharma.org.
A note on dana (generosity)
Most IMS teachers—like insight teachers around the world—rely on the generosity of students for their livelihood, and receive no compensation from course fees. All IMS online teachers receive a modest dana advance from IMS to guarantee a minimum level of financial support. (Click here to learn more about the dana practice.) There will be an opportunity to offer a contribution to your teachers at the end of this course.
REGISTER HERE
Daily Schedule – all times listed in Eastern Standard Time EST:
Note: All sessions (except group practice meetings) will be recorded and posted so you can view it later if you missed one
Thursday, Nov. 5
4 – 6 pm – Orientation and Opening
Friday, Nov. 6
10 – 10:45 am – Guided meditation with instructions.
1 – 2:30 pm – Dharma talk and guided meditation.
4 – 5:30 pm – Group practice meetings.
4:30 – 5:15 pm – Optional mindful movement (for those not in groups) offered by Lissa Edmond
7 – 8 pm – Guided meditation.
Saturday, Nov. 7
10 – 10:45 am – Guided meditation with instructions.
1 – 2:30 pm – Dharma talk and guided meditation.
4 – 5:30 pm – Group practice meetings.
4:30 – 5:15 pm – Optional mindful movement (for those not in groups) offered by Lissa Edmond
7 – 8 pm – Guided meditation.
Sunday, Nov. 8
10 – 10:45 am – Instructions and guided meditation.
12 – 1:30 pm – Closing
REGISTER HERE
Teacher Bios
DaRa Williams is a trainer, meditation teacher and psychotherapist. DaRa has been a meditator for the past 25 years and is a practitioner of both Vipassana and Ascension meditation. She is a graduate of the Spirit Rock/Insight Meditation Society Teacher Training Program and is a guiding teacher at IMS. She is the program manager and a core teacher in the current IMS Teacher Training Program. DaRa has been a clinician and administrator in the field of mental health for over 25 years and currently maintains a private practice in Manhattan. She is a certified trainer and practitioner of Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy and Complex Trauma. DaRa integrates these skills, understandings, wisdom traditions and world views in her intention for contributing to the ending of suffering for all beings.
Yong Oh
Yong’s initial doorway into the Dharma was through Soto Zen. His love for Vipassana began with his, then and now, primary teachers Kittisaro and Thanissara. He is currently a Dharma Council teacher at the Durango Dharma Center, teaches for the Chattanooga Insight Meditation group, and is currently on the Leadership Council for Thanissara and Kittisaro’s Sacred Mountain Sangha.
Yong is a graduate of Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Community Dharma Leaders program and is currently a participant in the 2017-2021 Insight Meditation Society Retreat Teacher Training program as well as the Sacred Mountain Sangha Dharmapala program. Yong is also an acupuncturist, loves the outdoors and bringing the practice of meditation into nature, and aspires to support practitioners of color in the Dharma.
Dawn Scott has been practicing insight meditation since 2008, is a Diamond Heart practitioner, and currently serves as the Family Program Coordinator at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She teaches teen retreats at Inward Bound Mindfulness Education (iBme) and is a participant in the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program.
