1 Photo

Somatic Buddhism: Embodying Ease

Name: Somatic Buddhism: Embodying Ease
Start: 2024-08-09
End: 2024-08-11
Location: Menla
Rating: 4.5

4.502 reviews

August 9 - 11, 2024

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Aaron

Michael

Aaron 'Water' Piepszny

Aaron Piepszny teaches Chi Gung, Buddhism, and somatic embodiment studies online as well as at Menla Mountain retreat where he is the head of horticulture. He received his Permaculture Design Certificate in 2016 at the Paititi institute in Peru. Aaron has studied, supported, and enacted a wide variety of integrative food production methods with locals and First Nations in Spain, California, NY state, Peru, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Germany, and Poland. He received his BA in Cultural Anthropology from SUNY Buffalo. He started his farming career in 2001. Aaron has been a professional dancer for over 15 years. A naturalist, farmer, and Gaian steward, Aaron has been wildcrafting food and medicine plants and foraging mushrooms for 25 years. He brings great excitement, reverence, and joy to sharing wisdom, learning, and concepts regarding nature, health, and mindfulness.

Michael G. Burbank

Michael G. Burbank has been a student of Robert Thurman and HH the XIV Dalai Lama for over 25 years, since his undergraduate years studying Eastern religions and cultures at Columbia University in the 90s. In February of 2002, he was invited to help the Thurmans and Tibet House start the newly acquired Menla retreat. Over the years, he worked variously as Menla's dishwasher, housekeeper, maintenance assistant, Front of House Manager, and Assistant Director, and since 2013 he has served as Menla's Director. Michael received the Kalachakra Tantra initiation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama twice--in 2003 and 2017--in Bodh Gaya, India. An avid life-long student and practitioner of Buddhism, Michael teaches classes at Menla and occasionally co-leads retreats. He is working in conjunction with a team of entrepreneurs and mindfulness teachers to launch Mindwell Labs, a for-profit mindfulness tech company intended to further the efforts of Tibet House US/Menla nationwide through a cutting edge health app that monitors anxiety. In his spare time, he works on spiritually-based screenplays and graphic novels, including most recently as letterer and co-author of Man of Peace: the Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama with William Meyers and Robert Thurman.

Details of this retreat

Immediate, actionable stress relief and emotional regulation are the major themes of this immersion. Rather than marathon meditation sessions, we will favor short bursts of depth explorations of breathing, relaxation, and awareness. We’ll then shorten this deep diving to access in-body ease with no preparation or planning, just choice, at any moment.

We’ll explore the Buddha’s teachings around somatic presence/ Vipassana (Insight) with wide open curiosity from the original source text, the Satipatthana Sutta (‘Discourse on Establishing Mindfulness’). We will find connection, ease, and robust somatic-based self-care strategies within the supportive natural environment of Menla.

Expressing our own unique pathways of presence, we’ll restore peace to our bodies and find presence with our breath. Menla’s Executive Director Michael Burbank will share a guided mindfulness practice as found in the original sutra Friday evening.

We will refine our sensitivity and release tension through Qigong, awareness of breath, meditative walks, somatic self-massage, and sitting with the vital, living landscape of the Catskills.

Presencing with nature and grounded in the Buddha’s Foundations of Mindfulness, we will commune with the powerful energies of the mountains, forest, and streams to explore ‘inter-being’. This immersive experience will foster rejuvenation, inspiration, and ease throughout our whole selves.

Schedule

Friday, August 9

3 - 6 pm Arrival & Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Introduction & Guided Mediation

Saturday, August 10

7 - 8 am Beginning: Contemplating the Body & Qi Gong
8 - 9 am Breakfast: Eating in the Present Moment
9 - 10 am Beginning: Contemplating the Breath
10 - 11 pm Beginning: Continuing with ‘Relaxation’ Aspect
11 am - 12 pm Outdoor Walking Meditation & Sitting at the Roots of Trees
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch
2 - 2:15 pm Journaling
2:15 - 3 pm Qi Gong
3 - 4 pm Water Contemplation
4 - 5 pm Ecology walk
5 - 6 pm Discussing What We’ve Found
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 10 pm Bonfire

Sunday, August 11

7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms
7 - 8 am Qi Gong
8 - 9 am Breakfast: Eating in Mindfulness
9:30 - 10 am Walking Meditation
10 am - 12 pm Sitting with the Elements: Journaling & Reflections
12:30 - 1:30 Lunch: Eating in Mindfulness
1:30 - 4 pm Departure

*Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

Getting Here

Menla

Accommodation

Deluxe Double (Shared Room)

Deluxe Double Room with Two Full Size Beds and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Double Rooms with Private Bathrooms are Located in the Lhasa Inn * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One.

Standard Single - Shared Bath

Menla Private Queen Room with Queen Bed and Shared Bathroom Public Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available This lodging type is not ADA Compliant Private Queen Rooms with Shared Bathroom are Available in Thimpu House, Panther Cottage and Potala House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Standard Double Full - Shared bath (Shared Room)

Deluxe Double Room with Two Full Beds and Shared Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning This lodging type is not ADA Compliant. Please note that due to the stairs we recommend that guests with mobility issues book other accommodations. Deluxe Double Rooms with Shared Bathrooms are Located in Thimphu * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One.

Economy Premium Single - Shared Bath

Standard Premium Single Room with a Queen or Full Bed and Shared Bathroom Bathrooms are Shared With up to Ten Other Guests A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Upper Level Of Conference Center. All calls are free of charge This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Queen

Private Queen Room with Queen Bed and Private Bathroom Public Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Private Queen Rooms are Available in Gangtok Cottage * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Economy Single - Shared Bath

Standard Single Room with a Twin Bed and Shared Bathroom Bathroom is Shared with One to Six Other Guests on Your Floor. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Double - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Standard Double with Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom The bathroom is Shared with other rooms on the same floor. High-speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others

Economy Quad - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Standard Quad Room with Quad Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. High speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a quad shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others.

Camping

Camping Campers Have Access to Bathrooms with Showers in Lower Level of Conference Center. Menla Has Six Wooden Camping Platforms by the Pantherkill Stream (First Come First Serve). If All Platforms are Full or You Prefer Not to Use One, There is Also Camping Space in a Small Field by the Stream. Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. Phone and High Speed Wi-Fi Available in Upstairs of the Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Commuter

Commuters Menla Encourages Members of the Community to Participate in Our Wonderful Programs! Includes Meals, Public Phone, Public Computer, and Wi-Fi Internet Available in Lhasa Inn. Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals.

Customer Reviews

4.50 out of 5.0 average rating

Anonymous • Oct 03, 2023

4.0

Verified

Weekend retreat stay

The property is on a beautiful, peaceful location.
Nature is all around and sometimes a little too close but you are literally surrounded by woods.

The food was really good and I liked the buffet style and fruit basket.

The gift shop although small had a nice selection of items and I purchased a few fun items.

Since the dining area was on the opposite side of the site from the convention center, a lot of students drove back and forth on the property. I chose the walking paths to get around.

Marie • Apr 18, 2022

5.0