Post-Conference Workshops

Intensive post-conference workshops – included in conference registration

Make your choice of either one of these three concurrent workshops. All workshops commence at 14:00, break for afternoon tea at 15:15 to 15:45 and conclude at 17:00.

14:00 Workshop 1: Overcoming Obstacles in Meditation Practice

Ajahn Brahm, Spiritual Director, Buddhist Society of Western Australia, Author Mindfulness, Bliss and Beyond

"It is not the sound that disturbs us- it is us who disturb the sound!"

In this workshop, Ajahn Brahm will share the teachings of the ancient forest meditation masters of Thailand, in particular disclosing the skilful means that have been developed over centuries to clear the way for the mind to access the peaceful states of inner bliss, and then to life changing insights. Participants will be taught how to transcend the four obstacles;

1. The dull mind
2. The talkative mind
3. The restless mind
4. The joyless mind

Also he will detail the subtle obstacles to the highest levels of meditation and the way they are overcome, namely;

5. The guilty mind
6. The control freak mind
7. The excited mind
8. The fearful mind

The workshop will combine practical, down to earth examples of powerful techniques, as well as periods of meditation to sample these methods, and plenty of time for questions and answers. The workshop will be suitable for novice mediators as well as experienced practitioners (but those who are already enlightened need not attend!).

14.00 Workshop 2: Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Anxiety and Depression

Timothea Goddard, Openground Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Program

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is an evidence-based eight week program which is practical, inspiring and transformative.  It engages people physically, emotionally and intellectually to cultivate resilience and a sense of effectiveness and engagement in life.  

In this workshop we will explore the basics of the MBSR approach to the suffering involved in anxiety and depression including:

• anxiety and depression through the lens of stress physiology 
• the therapeutic impacts of mindfulness practice
• the power of bringing acceptance, curiosity and kindness to distressing states
• creating safety in exploring the landscape of thoughts and feelings
• engaging the body in regulating feelings
• opening up to strengths and difficulties through metaphor
• the power of connectedness and community in cultivating wholeness

MBSR has become a respected field of research within the larger context of preventative and behavioural medicine. It was developed by Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre, USA, for hospital outpatients. It has been widely used and researched over the past 25 years and found effective for alleviating suffering in a wide range of physical and psychological conditions including anxiety, depression, and chronic illness and pain.

14.00 Workshop 3: An Introduction to the Quiet: simple steps to peace and contentment
 
Paul Wilson, international best-selling author, The Quiet, The Little Book of Calm

Simple steps to peace and
contentment ... without spending the rest
of your life on a mountaintop

Is there a place where you can’t be touched by the noise and tensions of the modern world? Where, no matter what’s going on around you, there is time and space to be content and at peace?

When he was 9 or 10 years old, Paul Wilson discovered such a place in the Australian Outback. At the time he thought that sense of boundlessness, or oneness, was something everyone enjoyed. As he went on to study in various traditions, he realised it was a goal that some people devote a lifetime of meditation practice and spiritual studies to.

So his motivation has been to help others find this “place” within themselves – through meditation, acceptance and minor attitudinal adjustments. The plain-talking approach he brings to his work has attracted an ever-widening audience. As the Financial Times said: “His mixture of traditional meditation, alternative therapy, positive thinking and commonsense has persuaded millions to buy into his philosophy.”

For decades he has been studying the habits and mental attitudes of long-term meditators, with a view to streamlining their methods for a noisy, short-attention-span world.

He calls these the Quiet practices. 

There is more to these practices than just methodology. As one religious commentator wrote: “There is a deep spiritual component to [his work]; a generic spirituality that avoids sentimentality and superstition, yet sits comfortably alongside the major traditions.” 

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE QUIET has no structure or courseware. There are no procedures to remember, and no need to take notes. This is not a training workshop. Think of it as a mini retreat. We will have succeeded if at the end of the program you feel relaxed, involved and inspired.

An Introduction To The Quiet will be experiential and experimental. It may help simplify your meditation practice, but more will be gained by exploring where it can take you.

There may be temporal and spiritual components to this – depending on the dynamic of the group.

THE TEMPORAL: We can narrow down most of the traditional meditative approaches to a few understandings, and 4 simple steps.

• If you’ve never meditated before, these steps are easily learned. And can be put to use immediately.
• If you’re an experienced meditator, there may be an opportunity to:
      - find the common thread between practices 
      - simplify what you are presently doing
      - supplement a particular approach you might be using

THE SPIRITUAL: How does all this practice fit into your spiritual life? What do you get out of it? Where does it ultimately take you?

17.00 Close of Workshops