(Please Note: Registration for the Intensive closes on September 22. If you plan to register, please do so now or mark the closing date in your calendar.)
Fall 2017 Mindful Living Path Intensive
Mindfulness and Meditation:
Deepening the Foundations of Practice
In this mindful living path intensive, we will embark on a journey of healing, transformation and awakening through the foundational practices of our community. There are two stages to this path of practice. First we focus on establishing and deepening our practice of mindfulness and meditation. We learn to stabilize our minds through consistent, daily meditation practice. We learn to bring mindfulness practices into our daily life so that we can lead a mindful life of presence, grounded in day-to-day reality. And we also learn how to open our hearts and establish relationships with others that are grounded in goodness and honesty.
Once we have developed the foundational practices we are ready for the second stage of the Mindful Living Path. Here we begin the process of psycho-emotional healing to gain a sense of psychological wholeness and well-being, and to bring greater presence, stability, clarity and ease into our daily life and our relationships with others. We will be much more successful in this second stage of emotional healing and maturity if we have successfully established and deepened the foundational practices of mindfulness and meditation.
In the coming months, we will practice as a community through both of these stages of the Mindful Living Path. The Fall 2017 Intensive Mindfulness and Meditation: Deepening the Foundations of Practice will be followed by a Spring 2018 Intensive on Emotional Healing. The Fall Intensive is appropriate for those new to mindfulness and meditation and for those continuing from the Summer Intensive, Happiness and Stability. For longer-term practitioners, this is an opportunity to experientially review these core foundation practices to solidify and strengthen your base. The goal for all is to develop a life grounded in clarity, happiness and meaning.
The eleven-week Fall Mindful Living Intensive begins on October 2nd and end on December 18th. We will start by developing a consistent daily sitting and walking meditation practice; cultivating the ability to be present to our current experience through daily experiments in mindfulness, and by focusing on mindfulness of the breath, the body and senses. Next we will develop mindfulness of our mind and its mental events (thoughts, feeling states, and emotions), including how to be an impartial observer of our mind’s activities and how to deal with afflictive emotions. Finally, we will practice bringing mindfulness into personal, family and work relationships and developing a mindful relationship with the larger society and its social, economic and political issues.
Participants in this Intensive will be provided with a path of practice that will include specific readings, meditation practices, and daily life assignments. There will be four Dharma Talks, bi-weekly mentor group calls for individual guidance and support, and in-person or phone peer group meetings that will provide community support. Fred will offer two Forums in Tampa to answer questions and interact with participants. The Forums will be live-streamed so that those in other locations can participate. Dharma texts to be read will be announced once registration has been completed. For more specific information about the path of Mindful Living, please access the Teachings section of our website, and also the Mindful Living Path page that is linked to the Teachings page.
The commitments for this Intensive are listed below. Before registering for the Intensive please read the commitments and reflect carefully on whether you will be able to keep them.
Commitments for each Intensive participant:
- The commitment to a minimum of 30 minutes of daily formal meditation and/or other practices related to this Intensive.
- The commitment to participate in monthly Dharma talks via phone/video conference call, and two scheduled live/livestreamed Forums with Fred.
- The commitment to participate in five Mentor Group phone/video conference consultations.
- The commitment to participate in bi-weekly Peer Groups for support/discussion in person or via phone group.
- The commitment to attend weekly Sangha and monthly Days of Mindfulness, as possible.
- The commitment to read and study recommended books and articles.
There is a suggested donation of $100 associated with this Intensive. This is a suggested donation, and participants are free to donate more or less, depending on their individual practice of Dana and their financial situation. Please note that participation in this Intensive is only open to members of FCM. For information about membership, please access our website at www.floridamindulness.org. You may pay on-line or send your check made out to the Florida Community of Mindfulness (FCM) to Florida Community of Mindfulness, 6501 N. Nebraska Ave., Tampa, FL 33604.
Registration will close on September 22. Please be sure to register by this date. For the past several years the number of people requesting to join the Intensive after registration has closed has been increasing and this greatly increases the workload for Intensive organizers. Thus, out of consideration, and to ensure your acceptance into the Intensive, please register immediately or mark the registration closing date in your calendar now.
NEW REGISTRATION PROCEDURES:
Please read the information below before you click to register!
We are implementing some changes in registration this fall designed to simplify the process of organizing intensives.
When you register, you will be asked to indicate your preferences for the mentoring groups offered through Zoom. The following eight mentoring groups will be listed, and you will be required to score each group as one of the following: my first choice, my second choice, cannot do, or could do but not preferred. Please have your calendar available when you register so that you can complete this part of the registration process accurately.
Group #1: Tuesdays 7:00-8:00 am Oct. 3, 17, 31, Nov. 14, 28
Group #2: Tuesdays 9:00-10:00 am Oct. 10, 24, Nov. 7, 21, Dec. 5
Group #3: Wednesdays 7:30-8:30 am Oct. 11, 25, Nov. 8, 22, Dec. 6
Group #4: Wednesdays (with one Tuesday) 4:00-5:00 pm Oct. 10 (Tue.), Oct. 25, Nov. 8, 22, and Dec. 6
Group #5: Wednesdays 5:30-6:30 pm Oct. 4, 18, Nov. 1, 15, 29
Group #6: Thursdays* 5:30-6:30 pm Oct. 5, 19, Nov. 2, 16, Dec. 7
Group #7: Thursdays* 5:30-6:30 pm Oct. 12, 26, Nov. 9, 30, Dec. 14
Group #8: Fridays 7:15-8:15 am Oct. 6, 20, Nov. 3, 17, Dec. 1
*Note: Dates are not always bi-weekly.
Finally, please note that when registering for the Intensive, you will be asked to indicate the preferred location for your Peer Group (Fort Myers, Naples, St. Petersburg, Tampa, or by phone). In addition, for Tampa only, you will be asked to indicate your preferred meeting times (Sundays 8:40-9:40 am or Sundays 12:45-1:45 pm, Please indicate all the choices that you would be able to attend.)
