Meditate! Celebrate! Activate!
Not a retreat. This is an ADVANCE
Meditation
We sit in MEDITATION throughout the day, a mix of solo and guided excursions into sound, energy, openness, silence, gratitude, and rest, as well as more dynamic movement and nature meditations. Each of these is an adventure into a different corner of human experience, a fresh inquiry into who and how we are, a unique exploration of consciousness. As the meditation and the silence settle our minds, we begin to make contact with a nice stillness …
Activation
… thus opening a space for our late afternoon ACTIVATION sessions. Here we build on our meditation insights by playing with them live, in community. So: how to trust our own spontaneity and creativity, how to live with intention and purpose, and finally how to connect with others by using our own honest direct experience as both teacher and guide.
Celebration
The CELEBRATION here is what emerges naturally when there’s trust and relaxation and the right proportion of irreverence. So: we might recreate embarrassing moments with theatre props, or explore the deranged richness of our imaginations in an evening drum-journey and art practice, or we might explore movement and dance – eyes open or closed – maybe with the instruction to dance like robots, or barn animals, or whatever it takes to free ourselves from the social pressure to look “good.”
Basically we have a good time. And why shouldn’t we? What else is meditation for if it can’t deliver on that?
So we sit to find the freedom, move to warm it up ’til it’s so hot you got to let it out and spread it out, which takes us back to the Consciousness Explorers Club’s guiding principles: Meditate, Celebrate, Activate. Repeat.
Jeff Warren, James Maskalyk, Tasha Schumann, Erin Oke and others from the CEC Teaching Team will be your trusty guides
Location & Dates
We begin mid-afternoon on Thursday, August 31, and wrap up at lunch on Sunday, September 3rd. Five Oaks Education and Retreat Centre is located in Paris, Ontario – a 90 minute drive from Toronto, Ontario and a 60 minute drive from Pearson Toronto Airport. There will be car pools for people coming from out of town.
Testimonials from previous retreats
“Come to this retreat if you want to experience meditation in many forms and find what fits you. You will find the people sitting with you are cool, interesting, fun and amazing, as are the teachers/guides and the space! It’s for everyone!”
“I loved the playful, non-dogmatic approach to meditation. This retreat is a great place if you are just starting our and curious about meditation, or if you are looking to deepen your practice. The teachers are knowledgeable, supportive, and also open to sharing their own experiences with meditation. I appreciated how diverse the group was, as it included people of different ages and backgrounds, and felt a sense of belonging to this wonderful community.”
“I had an amazing time. I feel relaxed and refreshed. The teachers were great. This was not a typical meditation retreat. It was superfun. I connected with myself and other people. The activities were innovative and interesting. The grounds were gorgeous. The food was great too. I’d highly recommend a CEC retreat!”
Read the CEC Retreat Manual here
Fees
$500-$900, depending on your choice of accommodation.
Financial assistance available to offset the cost of the retreat