Transforming the Traumas of Everyday Life

There will also be Public Talks in Toronto, March 29th & 30th, 2014.

What is at the core of the ultimate unsatisfactory nature of our daily modern lives? Three of the things many of us struggle with most are our habits, our anxieties and our addictions.

Much of our lives’ activities are spent attempting to either distract or overcome these forces. Even spiritual practice can and is often used this way: to smooth over or suppress these elements that have such a hold on us.

What if instead of attempting to defeat or conquer these parts of ourselves, we turned and moved into them? What would a deeper, compassionate examination of habit, anxiety and addiction uncover?

During this 10-day retreat, Achariya Doug Duncan and Catherine Pawasarat will guide participants to transform addiction, anxiety and unwholesome habits into passion, exhilaration, and freedom. We will examine our ways of coping with the traumas life brings, and reframe them; finding the leverage points to uncover a more compassionate, loving and joyful way of being.

The retreat will feature daily morning talks, daily movement sessions, 3 group meditation sits per day (the last with discussion/Q & A), discussions or debates (on topics to be announced), and opportunities for private interviews with the teachers.

Suggested Readings:

• Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman
• The Trauma of Everyday Life by Mark Epstein
• The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg