By: Shastri Janet Solyntjes

When people learn that I teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction they often respond with an exclamation, “I could use that!” The recognition that one could use a little help navigating through “the full catastrophe” of life was what led me to attend MBSR teacher trainings at the Center for Mindfulness. Although I had meditated for many years before learning about MBSR, I still found myself mired in the ups and downs, the internal and external dramas of daily life. When attending my first training with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, I instantly loved the MBSR “package” that Jon created. Integrating mindful yoga and a slow scanning of the body into my repertoire of mindfulness practices made a significant impact.

I doubt that Jon could have imagined back in 1979 that the stress reduction program he developed at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center would spread around the world and inspire hundreds if not thousands of researchers, psychologists, physicians, school teachers, addiction counselors, and even a few members of Congress to integrate mindfulness into daily life. MBSR and all of the Mindfulness-Based (fill in the blank) programs have gone viral!

It’s been my honor to offer MBSR-inspired retreats at Shambhala Mountain Center for nearly 10 years now. People from all around the country have been introduced to the MBSR teachings and practices at SMC, offering them a taste or deep immersion (depending on the length of the program) into what often becomes a life-changing experience. That may sound a bit overboard but it’s not uncommon for participants to speak of the shift in their perspective on life – in particular their physical, emotional, and interpersonal stress – after one of these retreats.

What I love most about teaching at SMC is the powerful setting – a place where people can unplug, have direct contact with sun, wind, and snow fall, and step into the magical world where sky meets mountaintop and in-between life is buzzing.

I hope you’ll join me for an Introduction to MBSR weekend or for one of our 5-7-day MBSR-based retreats.

Warmest regards,

Janet

Click here to see information about Shastri Janet Solyntjes’ upcoming Introduction to MBSR weekend. February 15–17, 2013.

By Melanie Klein

A perfect start.  I’m referring to my first opportunity to lead a program at Shambhala Mountain Center: Retreat and Renewal. I think it’ll be a terrific way to offer something back to this special place that has repeatedly refreshed me, challenged me, and inspired me.  I first came to “the land,” as SMC-ers put it, in 2005 and have been attending programs here ever since.

At Retreat and Renewal, I will be more guide than leader, assisting participants to fill their weekend dance card, so to speak, with whatever appeals: meditation instruction and practice, yoga, hiking, massage, a guided tour of the Great Stupa … On Saturday night I look forward to offering a taste of the dharma, for those so inclined to join, and together exploring skillful approaches that reveal our innate intelligence and good-heartedness, even within the over-busy lives most of us lead. And I’m delighted that our morning meditation sessions will be held in the shrine room with the best view.

It seems to me that Retreat and Renewal is also a perfect way to start for those who’ve been wondering what SMC is like, or who wish to come back, but had a thousand other things to do first. It’s Friday evening through Sunday lunch (offered monthly through May); lodging in Mission-style comfort; letting someone else do the cooking.  Short and sweet, and just maybe… absolutely beautiful.  I can hardly wait to get started.

Written By Kaleigh Isaacs

In a week from today I will be starting a weekthün (a solid week of intensive group meditation). It is my second weekthün ever and I’m both nervous and excited.

As the retreat approaches it has been much easier for me to get to the cushion each day. Maybe I’m kindly preparing myself for the longer days of sitting that are about to come but something else is there as well—a feeling of clarity and confident intention.

My first weekthün happened three years ago. It was my first retreat besides a much shorter Level I that I had taken years prior. I remember what a challenging and heart opening experience it was for me—in fact that was when I first considered the idea of living up at SMC as a way to continue with the greater depth of practice I had come to appreciate during the retreat.

So here I am three years later, having arrived at SMC in May to tend the garden but moved to program coordinating during the evacuation to Boulder due to the High Park Fire. Now I am the busy (and cheerful) marketing associate, barely willing to drag myself away from my computer and precious analytics software to enjoy the richness of a retreat at SMC.

Over the past week I’ve found myself reconnecting with that original intention I had three years ago. The inherent sanity of that decision to come live and practice up here is making me slow down and appreciate. Remembering how I value the opportunity to live, practice and work in community and I see with open eyes, that I’m exactly where I want to be.

So wish me luck! Anyone out there remember their first weekthün or dathün?

Wanna join me? You can register for the whole dathün or just do a week: click here.

New Year’s Resolutions have earned quite a reputation with their knack for creating lofty, often unreachable, goals. And still, New Year Resolutions can be genuinely helpful in opening space for reflection, creating an opportunity to set clear intentions for the year to come.

In making resolutions we often envision what we would like to change about our lives: what to add, remove, or improve to become “better people.” With this approach, the whole thing can get a bit intense and self-aggressive. “I am never going to eat cake again, and I will meditate 2 hours a day if it kills me.”

So, how does the ritual of New Years Resolutions change, when instead of developing a wish list, we start with our basic human qualities? Acknowledging that we aspire to do good, to be kind, that we wish for happiness and that fundamentally, we have everything we need to realize these virtues?

This is the question Jon Barbieri is inviting us to explore in the upcoming New Year retreat: “Take a Leap Into 2013: Establish Your Intention and Commitment.”

Join us for this special program and allow your aspirations for the New Year to become clear, confident and committed through reflection and renewal. Because really, how to better celebrate New Year’s Eve than with a delicious full-course dinner on the magical starry land of Shambhala Mountain Center?