Feeding the Heart Good Food: Cultivating Inner Compassion
With Susan Morgan, MSN, RN, CS, Bill Morgan, PsyD, Ron Siegel, PsyD and Chris Germer, PhD
July 24 - 29, 2020
Inside the chaos, build a temple of love ~Rune Lazuli
How appropriate to be focusing on this topic in the time of Corona!
A central habit of the mind is to focus on the negative, the one thing not done well, the not good enough, the disappointing interaction, the grievance. This contributes to low grade, chronic, self-created stress that the Buddha called dukkha. He recommended that we learn to steer away from unwholesome mind states and cultivate wholesome ones. This was an essential aspect of his teaching, a core structure of the raft that leads toward less stress and more ease of wellbeing.
Our retreat will focus on creative approaches to arousing and sustaining the uplifting heart qualities of inner compassion during this challenging time. We will explore how this heart tone can be brought to life on and off the cushion, and how it can become a refuge that protects us from the contagion of anxiety and fear.
The retreat will include a variety of guided meditations, as well as periods of standing and walking practice. There will also be didactic modules each afternoon with Ron and Chris, brief dharma talks throughout, and small group discussions, which will occur in zoom breakout rooms.
Participants will be encouraged to attend the entire retreat, and we understand the complexities of life during this challenging time. All are welcome, regardless of level of participation.
This program is designed to be relevant for all levels of meditation experience. Please join us!
CEs will NOT be offered for this course.
Retreat schedule (all times ET):
Friday: 7-9 Orientation/ Welcome
Saturday: 9-12 Dharma talk/ Instruction/Practice
2:30-5 Chris Germer Teaching and Practice
7:30-9 Guided Meditation
Sunday: 9-12 Dharma talk/ Instruction/Practice
2:30-5 Ron Siegel Teaching and Practice
7:30-9 Guided Meditation
Monday: 9-12 Dharma talk/ Instruction/Practice
2:30-5 Chris Germer Teaching and Practice
7:30-9 Guided Meditation
Tuesday: 9-12 Dharma talk/ Instruction/Practice
2:30-5 Ron Siegel Teaching and Practice
7:30-9 Guided Meditation
Wednesday: 9-12 Dharma talk/ Instruction/Practice
2:30-5 Instruction/ Guided Meditation/Standing/Walking Practice
7:30-9 Closing
Teachers
Susan Morgan, CNS is a psychotherapist in Cambridge, MA. She is an Advisory Board and faculty member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy and contributing author to “Mindfulness and Psychotherapy”. Susan’s longstanding meditation practice includes a four-year meditation retreat at the Forest Refuge, along with yearly three months of retreat. For 25 years she has been leading retreats for caregivers. Since the pandemic, she and her partner Bill have led The Daily Sit, a LIVE daily online practice group offering short Dharma Talks, guided meditations and community connection tailored to the householder life. She identifies as a lay-monastic, and…
Learn more about Susan Morgan, MSN, RN, CS
Bill Morgan, PsyD is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Cambridge, MA. He is the author of “The Meditator’s Dilemma: An Innovative Approach to Overcoming Obstacles and Revitalizing Your Practice”. He is an Advisory Board and faculty member of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. Bill has participated in ten years of intensive meditation retreats in the past 50 years. For 25 years, together with his partner Susan, he leads mindfulness retreats for psychotherapists and caregivers, and more recently leads The Daily Sit and online householder retreats for the general public. Making practice meaningful and enjoyable are core to…
Learn more about Bill Morgan, PsyD
Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is Assistant Professor of Psychology, part time, Harvard Medical School; serves on the Board of Directors and faculty, Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy; is author of The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary: Finding Happiness Right Where You Are; The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, coauthor of Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy and Back Sense; coeditor of Mindfulness and Psychotherapy and Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy: Deepening Mindfulness in Clinical Practice; and professor for The Science of Mindfulness: A Research-Based Path to Well-Being produced by The Great Courses. He is also a regular…
Learn more about Ron Siegel, PsyD
Chris Germer, PhD is a clinical psychologist and lecturer on psychiatry (part-time) at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) program with Kristin Neff in 2010 and they wrote three books: “The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook”, “Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout”, and “Teaching the Mindful Self-Compassion Program”. MSC has been taught to over 250,000 people worldwide. Dr. Germer is also the author of “The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion” and he co-edited two influential volumes on therapy: “Mindfulness and Psychotherapy,” and “Wisdom and Compassion in Psychotherapy”. Dr. Germer lectures and leads workshops internationally and he has a small psychotherapy practice in…
Learn more about Chris Germer, PhD