CANCELLED: Finding Joy in Complex World: Day-long Meditation Retreat with Phoenix Soleil

This Event is Cancelled. Look out for similar future events hosted by Open Door Meditation in December.

Day-Long Insight Meditation Retreat hosted by Open Door Meditation Community + Portland Dharma House.

How do we experience joy when it feels like the world is crashing all around us? 

Being human isn’t easy. We are subject to illness, loss, pain and death. And we are living at a time of unusual complexity, with problems that threaten our survival as a species. How do we hold joy in the midst of that? Should we? 

In popular culture, Buddhism’s investigation of suffering can be misunderstood as discouraging or excluding joy. Actually, Buddhism supports developing a relationship to both joy and suffering that allows one to hold these two intense and fundamental aspects of life with equanimity and wisdom.

In this day of silent sitting, walking and relational practice, we will be exploring developing more joy and a relationship to it that supports our resiliency and vibrancy in the midst of engaging with our world. No prior meditation experience necessary. All are welcome. 

Please bring your own lunch + outdoor wear for walking outside, weather permitting. Meditation cushions and chairs are provided. 

Phoenix Soleil is an artist and trainer and meditation teacher committed to creating more compassion and redemption in our society. She has many years of formal meditation practice on retreat, where she focuses on cultivating self-awareness and compassion for all beings. In her work, she uses Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a form of compassionate communication that supports us to attuning to our feelings and values. Whenever possible she invokes her background in conscious dance, Laughter Yoga, acting, and the expressive arts to build healthy, authentic, joyful, and engaged communities of all ages