Cultivating Presence - Meditation Retreat

We often live our lives caught in memories and regrets about the past, and fears and worries about the future. Unfortunately, our awareness of the present moment can easily be clouded by the afflictive energies and projections of our over-active minds.

In this day-long workshop we will explore what it means to relax into a whole-hearted experience of presence and ease - looking into both, what obstructs this natural quality of being, and also the ways we can awaken it in our hearts, bodies and minds.

This day will consist of guided sitting meditation, reflections, opportunities for discussion and restorative yoga led by Wilhemeena Monroe.

Peter Fernando: Peter began his training in 1998, as a novice in Bodhinyanarama monastery in Wellington, NZ. In 2001 he travelled to California to study under Ajahn Amaro and Ajahn Pasanno at Abhayagiri Forest Monastery in Mendocino County, where he spent 5 years training. Upon returning to lay life he was invited to teach in Wellington by New Zealand meditation teacher Stephen Archer, and was one of the founders of Original Nature Meditation Centre in 2009. He finds a lot of joy in exploring ways of translating the Buddha’s early teachings in an urban, lay context, and supporting others in the practice of awakening.

$50 to cover costs + dana for the teaching