With meditation and mindfulness being so popular these days, even colouring books are touted as meditation techniques, it is tempting to view them as fads. But I am not over-reaching when I say that without them, I might not be alive today.
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Seven years ago I was dealing with treatment for aggressive breast cancer, while my sister was also being treated for terminal brain cancer. After she died, another family member immediately became seriously ill with two life-threatening illnesses. I was a psychological mess.
Thankfully I am alive and healthy today, physically and mentally. And while anyone who has been through the full raft of cancer treatments knows that it takes horrific tolls on your body, many people, myself included, say that it is the psychological aspect that is hardest.
I credit my counsellor for getting me through. She taught me mindfulness and meditation techniques as tools to cope with the dark nights of the soul. It took many years, but I found my way out.
For the past two years, I have been attending an annual mindfulness and meditation retreat at Stroud Monastery. It is an event I look forward to with excitement and it is always a highlight of each year. Now, I am probably the world’s worst practitioner, but these retreats make a visceral difference to my life.
It is not just the intensive meditation practice, the vegetarian meals, the practice of Noble Silence during the few days and the constant mindfulness that makes it such a special, rejuvenating weekend, but the setting itself.
Stroud Monastery is in the hills outside of Stroud in a picturesque bushland setting. The monastery is made of mud brick, and was built by the Anglican Sisters of St Clare in the 1970s. Accommodation is in the monastery, now disused by nuns, with single and double rooms, and instruction takes place in a large, modern hall, the sides of which completely open up to allow air flow.
The property has multiple large lily bonds and bushwalking trails, and is so peaceful and tranquil it feels for all the world like a sanctuary.
Dr Sharn Rocco of Mindful Works is the facilitator of the annual Stroud weekend retreat, and she has studied and practised mindfulness and meditation for more than 10 years, attending retreats and receiving instruction from some of the world’s great Buddhist masters.
The retreat program includes periods of silence, solitude, interaction, drawing, poetry, meditation and mindful movement.
I will this year be attending my third retreat, which is being held on the weekend of November 20-22, and invite others to join me in the experience.
With the nearest Buddhist-style meditation retreats being in the Blue Mountains and Lismore, this is a unique opportunity to attend somewhere much closer to home, and receive instruction and guidance from someone who has been taught by Thich Nhat Hanh.
For further details of the retreat contact Sharn on sharnrocco@gmail.com or visit her Facebook page sharnmindfulworks.
With meditation and mindfulness being so popular these days, even colouring books are touted as meditation techniques, it is tempting to view them as fads. But I am not over-reaching when I say that without them, I might not be alive today.
Seven years ago I was dealing with treatment for aggressive breast cancer, while my sister was also being treated for terminal brain cancer. After she died, another family member immediately became seriously ill with two life-threatening illnesses. I was a psychological mess.
Thankfully I am alive and healthy today, physically and mentally. And while anyone who has been through the full raft of cancer treatments knows that it takes horrific tolls on your body, many people, myself included, say that it is the psychological aspect that is hardest.
I credit my counsellor for getting me through. She taught me mindfulness and meditation techniques as tools to cope with the dark nights of the soul. It took many years, but I found my way out.
For the past two years, I have been attending an annual mindfulness and meditation retreat at Stroud Monastery. It is an event I look forward to with excitement and it is always a highlight of each year. Now, I am probably the world’s worst practitioner, but these retreats make a visceral difference to my life.
It is not just the intensive meditation practice, the vegetarian meals, the practice of Noble Silence during the few days and the constant mindfulness that makes it such a special, rejuvenating weekend, but the setting itself.
Stroud Monastery is in the hills outside of Stroud in a picturesque bushland setting. The monastery is made of mud brick, and was built by the Anglican Sisters of St Clare in the 1970s. Accommodation is in the monastery, now disused by nuns, with single and double rooms, and instruction takes place in a large, modern hall, the sides of which completely open up to allow air flow.
The property has multiple large lily bonds and bushwalking trails, and is so peaceful and tranquil it feels for all the world like a sanctuary.
Dr Sharn Rocco of Mindful Works is the facilitator of the annual Stroud weekend retreat, and she has studied and practised mindfulness and meditation for more than 10 years, attending retreats and receiving instruction from some of the world’s great Buddhist masters.
The retreat program includes periods of silence, solitude, interaction, drawing, poetry, meditation and mindful movement.
I will this year be attending my third retreat, which is being held on the weekend of November 20-22, and invite others to join me in the experience.
With the nearest Buddhist-style meditation retreats being in the Blue Mountains and Lismore, this is a unique opportunity to attend somewhere much closer to home, and receive instruction and guidance from someone who has been taught by Thich Nhat Hanh.
For further details of the retreat contact Sharn on sharnrocco@gmail.com or visit her Facebook page sharnmindfulworks.