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Detailed List of Retreats

Welcoming The New Year With Compassion And Joy: New year at the BRC

Teacher: Sue Cooper
Cost: 4 day's accommodation + R600 surcharge
Dates: Saturday 28 December 2019 - Wednesday 01 January 2020

sue cooper 2017 9In this 4-night Open the Heart and Still the Mind silent retreat we will reflect with kindness and compassion on the year which is ending, creating a space of possibility for new beginnings and joyful discovery, as we welcome the new year with an open and generous heart and mind at the beautiful BRC.  In a contained and nurturing atmosphere of contemplative (Noble) silence, we will transform the self-critical, judgmental inner voices which keep us stuck in the past, so that we can discover that each breath offers the possibility of a new beginning and greater freedom. As we enter the new year with compassionate simplicity, inspired by Buddhist wisdom teachings and embodied and calming meditation practices which open the heart, we will remember what really matters on this wondrous path of awakening. This retreat includes guided sitting and walking meditations, short individual sessions with Sue and daily sessions of chi kung movement meditation to enhance the healing and integration of body, heart and mind. We will welcome the New Year with a ceremony which includes chanting and a lantern-lit perambulation around the Buddha rupa, and we will usher out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. Please kindly be aware that as there is no teacher's fee for this retreat, your dana replaces the teacher's fee. CPD accreditation for psychologists and other HPCSA registered professionals: 24 General CEUs are applicable and R175 admin fee is requested to receive the CPD certificate.

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Sue Cooper is a Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, working in private practice in Cape Town since the early 1990's. She has a long-standing interest in the interface between psychological and spiritual approaches to self-discovery and inner healing, and has attended Buddhist meditation retreats, mainly in the Theravada tradition, for over 30 years, both in South Africa and Gaia House in the UK. Sue has been inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Chah of the Thai Forest tradition as well as the late Godwin Samararatne, Kittisaro and Thanissara, Ajahn Sucitto and Stephen and Martine Batchelor. In 2010, she created and launched her own "Open the Heart and Still the Mind" courses and retreats, which integrate Buddhist meditation and psychotherapy. She has a particular interest in exploring how our practice enables us to embrace our humanness, integrating love and loss in our lives, so that we can live and die with compassionate awareness. She offers weekend and longer retreats throughout South Africa, as well as "Open the Heart and Still the Mind" courses, on-going weekly groups and monthly half-day/day retreats in Cape Town. See: www.suecooper.co.za and please contact .