8-Week Mindful Living Course Description

When life doesn’t go the way we planned or hoped, we can fall into emotional chaos, which can lead us to make poor decisions and act unwisely. This chain of events can create a great deal of suffering. However, it’s possible to relate to the disappointment and difficulty in our lives with less stress and anguish. Emotional chaos is the result of reactive mind states such as: anger, anxiety, frustration, irritation, restlessness, worry, insecurity, doubt, obsession, etc.

These reactive mind states are not your fault however.  Life is unpredictable and sometimes painful, causing mental and emotional chaos. But you don’t have to helplessly submit to your mind being tossed around by these inner storms.

Fortunately there is a way to move from the emotional chaos of the reactive mind and move toward clarity.  This clarity helps you respond to people and situations from a responsive and wise mind state. Your responsive mind state allows you to stay grounded in your deepest values even in the face of life’s uncertainty. You experience clarity that allows you to act with wisdom and stay true to what matters most to you. This abiding wisdom yields a sense of ease and direction in life that I call skillful living.

Course Benefits Students have reported: 

• You know and act from your core values at all times.
• You gain wisdom from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.
• You can discern between thoughts, words, and actions that cause harm and those that do not, and you act accordingly.
• You know your true nature, the essence of your character, and how to protect it.
• You accept gain and loss equally and derive insight from each.
• You have an inner life in which love can flourish, even if your outer life is filled with challenges.
• You learn to speak only what is true, useful, and timely, even during moments of anger and outrage.
• You are not controlled by your views and opinions or the story of your past, but rather you have a “don’t know” mind that responds wisely to whatever you encounter in life.
• You have the ability to soothe yourself whenever you feel disappointed or overwhelmed by life.

COURSE READING RESOURCES, PROVIDED: 

The Mind Illuminated by John Yates 

Emotional Chaos to Clarity by Phillip Moffitt

Course Outline: 

Week 1:  Understanding the Mind and Emotions.  Reactivity and negativity bias.  Establishing a sustainable Meditation Practice using both formal sitting and informal mindfulness practices throughout your day.
Learn Mindful Body Scan  practice to support stress reduction and improve sleep. 

Week 2: Getting to Know Your Essential Self.
Learn the powerful Four Phase Mindfulness Practice.

Week 3: Living an Intentional Life based on Core Values. Three-step (3-minute) breathing practice to use in the midst of daily stress situations. 

Week 4: Starting Over When We Forget our Core Values.
Learn Mindful Walking practice. 

Week 5: Letting Go of Expectation.

March 7th, Saturday Retreat – 9:30-3:30 pm. A day of silence that includes guided practices: gentle stretching, body scan, 4 – phase mindfulness, effortless mindfulness, loving-kindness, and mindful walking and eating, ending with a group dialogue. 

Week 6: Balancing Priorities.

Week 7: Starting Your Day with mindful clarity practice.  Directly experiencing life,  understanding the limits of our interpretative mind.

Week 8: Cultivating Loving-Kindness and Compassion.

Mindful Living Course– 8-weeks: Date TBA , 7-9 pm @ Kazoo Books (includes Saturday retreat,  9:30-3:30 pm.  Total course fee, including retreat was $245, now only $195, scholarships available call Eric at 269-254-0771 or email – [email protected]

To register click on the Buy Now Button below.