On-Land Retreat

The Elements: Cultivating an Embodied Experience of Emptiness and Fullness

A fundamental aspect of establishing embodied mindfulness centers around contemplations of the elements. In the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta, the four elements of earth, water, fire, and air represent the four basic qualities of matter—solidity, liquidity, temperature, and motion. The Buddha also gave instruction for knowing space as a fifth element. These five elements are universal and when we contemplate them in relation to the body, they may bring a cooling of the grasping mind and a profound realization of emptiness and fullness. During this retreat, we will practice with the descriptive nature of each of the elements, which can be known through the felt sense, energetic sense, and intuitive knowing. We will contemplate the relationship they have with each other and their importance in establishing mindfulness and concentration, while allowing them to support the kind of non-conceptual knowing from which insights naturally arise. This retreat Includes guided and silent meditations, mindful movement, and practice meetings with teachers.

Teaching Team

Tuere Sala

Tuere Sala

Teacher

Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock Retreat Center and has practiced Vipassana meditation for over 30 years. Tuere has been teaching since 2010, assisting others in establishing and maintaining a daily practice.

Erin Selover, LMFT

Erin Selover, LMFT

Teacher

Erin Selover is a Dharma teacher with over 25 years of Buddhist training and co-stewards a meditation community integrating the Celtic Wheel of the Year, Buddhism, gift economics and distributive governance. She is a member of the Nonviolent Global Liberation practice community. She works as a Spiritual Strategist with individuals.

Stephanie Antoine

Stephanie Antoine

Teacher

Stephanie has been a practitioner of yoga since the early 1990s, which has been a gateway to receiving the wisdom of the body. Her training includes the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco in the Advanced Studies/Teacher Training Program. She is also an MBSR Teacher and Self-Care & ADHD Coach.

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