CEASEFIRE: Heart Practices for Ending the War Within - Daylong for Lesbians

CEASEFIRE: Heart Practices for Ending the War Within - An In-Person Daylong Retreat for Lesbians; Donation-Based

Sunday, September 8, 2024 from 10am-5pm in Berkeley, CA

Meditation Teacher: Tamara Thebert, MFT (bio below)

***This is an in-person class. Limited to 12 participants.***

This class is for lesbians of all paths or no path. You do not have to be a Buddhist to practice with us. All levels of experience with Buddhism, mindfulness, and/or meditation welcome.

With all that is happening in our precious world - threats to democracy, climate crisis, violence, genocide, and war - it can be challenging to navigate the impact of these experiences, let alone calm down enough to feel present, kind, and connected. But we must find a way.

Although our efforts to end violence in the world are important for creating peace, there is something just as powerful that we can do. We can end the war on ourselves. We can call a ceasefire. We can bring awareness to our own habits of harm and cultivate heart qualities that lead to happiness, peace, and freedom from conditioning for ourselves and all beings.

During this in-person daylong, you will learn practices that help you bring compassionate awareness to habits of harm (i.e. anger, fear, envy, self-loathing, inner criticism, unskillful boundaries, etc.) as well as practices to intentionally cultivate wholesome heart qualities of loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity through the teachings and practices of the Four Immeasurables or the Brahmavihārās. These heart practices are considered immeasurable because if you practice them, they will grow every day until they embrace all beings in the entire universe.

If you would like to declare a ceasefire on the war within yourself and water the seeds of your beautiful heart qualities in the presence of a lesbian sangha, we would love for you to join us. Early registrations appreciated.

Please Note: You must be fragrance-free to attend this daylong class.

Accessability Info: Location is not wheelchair accessible. Participants will need to be able to walk down 10-12 steps alongside the house. Handrails and assistance available. Please contact me if you have accessibility needs.

In Buddhism, qualities like anger or kindness are not considered “bad” or “good,” but evaluated based on whether they contribute to happiness and awakeing or suffering. Wholesome qualities are those that contribute to happiness, well-being, and awakening from unskillful conditioning, whereas unwholesome qualities contribute to suffering.

Violence and war begin with unwholesome qualities, like greed, hatred, and delusion. While becoming aware of and investigating unwholesome qualities is important for our happiness, well-being, and awakening, it is also beneficial to practice embodying wholesome qualities like kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Both are necessary for liberation from unskillful conditioning, freedom, and peace.

There are two main types of Buddhist meditation practices that can lead to awakening: mindfulness and concentration practices. Mindfulness is a powerful practice for recognizing and transforming unwholesome qualities and unskillful actions with compassionate awareness of all that is arising in each moment. Concentration practices, like the heart practices we will learn in this class, help us embody wholesome qualities and have many benefits, including focus, clarity, spaciousness, and peace of mind.

In this way, peace and peace activism begins and ends in our very own hearts.

Let's gather together as a lesbian sangha to immerse ourselves in heart practices and cultivate wholesome qualities that lead to peace and freedom.

Class Structure

We will meet for 7 hours, with two 10 minute breaks and a 30-minute lunch break.

The class includes talks, meditations, mindful movement, opportunities for reflective journaling (writing or drawing to integrate experience), Q&R (questions and responses), optional sharing, and dedication of merit.

Class will be held in a private home in Berkeley, CA. Address will be released one week before class.

Upon registration, you will be invited to schedule a 20-minute conversation to check-in with me, share where you are on your life/spiritual/meditation path, or ask questions that help shape the class for our daylong.

First Half of the Day (10am-1:30pm)

• Introduction
• Check-Ins/Group Guidelines
• Opening talk: Transforming Habits that Cause Suffering with Loving Kindness
• Guided Meditation
• Integrative Practice: Mindful Movement
• Integrative Practice: Reflective Journaling (Writing and/or Drawing)

11:30am MORNING BREAK (10 minutes)

• Talk: Cultivating the Heart Quality of Compassion (Karunā) in the Face of Cruelty, Criticism, and Shame
• Guided Meditation
• Integrative Practice: Mindful Movement or Reflective Journaling
• Silent Sit (Lightly Guided)
• Q&R, Optional Sharing

1:30pm LUNCH BREAK (On Site, Bring Your Own)

Second Half of the Day (2-5pm)

• Talk: Cultivating the Heart Quality of Joy (Muditā) in the Midst of Sorrow, Grief, Envy, and Discontent
• Guided Meditation
• Journaling
• Mindful Movement Practice

3pm AFTERNOON BREAK (10 minutes)

• Talk: Holding Both: Cultivating the Heart Quality of Equanimity (Upekkhā) while Holding Space for Fear, Overwhelm, and Need to Control
• Guided Meditation
• Journaling
• Mindful Movement
• Silent Sit (Lightly Guided)

• Closing Comments &. Dedication of Merit
• Q&R, Optional Sharing

DONATIONS

This class is offered through the Buddhist generosity practice of danā (pronounced with a short "o" sound as in "on"), by donation or offering as part of my mindfulness meditation teacher training certification. Please choose a donation level that is both generous and sustainable for you.

While I rely on your generosity to continue my offerings, I do not turn away anyone for lack of funds. If you would like to practice with us and money is a barrier, please contact me at: [email protected].

Meditation Teacher: Tamara Thebert, MFT

Tamara Thebert, MFT is the CEO, Co-Founder, and an Instructor at Inner Science Institute. She uses her 20 years of meditation experience and 17 years of clinical experience to support clinicians and clients deepen and expand their self-awareness by learning from the inside out.

Tamara specializes in teaching spiritual principles and practices specifically tailored to improve mental and emotional health and encourage spiritual awakening. In her private practice, she helps women recognize & amplify inner resources to recover from trauma, anxiety, stress, and distress while attending to the important relationships in their lives. To find out more about her psychotherapy practice, go to www.psychospiritualcounseling.net. For clinicians, she offers mindfulness-based clinical consultation via Zoom. For more information, go to www.psychospiritualcounseling.net/mindfulness-based-consultation/.

This class is inspired by and is part of my practicum for Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, a two-year training in awareness and compassion-based practices.

In case you are curious and want to know more about me:

Spiritual Lineage: I have been a devotee of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) since 2003 and Mother Meera since 2009 and am engaged in the teachings and practices of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) and Buddhism while maintaining a deep connection with the earth. My more recent boons of discovering Sri Mooji in 2014 and Thich Nhat Hanh in 2020 continue to bring a profound experience of the Timeless Loving Presence within.

Social Identity: I am a lesbian with a mixed heritage background (Italian, Mexican motherline & Italian, Irish, French, Polish fatherline) committed to freedom via spiritual awakening and social justice. Raised by a single mother and paternal grandmother in a Catholic working class family, I welcome folks from all backgrounds to the practice. Pronouns: she/her. I love being in a woman's body and enjoy expressing my gender in a fluid way.

I Love: writing, painting, permaculture, gardening, hiking, meditating, cooking, making herbal medicines, listening to live music with friends, cats, teaching, and bringing into the foreground all that is inspiring, life-sustaining, and loving.

I live and work on the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people in Berkeley, CA and am partnered with a beautiful soul named Deborah.

Education: I hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Women’s Studies with a concentration in Art and Psychology from Knox College, a Master’s Degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies, and a Certification in Hypnotherapy (Spiritual Counseling emphasis) from Foundation of the Sacred Stream. I am currently enrolled in Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, a two-year training in awareness and compassion-based practices.

Host or Publisher Tamara Thebert