Newton & Bywell Village Hall, Newton Village, near Stocksfield, NE43 7UL
Come and join us for a day of guided practice, teaching & poetry
Hot drinks and a simple vegetarian lunch with vegan options will be provided.
Cost: the suggested donation for the retreat is £20, depending on your means. Any surplus after covering the cost of hiring the hall and catering will be donated to Maggie’s, a charity offering cancer support and care.
To find out more or book a place, please contact walter@walteryoung.co.uk
Emptiness and the flow of lifewith Anna Brown and Walter Young
Sunday 21st January 2024 11am – 4pm
Knott Memorial Hall, Heddon-on-the- Wall NE15 0DT
We’re constantly weaving and constructing a sense of self, repairing it and adding to it. A great deal of time and energy can go into maintaining our sense of who we are.
Seeing through the illusion of a fixed self changes everything. Freedom and a profound sense of ease are available to us once we learn to see past the stories and constructions that weigh us down. Instead of constantly resisting our true nature and reacting to every thought and feeling that arises, we can enter the flow of life and learn to live fearlessly, knowing that we belong completely.
Learning to see the world differently can be transformative. This day retreat is not about getting rid of the ego or even trying to become a better person. Instead, we will practise an embodied approach to living joyfully in an unstable world.
Together, we will explore freedom and joy through the lens of Buddhist teachings on emptiness and dependent origination. There will be guided meditation and teaching, with some of the day spent in silence.
For more information or to book a place please email walter@walteryoung.co.uk
Newton & Bywell Village Hall Newton Village, near Stocksfield, NE43 7UL
Whether we like it or not, suffering and stress feature in all of our lives. Accepting this reality with courage and compassion means no longer being intimidated by suffering.
If we live our lives in a constant state of defence, trying to block out what we don’t like, we also block out joy and happiness. If we’re willing to meet life as it is and accept that our world is imperfect, we also open up to its beauty and richness.
In this one-day retreat, we will offer teaching and guided meditation to support the cultivation of friendliness and compassion, both towards ourselves and others. This can be seen as a training that helps us to live fearless, authentic lives. A compassionate heart is one that opens naturally and instinctively to whatever it encounters.
Parts of the day will be spent in silence, which allows us a greater level of stillness and depth in our practice.
The suggested donation for the retreat is £30, depending on your means.
True Connection: mindfulness inrelationship with others
With Anna Bendijk and Walter Young
Sunday 7th May 2023 11am – 5pm
Knott Memorial Hall The Towne Gate, Heddon-on-the-Wall, Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 0DT
In this one-day retreat, we will offer teachings, guided meditations and the opportunity to learn about mindful communication with others through the practice of Insight Dialogue. We will explore what it means to be in full conscious relationship with another person.
When we bring our mindful presence into any interaction, we start to relate to others in a much more conscious, open way. Instead of simply seeing a reflection of our own habit patterns and conditioning, we experience the other person in all of their unique richness.
Insight Dialogue helps us to bring our mindful presence into any relationship. This practice involves pausing, listening, tuning in and honouring, so that we can receive the other person without judgement, fully open and aware. We really start to see them and in doing so, we discover missing qualities in ourselves, recognising our connection to everyone and everything.
Cost: the suggested donation for the retreat is £30-£50, depending on your means.
Newton & Bywell Village Hall Newton Village, near Stocksfield, NE43 7UL
When we bring mindfulness to the heart and mind, we start to learn that our moods change and evolve all the time, just like the weather.
Mindfulness means not getting lost in stories about ourselves, not judging our thoughts and feelings, instead simply noticing the way they arise and pass. When we learn to see just how transient our mind states are, this helps to reduce the extent to which we identify with them and releases us from a great deal of unnecessary anxiety and stress.
This day retreat explores the potential of mindfulness as a practice that helps us to stay in touch with our lived experience and develop our capacity for unshakeable peace and happiness. We will practise simple meditation techniques together and learn about what Buddhist psychology teaches us about living a full life. Many people find that regular insight meditation practice can help make you happier, more resilient and less vulnerable to negative thought patterns. You’re invited to join us and explore for yourself the support that meditating with other people can bring.
Cost: the suggested donation for the retreat is £10-£25, depending on your means. This is to cover the basic cost of organising the retreat including hiring the hall and catering. Places are limited so we encourage booking in advance.
The Second Foundation of Mindfulness: a lesson in peace & freedom
With Anna Bendijk and Walter Young
Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th February 2022 10am – 4pm
Newton & Bywell Village Hall Newton Village, near Stocksfield, NE43 7UL
This two-day non-residential retreat will offer teaching, guidance and the opportunity to practice meditation in a supportive group environment.
Much of our time and energy is spent pursuing pleasant experiences and trying to avoid those we think of as unpleasant. This leads to a kind of perpetual chasing, a shallowness, a failure to engage with what’s actually real.
When we examine our moment-to-moment experience, we find that pleasant and unpleasant feelings seldom last long. Happiness is transient and if we keep chasing it, we only exhaust ourselves.
The problem isn’t enjoyment of pleasant experiences, but rather the way we allow our lives to become ruled by the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of discomfort. This creates stress and dissatisfaction.
There is another way to live, one that leads us towards unshakeable resilience and inner freedom.
Over the two days we will offer practical approaches, based on Buddhist teachings, that can help free us from the treadmill of craving and dissatisfaction. These teachings are as relevant and important now as they were 2500 years ago.
Cost: the suggested donation for the retreat is £20-£50, depending on your means. This is to cover the basic cost of organising the retreat including hiring the hall and catering.
Please note that this is a weekend silent retreat with the learning and exploration developing over a two-day trajectory. We are therefore inviting bookings from participants who are willing to attend both days.
Places are limited so we encourage booking in advance.
We’re currently offering a weekly teaching and group meditation session every Sunday morning from 9:30-10:45 am. The session offer participants the opportunity to connect, meditate and reflect together in a 1¼ hour zoom video session.
There’s no cost for taking part. Please get in touch through our contact page to find out more.
Due to the uncertainty around the Covid19 pandemic we’ve taken the difficult decision to cancel the retreat days planned for 19th and 20th September 2020. We’re hoping to run them in September 2021. Please watch this space for details.
Due to the uncertainty around the Covid19 pandemic we’ve taken the difficult decision to cancel the retreat days planned for 19th and 20th September 2020. We’re hoping to run them in September 2021. Please watch this space for details.
Insight North East 