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Hakomi Couple’s Workshop on Salt Spring Island, August 2020

14-17 August, 2020. Facilitated by Marcia Burton and Bob Milone

Cultivating Connection, Communication, Compassion: Taking Time for Renewal in Relationship

“The simple act of being completely present for another person is truly an act of love.”

Sharon Salzberg

“For one human being to love another; that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks,…..the work for which all other work is but preparation.”

Maria Ranier Rilke

Join Bob and Marcia for a long weekend with an opportunity to renew, recharge and celebrate your relationship. We will use a simple mindfulness-based/compassion-centered approach, working mainly in couples and sometimes in small groups to support deeper connection, communication and compassion.

You can expect to experience connection with your partner, to have fun, to feel nourished, inspired, and encouraged.

We will focus on:

  • Compassion:

Develop a practice of appreciation for each other

Experience receiving and giving emotional support/nourishment

  • Communication:

Learn simple skills for hearing and being heard by your partner

Cultivate a deeper understanding of what is important to each of you

  • Connection:

Identify and drop pain-causing patterns

Develop supportive, nourishing patterns

The Results We’re Looking For: feeling more at ease, more together, appreciated, supported, met, understood, and able to be more lovingly authentic, and open to the gift of each other.

Although primarily designed for couples in an intimate relationship, please note this workshop is open to any two people in significant relationship, as an opportunity to deepen connection, i.e. mother/daughter, co-workers, brothers, etc.

Schedule:

The schedule offers free time with your partner to help you to enjoy a slower pace, to support the integration of the course material, and to simply have some fun together.

  • Fri Aug 14 1pm – 4pm
  • Sat  Aug 15      10am – 1pm and 3 – 6pm
  • Sun  Aug 16     10am – 1pm and 3 – 6pm
  • Mon  Aug 17    9am – 12pm

Bob Milone and Marcia Burton have been teaching mindfulness-based trainings, to help others to build compassion and self-awareness in relationships, for many years.  They are both Senior trainers of the Hakomi Method of Assisted Self-Discovery, and Bob is one of Ron Kurtz’s Legacy Holders.  Marcia is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and is a Certified Teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion.

Most importantly, Marcia and Bob have been practicing using mindfulness-based approaches to navigate their own 14-year relationship and have a lot of experience getting lost and finding their way back to each other!  Their style is light-hearted, down-to-earth, warm and compassionate.

Cost:  $495 (GST included)  per couple (non-residential)

Registration:  Please send full payment via e-transfer to Rebecca at: abecca2011@gmail.com, to attend the workshop.

Info about accommodation and what to do on Salt Spring:
http://www.saltspringtourism.com

Mindful Self-Discovery Workshop: The Hakomi Practice of Non-Verbal Communication at the Bethlehem Centre, Nanaimo

All workshops take place from 10:00am to 4:30pm and include a delicious lunch and are offered on a donation basis

Sunday, the 29th of March 2026: Non-Verbal Communication

Sunday, the 7th of June 2026: Quieting the Mind

Saturday, the 12th of September 2026: Theme TBA

Saturday, the 14th of November 2026: Theme TBA

Sunday, the 29th of March. Mindful Self-Discovery: The Hakomi Practice of Non-Verbal Communication

The psychologist, Daniel Goleman, says that 90% of emotional communication is non-verbal.

If we want to truly understand ourselves and others, it is helpful to listen beneath the words and stories that we tell.  When we bring mindfulness, curiosity, and kindness to ourselves and each other, we create the opportunity to see deeply into the person who is telling the story.

This day of mindful and heartfelt relating will give us the opportunity to explore the non-verbal signals we send out on a daily basis, often unconsciously.  These non-verbal signals include the tone of voice we use, our habitual gestures, the way we walk and move our body, etc.  Bringing mindful awareness to these habits can bring up not only insights about ourselves but a deeper connection to others as we experience seeing and being seen through the eyes of common humanity, love, care, and respect.

No previous experience is necessary. Anyone with an interest in exploring their relationship to non-verbal communication is welcome.

Sunday, the 7th of June, 2026: Mindful Self-Discovery: Quieting the Mind

This workshop is an opportunity to slow down and explore some of our inner landscape, to discover what helps us to quiet the mind……and what inner obstacles we may have in place that interrupt our ability to feel calm and soothed.

In a warm and welcoming atmosphere, we will use a combination of Mindful Self-Discovery somatically-based practices in pairs or small groups to discover new information about our relationship to quieting the mind.

No previous experience is necessary. Anyone with an interest in exploring their relationship to quieting the mind is welcome.

Each of the above Mindful Self-Discovery days can be attended as a complete event, or you can attend more than one to deepen your experience. Each day will be a small group with a maximum of 10 participants. For students of Hakomi, each day can be counted toward the 42 days required to complete a Hakomi Training. You can attend one or all of the days. Each workshop explores a particular theme of Mindful Self-Discovery through the lens of Hakomi, Mindful Self-Compassion, and other somatically-based experiential practices. There will be more information about each theme on the Bethlehem Centre’s website.

The Bethlehem Centre has been a healing sanctuary for decades. Give yourself a day to retreat and restore. Registration includes a delicious vegetarian lunch, made on the premises.

Hakomi is a way of being that supports emotional healing.  In the ancient Hopi language, Hakomi means, “How do I stand in relation to these many realms?” or more simply, “Who am I?”

Hakomi is, at its heart, a way to be with ourselves and with others to support our own and each other’s emotional healing.  When we are truly in touch with kindness, we can try out new ways of seeing the world (and our relationship to it) that open the door to have more of what we need in our lives and our relationships.  The method is based on the principles of Loving Presence, Non-Violence, Mind-Body Holism, Mindfulness, Unity and Organicity.  It is gentle and profound, all in the same breath.

Although sometimes used as a psychotherapy method, Hakomi was designed by Ron Kurtz to be practiced in a group setting.  In this workshop, together, we will create an atmosphere of kindness and warmth, to foster a sense of connection with ourselves and each other, and to create the conditions for emotional healing to occur.  This workshop is for anyone who is interested in relationships, emotional healing, and/or learning more about new ways of looking at our lives that can help to unstick us from the past and open to fresh and more life-giving perspectives and choices.  

You will get a taste of Hakomi through experiential practices done in pairs or small groups.  There may be the chance to witness or receive a Hakomi session in the large group, where everyone will have the opportunity to participate in and benefit from the healing that becomes available as part of the group.  

You are welcome to attend one or both of the Hakomi days. The cost for each day is $76, which includes the Bethlehem Centre’s fees plus a delicious vegetarian lunch. At the end of the event, participants will be invited to make a donation to the facilitator, based on their personal sense of generosity. Your support is sincerely appreciated.

For registration contact the Bethlehem Centre directly, by copying and pasting this URL:

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