CANCELLED: CEC Meditate, Celebrate, Activate Summer Retreat 2020

Location: Ecology Retreat Centre
Dates: Thursday, August 13th @ 11am to Sunday, August 16th @ 4pm

COVID-19 Update

We made the difficult decision to cancel this summer’s retreat. With travel and gathering restrictions still in place in Ontario, and public health guidance cautioning against prolonged indoor exposure, we just can’t see being able to offer it safely and viably. This feels like the right decision to prioritize the health and well-being of our community during this challenging time. We will aim to offer it again in summer 2021. Thanks for understanding!

 

Not a retreat. This is an ADVANCE

Info Package and Registration Info coming soon

Read the CEC Retreat Manual here

Meditationmeditatingboy-thin

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 …

the-office

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 work with the energy of our self-consciousness, how to trust our own spontaneity and creativity, and finally how to help others by using our own honest direct experience as both teacher and guide.

 

Celebration

we wish to make a human party
we wish to make a human party

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?

Meditate, Celebrate, Activate

Sit to find the freedom, move to warm it up ’til its so hot you got to let it out, spread it out, which takes you back to a Consciousness Explorers first principles: Meditate, Celebrate, Activate. Repeat.

For real keeners, you can read the last year’s retreat manual HERE.

 

Photos from Previous Summer Retreats

Location & Dates

We begin on the morning of Thursday, August 13th, and wrap up in the late afternoon of Sunday, August 16th. The Ecology Retreat Centre is located in Hockley Valley, Mono, Ontario – a 60 minute drive from Toronto, Ontario and a 45 minute drive from Pearson Toronto Airport. There will be car pools for people coming from out of town.

Instructors

Jeff Warren

Founder, Chief Exploration Officer, Teacher

Jeff Warren is a writer and a meditation teacher. He is the co-author, along with Dan Harris and Carlye Adler, of Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics, and author of The Head Trip, a travel guide to sleeping, dreaming and waking consciousness. Jeff’s specialties as a meditation guide – i.e., those things he has the most personal experience with – … Continued

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James Maskalyk

Co-Founder, Director of Conjubilation, Teacher

James is a physician and author, both of the international bestseller “Six Months in Sudan” and more recently, “Life on the Ground Floor“. He practices emergency medicine and trauma at St. Michael’s, Toronto’s inner-city hospital and is an award winning teacher at the University of Toronto. He directs a program that works with Ethiopian partners at … Continued

james maskalyk

Erin Oke

Executive Director, Teacher

Erin teaches meditation and Executively Directs the Consciousness Explorers Club. Her focus is on meditation for self-care and emotional well being and she has taught mindfulness skills in health care, education, corporate and non-profit settings. She has guided meditating teenagers on iBme’s Teen Retreats and taught mindfulness in high schools for KidEvolve. She also does mindfulness coaching … Continued

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Testimonials

“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!”

Fees & Registration

We made the difficult decision to cancel this summer’s retreat. With travel and gathering restrictions still in place in Ontario, and public health guidance cautioning against prolonged indoor exposure, we just can’t see being able to offer it safely and viably. This feels like the right decision to prioritize the health and well-being of our community during this challenging time. We will aim to offer it again in summer 2021. Thanks for understanding!

Payment info and Registration Form coming soon