About this Retreat
Kathe McKenna currently serves as President of Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Board of Directors. She is deeply engaged in shepherding this unique, collaborative Buddhist dharma vessel. She helped launch the feisty, multi-faceted human service provider,
Haley House, and led it through 50 years of organic growth.
Kathe’s roles as mother, wife, and grandmother have enriched her vision and sparked her commitment to breaking down the barriers that solidify inequality – from dusty back roads in Mississippi to chanting and drumming with the Nipponzan Myohoji monks from the Peace Pagoda.
Faced with the joint pincers of capitalism and the degraded state of our environment, Kathe is moving her attention in this new direction.
Tracie entered the path after many years of cautious curiosity and quickly found her spiritual home at Natural Dharma Fellowship. She is blessed to be a student of Lama Willa Blythe Baker, Lama Liz Monson, Brendan Kennedy, and Lama Justin von Bujdoss.
Tracie has worn many hats at NDF and is currently a meditation teacher and Vice President of the Board of Directors. In 2021, she left the practice of law to attend Harvard Divinity School to pursue a Master of Divinity and a career in hospital chaplaincy. She begins her chaplaincy residency at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia in September 2024.
Tracie’s interests include death and dying, grief, poetry, and ways of honoring our shared humanity across differences. She lives in Philadelphia with her beloved wife Cynthia, dog Rupert, and cat Teddy.
Details of this retreat
This daylong retreat is offered for anyone who feels curious about meditation, or who longs for a break from the noisy world to rest in the true nature of mind. Whether you are completely new to meditation or have questions about your practice, this is an opportunity to slow down, explore, learn, and meditate together in community.
What is meditation? How do you actually “do” it? What happens when the mind feels busy or restless? What if you get drowsy—or antsy—every time you sit down to meditate? No problem! This introductory daylong retreat explores what meditation is, how to practice, and how to relate skillfully to thoughts, emotions, and inner experience—just as you are.
Please Join Us To:
Learn the basics of meditation in a clear, grounded, and approachable way
Demystify meditation by discovering how simple and accessible it can be
Practice together with guidance, support, and space for questions
Build connections that can nourish and sustain an ongoing meditation practice
Meditation doesn’t require that you do anything special. It arises from innate capacities that already exist in the mind. Drawing on techniques practiced for thousands of years, this retreat offers a spacious, down-to-earth environment to explore these questions—and capacities—through direct experience.
Join Kathe McKenna and Tracie Palmer for a day of guided meditation, discussion, and shared inquiry. Together, we will explore a variety of meditation techniques and ways of being, honoring the wide range of experiences that naturally arise in practice. A busy mind, an antsy body, or sleepiness are not obstacles—they are part of the path.
Spend the day meditating with guidance and support. Rest, learn, and connect—with yourself and with others who share the wish to settle, find calm amidst the busyness of the world, and connect with our shared goodness—while discovering that meditation can be both simple and profoundly supportive.
No experience necessary! All are welcome!
This retreat will be offered online only.
Schedule
(All times are Eastern time zone)
Start time — 9:00 am
Meal break — 12:00 - 2:00 pm
End time — 4:00 pm
These times are just for reference. An expanded schedule will be provided in pre-retreat information emailed during the week prior to the event.
Zoom Link
The Zoom link will be sent several days before the retreat to all those registered. If you register after that date, you’ll receive the link with your confirmation email shortly after submitting your registration. If you don’t see an email from Natural Dharma Registrar or Wonderwell Mountain Refuge, it may have mistakenly gone to your spam folder or to Promotions or Updates in Gmail.
Important: Please put these this email address in your Contact or Safe-Send list to make sure you receive our emails:
register@naturaldharma.org
Program Cost
Our program fees provide essential support to our non-profit operations and NDF’s mission to spread the Dharma in accessible, relevant, and creative ways. Our goal is that no one misses out on our events due to lack of funds. Thanks to our generous donors, we are able to offer tiered pricing and additional support to fit varied financial situations:
May All Beings Benefit! *– supporting access for all and general support for NDF operations
A Middle Way – covering the base cost
Held in Sangha Loving-kindness – offering ease when financial resources are limiting
If the lowest cost tier creates an obstacle to your attendance, please see our financial support options on the registration page. The process is simple and does not require extensive information. Financial aid is immediately approved using discount code options that allow you to contribute the most you are able while honoring your particular resources.
* The difference between the May All Beings Benefit! tier and the Middle Way tier will be considered a tax-deductible donation and will be acknowledged as such in writing. Contributing at this level helps us offer financial aid to other participants. Thank you!!
Access to Recordings
NDF offers unlimited access to recordings, which are available in your user dashboard (more information about user accounts provided in a pre-retreat letter). If you have a user account, please register with the same email you use to log into your dashboard. If not, an account will be created for you using your registration address.
Availability will vary depending on the type of event and the backlog for our precious resource volunteers. Thank you for your patience.
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