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.
Tuesdays, 18 April to 6 June, from 4:30pm-7:00pm (Pacific Time) with a mini-retreat on Saturday, the 20th of May from 4:30-7:30pm Pacific Time.
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an evidence-based training program designed to cultivate emotional resilience through the skill of self-compassion.
About this Event
Marcia Burton, Certified MSC Teacher, will be offering this online event with Siri Chandler, Certified MSC Teacher. It includes 8 live, interactive sessions of 2.5 hours each, from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm (Pacific Time). The course include an additional 3 hour mini-retreat session.
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an evidence-based training program designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. Based on the groundbreaking research of Dr. Kristin Neff (Ph.D.) and the clinical expertise of Christopher Germer (Psychologist), MSC teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to difficult moments in their lives with kindness, care and understanding.
Rapidly expanding research demonstrates that self-compassion is strongly associated with emotional wellbeing, less anxiety, depression and stress, maintenance of healthy habits such as diet and exercise, and satisfying personal relationships. And it’s easier than you think.
The three key components of self-compassion are self-kindness, a sense of common humanity, and balanced, mindful awareness. Kindness opens our hearts to suffering, so we can give ourselves what we need. Common humanity opens us to our essential interrelatedness so that we know we aren’t alone. Mindfulness opens us to the present moment, so we can accept our experience with greater ease. Together they comprise a state of loving, connected presence.
Self-compassion can be learned by anyone, even those who didn’t receive enough affection in childhood or who feel uncomfortable when they are good to themselves. It’s a courageous attitude that stands up to harm, including the harm that we unwittingly inflict on ourselves through self-criticism, self-isolation, or self-absorption. Self-compassion provides emotional strength and resilience, allowing us to admit our shortcomings, motivate ourselves with kindness, forgive ourselves when needed, relate wholeheartedly to others, and be more authentically ourselves.
After participating in this workshop, you’ll have skills to:
Practice self-compassion in daily life
Understand the evidence-based benefits of self-compassion
Motivate yourself with kindness rather than criticism
Handle difficult emotions with greater ease
Transform challenging relationships, old and new
Manage caregiver fatigue
About the training
Program activities include guided meditations, short talks, experiential exercises, group discussion and practices in pairs or small groups. The training is a workshop, based on resilience training and skills, and although it can have psychotherapeutic effects, it is not “therapy”. The goal is for participants to directly experience self-compassion and to learn practices that evoke self-compassion in daily life. The MSC training is primarily a compassion training program although mindfulness is the foundation of self-compassion.
This training course fulfills the pre-requisite for the MSC Teacher Training.
Registration
Cost: $495 Canadian + 5% GST. Everyone is welcome, and we aim to honour multi-cultural diversity in our groups. There are some bursaries available to those on a low income, and for those with identity-based (gender, racial, religious, etc.) vulnerabilities.
Registration for this event closes on Saturday, the 15th of April. We will not be able to take registrations afterthe 15th of April, so please avoid disappointment by registering early!
Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we give to others. Christopher Germer, PhD
Class Preparation
Required course reading is “The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: The Proven Way to Build Inner Strength and Thrive”, by Christopher Germer and Kristin Neff. This can be purchased at most book stores or online.
Technology needs: A strong, reliable internet connection & access to a computer or tablet that is at least 10 inches. Phones or mini-tablets are not encouraged because they impede our ability to see each other during group discussions.
Confidentiality and respect for privacy are important aspects of an MSC class. Please make sure that you are joining class from a private space.
About the teachers
Siri Chandler
Siri Chandler is a dual Thai-USA national living in Pranburi, Thailand, where she facilitates mindfulness and compassion retreats, courses, and workshops in-person and online. She is a Certified Teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), with teacher training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB) and a variety of other mindfulness based courses. As an enthusiastic life-long learner, she devotes her time to continuously deepen her own practice which she has been cultivating over the past 30 years. Siri is especially drawn to bringing mindfulness into daily life in a practical way. She brings the practice into what she enjoys most: kiteboarding, hiking, yoga, and wing foiling.
Marcia Burton
Marcia is a Certified Teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion, a Registered Clinical Counsellor and a Hakomi Mindfulness-based Psychotherapy Trainer. She lives in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada. She is a long-time mindfulness practitioner and a dedicated practitioner of insight meditation. Marcia brings a combination of gentleness, compassion, humour and playfulness to her work. She enjoys kayaking, gardening, and walking on the beach with her dog. She offers MSC courses for the MSC Live Online Teacher Training and the MSC Teacher Training Practicum with the Center for Mindful Self-Compassion.
Islands Hakomi Educational Network 