Beyond Mindfulness: A Monthly Meditation Retreat for Service Providers – Victoria, BC

Sept 23 – Feb 10 (one Sunday each month)

Facilitators – Scott Lawrance (Ed.D., R.C.C.), Brian Dean Williams (M.A., C.C.C.)

This monthly retreat will provide participants with an opportunity to not only develop a personal mindfulness practice, but to extend and enrich this to include the uncovering of what are known traditionally as “the Four Immeasurables”: equanimity, loving-kindness, compassion and joy, and will finish with an introduction to the practice of tong-len, or sending and taking, to deepen one’s capacity for presence and compassionate service. 

Meeting for a full day on one Sunday each month, this opportunity is available to all service providers interested in the burgeoning field of mindfulness-based practices who recognize the need for a stronger experiential foundation in this work.  You may have already worked with ACT, DBT, MBSR, or any of the other mindfulness-based therapies gaining credence, be interested in using these practices yourself to resist brown-out, burn-out, or compassion fatigue - or perhaps you are simply interested in waking up more fully to this life we are given.  Over six months, with an increasing capacity for active attention as a foundation, we will explore the development of the positive emotions, which are the basis for empathic and caring presence with ourselves and others.  Brian and Scott have facilitated with this material alongside service providers in Vancouver, and part of their ongoing practice is to broaden the understanding and context for mindfulness-based practices.  Included will be opportunities for interviews and individual support from the facilitators. 

Scott Lawrance is a therapist who has worked extensively in schools, private practice, wilderness therapy, counsellor education, and EAP.  He has been a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism for over 40 years.  In addition to honing his skills as a father and grandfather, Scott is also a poet and writer who has published five volumes of poetry.    

Brian Dean Williams is a therapist from East Vancouver who works in private practice and with a Housing First ACT Team.  Brian trained as a meditation facilitator in L.A. with Noah Levine, and has led mindfulness and meditation training programs for youth and adults in recovery programs. He facilitates a weekly meditation group for service providers in Vancouver’s downtown eastside.  www.briandeanwilliams.com

Course will be held at Fernwood Community Center, 1240 Gladstone Ave., Sundays, 9:30-4:30. (Sept 23, Oct. 21, Nov. 18, Dec. 2, Jan. 13, Feb. 10)

Cost: For program, $480 plus Dana (voluntary donations), no one refused for lack of financial resources!!!

For information and registration, scottlawrance4@gmail.com or connect@briandeanwilliams.com