One of the ways that true growth and development occurs within a practice community and its membership is through the continued deepening of extended practice periods and inquiry into mindfulness teachings. Practicing together each day from early morning into the evening abruptly shifts our habitual attention and mind-spin requiring retreatants to maintain stillness and silence in the face of our otherwise well-honed mind habits.  In deepening our practice during retreat, we then return to daily life renewed, rested and having made intimate contact with our own true self, restored and transformed.  Retreat practice by its very design is time-out from our daily required responsibilities, allowing for a richer, deeper and more connected experience to self and other.

Retreat practice harnesses the collective energies of a similarly-intentioned group towards the development and cultivation of compassion and mindful awareness during our time together.   This intensified aspiration and seamless practice during retreat time, facilitates greater insight and clarity in regards to the truths of impermanence, unsatisfactoriness and unreliability.    Reality is seen most clearly in retreat practice, which frees the participants from the self- preoccupations and delusions to which we cling in everyday life. This is an important experiential discovery that retreat practice inspires and invites.   The refuge of deepened stillness and silence that is then embodied, allows practitioners to return to daily life with a steady mind, open heart and deeply felt sense of interconnection to all beings. 

Retreat practice is a necessary and powerful aspiration in our practice development and evolution.   We continue to grow and expand our practice together through retreat, held in the infinite arms of the sangha of beings with whom we share our practice path and aspirations   .

If you have not attended a retreat or extended practice period before, NOW is the time to set the intention and begin.   We are committed to offering you the support you need to manifest this shared aspiration.  It is our mission and commitment to be on this mindfulness path with you.

We have gone through exceptional measures to make these opportunities as affordable and accessible to you as possible. We look forward to the opportunity to share retreat experience with you.  EMC offers a spring and autumn retreat each year at Questhaven Retreat Center each year. Click here to see the Questhaven Retreat Center and its sacred grounds.

Led by Diana Shimkus, Founding Teacher of EMC, with the Encinitas Mindfulness Community (EMC) and friends. Please go to the encinitasmindfulness.org/retreat-registration to sign up. Contact Cary Joel, EMC Retreat Manager at czjlaw1@yahoo.com with any questions or concerns.

This fall retreat from Oct. 14-19, 2024 will be offered live at QUESTHAVEN RETREAT CENTER, San Marcos, CA.
Once you register, information and further instructions will be emailed to you.
Please direct questions regarding this retreat to Cary Joel, Retreat Manager, czjlaw1@yahoo.com.

During the retreat, we will be expanding our practice and inviting deeper inquiry into aspects of mindfulness and its tenets including: Cultivation and expansion of compassionate presence towards oneself and others throughout the life phases of aging, illness, death with continual change and loss will be the inquiry during this retreat. We will be investigating and working to make contact with the compassionate heart that naturally arises in the face of pain, distress and suffering. We will also expand and develop our own essential good and tender hearts to become more inclusive, more fearless, more tender as we face the truths of impermanence and groundlessness. 

*****PARTIAL Scholarships are available for this retreat. Please contact Cary Joel, EMC Board Member for more information at: czjlaw1@yahoo.com.

Retreat Location

FALL RESIDENTIAL/COMMUTER RETREAT IN OCTOBER 2024
AT QUESTHAVEN RETREAT CENTER

Questhaven is nestled among chaparral-covered hills in northern San Diego County. The grounds encompass one square mile of coastal wilderness traversed by several miles of nature trails offering hilltop vistas, shaded oak sanctuaries, wayside shrines, seasonal streams, and a variety of wildflowers, birds and wildlife. Wandering these trails, we find release from the stress of outer lives, and come to the stillness and quiet necessary to awaken our inner lives.  

*We are grateful for the use of this space. There is no affiliation with Questhaven Retreat Center or Christward Ministry.