KELSEYVILLE >> Internationally recognized author and Buddhist and recovery teacher Kevin Griffin will facilitate a daylong meditation retreat titled Mindfulness and Loving kindness: Buddhist Practices for Peace and Wellness at A Positive Light Center for Spiritual Awakening, at 6470 Kelsey Creek Drive in Kelseyville on Saturday, September 23, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This practice-focused day will be filled with mindfulness and lovingkindness meditation and interactive exercises. The event is open to the public.
Mindfulness is a scientifically supported health and wellness approach to reduce stress and stress-related illnesses, increase focus and attention, decrease incidences of and relapses with depression, reduce anxiety and relapses in addiction, and aid in sleep and digestive disorders. It has been proven to increase well being, life satisfaction and happiness, as well as improve social relationships.
Loving kindness, or metta as it is called in the Buddhist tradition, is the practice of well wishing for the self and others. It, too, offers myriad health and wellness benefits, including increased positive emotions; decreased chronic pain, migraines and PTSD; and it activates empathy and emotional processing in the brain.
Kevin Griffin is the author of One Breath at a Time: Buddhism and the Twelve Steps (Rodale Press 2004) and A Burning Desire: Dharma God and the Path of Recovery (Hay House 2009). He teaches internationally at Buddhist centers, treatment centers, professional conferences, and academic settings, specializing in helping people in recovery connect with meditation and a progressive understanding of the 12 Steps—a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for tackling addictions, including alcoholism.
As a leader in the mindfulness recovery movement and a founder of the Buddhist Recovery Network, Griffin is a longtime Buddhist practitioner and twelve step participant and teaches nationally on the synthesis of these two traditions. He has trained with the leading Western Vipassana teachers, among them, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, and Ajahn Amaro.
Griffin is hosted by local meditation teacher, Reiki Master, and director of A Positive Light, Joanie Lane, and local mindfulness teacher and author, JoAnn Saccato, MA.
“Kevin is one of my favorite recovery authors. I feel so incredibly blessed and grateful for the opportunity to host him at the center,” Lane said. “He always brings his generous heart and loving teachings. It is a real gift.”
Space is limited for the event and early registration is encouraged. Attendees are invited to dress comfortably and bring a lunch for this day long event.
For more information and to register, visit http://www.apositivelight.com/-_calendar_- or call Joanie Lane at 707-279-6031.
