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Reading and Reflecting Book Club

1 hour 15 min per fortnight
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R & R (Reading & Reflecting) - Book Club

Stoke the fires of what interests you using contemporary texts from divergent views around the subject of awareness practices. Have a rich yarn with your peers. 
Typical session reflections:

What resonated with you?
What questions do you have that we can grapple with together?
What do you see as implications for your practice?

Structure: 

Sit, Explore, Reflect , Sit

Next book: 

We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons on Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption - Kiara Jewel Lingo

Beginning Monday 29 April 2024

Fortnightly, three sessions until Monday 29 May
6pm- 7.15pm (AEST)

Details below. 
  • 100% of the proceeds from the book club go to a scholarship fund.
  • Please note participants are responsible for obtaining their own copy of the book.

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Who is this for?

For people with an interest in mindfulness and those who have completed Level I or Level II training and beyond, even if you do not yet teach.

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Why?

To enhance our understanding of mindfulness, its gifts and complexities and to explore the implications for our practice.

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How?

Commit to one book at a time. One hour fifteen minute sessions via Zoom.

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Location

At your place

Register Now

FINDING YOUR COURSE

We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons on Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption - Kiara Jewel Lingo

 

We’d love you to join us, as we explore this wonderfully tender and spacious book that looks at ways to meet life’s challenges with wisdom, resilience, and ease.

Kaira Jewel Lingo is an emerging writer, now based in NYC and a teacher at the Spirit Rock Meditation Centre. Kaira brings a superbly fresh and practical voice to her writing, after her experience at the Plum Village Buddhist monastery where she spent fifteen years living as a nun under the guidance of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. She carries forth his teachings, applying a contemporary social justice lens and her own experience as a Black woman.

One of the opening quotes Kaira Jewel Lingo chose, is from novelist Alice Walker and reads…“Some periods of our growth are so confusing that we don’t even recognize that growth is happening.” She references many great writers and poets including James Baldwin, Martin Luther King, Jack Goldstein, Thich Nhat Hahn and even kicks off with the legendary Bob Marley!

In this year of 2024 where political division, global disruption, threats to our individual, social, and planetary safety feel overwhelming – we were inspired by what Kaira says about her own book…

It’s a book about what to do when we don’t know what to do. How to come back to the place in us that can hold us, and how to calm and soothe our strong emotions when we’re deeply upset and actually in danger because of our own inner turmoil.

The audio version of the book is available on Audible, Apple Books and Google Play. It can be found as an ebook through Amazon or Booktopia for around $16. The paperback is available in Australia for around $32 through Dymocks, Amazon, Booktopia or through many great independent bookshops across the country.

Jan Haworth and Steve Pozel (first meeting through their MTIA level 1 training in 2016) host this book and the next two, until Pamela Lovell returns from her overseas sabbatical in October.

Dates and Chapters

29 April, 2024    (pages 1- 37) - Preface + Chapters 1, 2 & 3 which include: Coming Home; Resting Back and Trusting the Unknown; Accepting What Is
13 May, 2024  

(pages 39 - 83) - Chapters 4, 5, 6 & 7 which include: Weathering the Storms; Caring for Strong Emotions; Impermanence and the Five Remembrances; Calmly Facing the Eight Worldly Winds
27 May, 2024   (pages 85 - 122) - Chapters 8, 9 & 10 which include: Equanimity and Letting Go; Nurturing the Good; We Were Made for These Times

Your Facilitators / Hosts

Steve Pozel

Steve has worked with hundreds of the world’s leading innovators and creative minds since the 1980’s. It has been the foundation to his research focusing on the convergence of innovation, creativity and the contemplative.

After a 3-decade career leading cultural institutions in Canada and Australia, Steve now divides his time between consulting within the creative sector and supporting social enterprises through his experience in leadership and innovation.

 Beginning with the Art Gallery of New South Wales in 2017, Steve has been presenting sessions of contemplative exploration (artofdeeplooking.com) at major arts organisations including Sydney Opera House; Botanic Gardens, Art Gallery of NSW; MCA; UTS; Brisbane Arts Festival and as a regular presenter at Sydney’s VIVID Ideas festival.

Steve and Timothea Goddard will be co-facilitating The Art of Deep Listening program for the VIVID Ideas Festival in 2024.

 Since 2023, Steve has been developing a prototype for a virtual platform to combine art and contemplation. ILLUME (artmindfully.com) is an audio-driven experience to connect people to art in a deeper, more mindful way and features a wide range of artworks from international galleries. 

Jan Haworth

Jan is a Certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teacher whose journey into mindfulness began during her experience of cancer during her mid-30s. Introduced to mindfulness as a means to navigate the physical, emotional, and psychological challenges of illness, Jan soon discovered its transformative impact beyond mere coping mechanisms and was inspired to train as a teacher and share mindfulness with others.

Jan brings a wealth of experience, and her company, Mindfulness Aotearoa, has delivered courses to over 2,000 individuals across diverse organisations in both the public and private sectors with a particular dedication to supporting healthcare workers in District Health Boards. Jan also runs MBSR courses in Auckland for the general public, and is passionate about supporting individuals navigating health challenges.
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I don’t like to read books on meditation even though I know I should and I know they are helpful. So I forced myself (with kindness and compassion) to join the MTI book club to help break through.

And I read the book (all of it). And I sat with others and asked questions and had many of them answered. And I learnt a lot of helpful things about mindfulness that is helping my practice and helping me to help others.

So while I still don’t like reading books on meditation the book club helps.

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Refund Policy

There are no refunds for the Alumni Book Club