Residential Retreat with James Lowe and Jeanne Corrigal [2024apr20ssrc]

Retreat Description

The Brahma Viharas in the coastal mountains of BC

On this retreat, we will connect with the ease of nature through the Brahma Vihara (Divine Abodes) practices of metta, compassion, empathic joy and equanimity. Surrounded by a lake and forest in the Coastal Mountain Range, we will combine nature and meditation practices to support the natural process of peace in the mind. These practices and qualities can become your guides when you return to life after the retreat, even in challenging times.

This retreat will rest in nature practices and the four Brahma Viharas and include dharma talks, instruction in sitting and walking practices, individual practice talks, and sangha sharing on the last day.

You can find more detailed information about the retreat on James' website.

General Info

Please read all of the information about the retreat carefully before registering:

Registration: This retreat will go on sale December 20, 2023 at 10am PST. We anticipate tickets will sell out very quickly. We recommend you register as soon as possible once the tickets go on sale.

Tuition and Room Assignments: We are offering two rates for this retreat: Base Rate CA$1,395, and Benefactor Rate: CA$1,750. Folks who select the Benefactor Rate will receive a tax receipt for the $400 tax-deductible donation above the base rate.

Fees do NOT include a financial offering (dana) to the teachers. There will be an opportunity to offer dana to the teachers once you are at the retreat.

Please note most rooms on site are double-occupancy rooms. The Benefactor Rate does NOT guarantee you a single room. All registrants are assigned overnight rooms based on needs indicated in the Registration Order Form, and at the discretion of the organizers. For more information, please see "Overnight Rooms" below.

Financial Assistance is available for this retreat. Please apply by emailing jess@bcims.org, and let us know what amount you are joyfully able to contribute. DEI Financial Assistance: We are also offering financial assistance from our DEI fund (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). This is intended to offer support to folks from underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities to attend residential retreats. We encourage folks who identify as BIPOC (black, Indigenous, and/or people of colour) and people of the global majority, 2SLGBTQIA+, have a visible or invisible disability, or are from other underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities, to apply by emailing jess@bcims.org. Please specify in your email that you are interested in applying for the DEI fund, and share what amount you are joyfully able to contribute. The application deadline is December 6, 2023.

BCIMS Cancellation Policy:

Up to March 13 - refund offered, less a $100 cancellation fee.

From March 14 to April 11, 2024 - 50% refund offered.

On and after April 12, 2024 - no refund guaranteed.

Please note, our BCIMS Cancellation Policy applies to all ticket holders, including those with discounted tickets.

About the Retreat Centre: Please read all about the Sea to Sky Retreat Centre including on-site accessibility, wildlife, facilities, and more here.

Accessibility Needs: There will be an opportunity on the Registration Order Form to specify any special needs or accommodations, including any needs or requests on washrooms, dietary, and access needs.

We may not be able to meet everyone’s preferences but we will do our best to accommodate needs and make the retreat as safe and accessible as possible. We encourage you to please reflect on the difference between needs and preferences for your stay as you fill out the Form, as this allows us to more easefully accommodate all retreatants.

Overnight Rooms: The Sea to Sky Retreat Centre has buildings for dining, meeting, and sleeping. Most accommodation is in shared double occupancy. Many areas of the property may be designated mixed gender areas. Rooms will be assigned in advance. In shared rooms, people will be housed with others with similar gender requests for housing.

There will be an opportunity to indicate on your order form a preference for sharing a room with another yogi should you be attending with a friend or partner.

Given the complexity of creating a safe and welcoming space for people’s diverse needs, we ask for your understanding and flexibility on room allocation.

Attending with a partner or friend: Attending the retreat and/or sharing a room with a friend or partner can be a rich experience. Discussing ahead of time how you will keep the precepts, including the precept of noble silence, can deepen this experience for you. If you are sharing in this way, please decide ahead of time how you will honour the silence together, especially in your room. This can help both of you relax into the retreat, and support the gift of silence in the community.

Cellphones/Devices: Our time on retreat is precious, and to support this we ask that you renounce your cell phone and other devices. The contact number of the retreat centre may be given to family or friends in case they need to contact you. If you wish, our retreat manager will take care of your devices safely and return it to you at the end of the retreat, or if you need it for emergencies. This renunciation greatly supports both your practice, and the practice of the community. Thank you!

Ridesharing: The information collected during registration regarding ridesharing will be distributed by email to all interested retreatants about four weeks prior to the retreat. Each individual is then responsible for directly making any ridesharing arrangement.

Dana: Registration fees cover retreat organizing costs, accommodations, and meals only. Voluntary donations (dana) for the teachings may be offered to the teachers at the retreat. More information will be shared with registrants.

COVID-19: It is anticipated that small gatherings will be allowed by the BC Provincial Health Authority at this time. All health guidelines in place at the time of the retreat for small gatherings will be followed and communicated to attendees.

Attendees are strongly encouraged to be fully vaccinated, including the boosters, though we will not be requiring proof during check in. Masks are optional and encouraged in shared indoor spaces.

Opportunity to gather online before retreat:

Prior to the retreat, Jeanne and James will host an online meeting as an opportunity to meet the teachers, share intentions for the retreat, and begin to sense our practice community. You'll see how the retreat is planned and warmly meet your fellow yogis. The teachers will also offer optional practices in advance of the retreat, which can support you to feel comfortable and settled for April 20th, as well as support you after the retreat. Registered yogis will receive a Zoom Link to join this gathering via email. The gathering is optional but encouraged if you are available!

About the Teachers:

In 2020 James Lowe became a fully empowered teacher with authorization from Spirit Rock Meditation Center to carry forth and teach the Dharma of liberation. Carrying the sacred trust of meditation masters from the forest monasteries, temples and retreat centres of Thailand, Burma, India and the whole world, James shares the Theravada tradition in a modern community. Trained as a counselling psychologist and adult educator, James shares the practice with pragmatic plain language. He aims to empower yogis to find their own way in the dharma. As a result, he emphasizes skills and practice and the felt sense of dharma in order to move people along the path of liberation.

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Métis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy, is a certified MBSR teacher, and has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Métis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.

With heartfelt gratitude, BCIMS acknowledges we are based in what is now known as Vancouver, BC, the beautiful, traditional, and unceded lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, who live on and have stewarded this land for thousands of years.