This weekend is an opportunity to get away from the noise of the world and nourish yourself and your creativity. You'll have a chance to see how the practices of writing and meditation can work together to deepen and complement each other and create transformations. You will be introduced to both practices, then experience alternating practices in sitting and walking meditation, and timed writings. Except for periods of
instruction and reading, the weekend will be in silence to eliminate distractions and allow full attention to the inner voice of creativity.  

                       Using the "practice writing" techniques from Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones, participants will learn to cut through the internal censor, leaving tremendous space to write what's on your mind and to speak the truth of your life.   You'll also learn the simple techniques of Insight Meditation, in both sitting and walking forms. The weekend promises to be devoted to writing, meditation, and deep listening in an atmosphere of kindness, openness, and non-judgment. No experience is necessary in writing or meditation.

". . .the aim is to burn through to first thoughts, to the place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor, to the place where you are writing what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel."
Natalie Goldberg

Weekend begins at 6:30 Friday evening and ends after lunch on Sunday

                                        $325   (or $295 two weeks prior to retreat)
includes tuition, meals, and bed (shared rooms, bring your own linens)
Registration deadline: two weeks before retreat
Limited to 14 people

To register send a non-refundable deposit of $50 to:
Michelle Demers, 382 Northview Ct., Williston, VT 05495

                       Michelle Demers has led writing workshops since 1992, and teaches writing courses through the Community College of Vermont, the University of Vermont, and New England Culinary Institute. She also leads regular day-long and six-week workshops at the New Knowledge center in Williston.  A serious student of practice writing herself, Michelle has studied with Natalie Goldberg, Galway Kinnell, Robert Pinsky, Stephen Dunn, Jack Myers, and Ellen Bryant Voigt, among others. She is a serious student of practice writing herself and holds two master's degrees, one in professional writing and one in creative writing/poetry.  She has practiced meditation for more than 20 years.       

                         Miles Sherts began practicing meditation in a Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka in 1976. He has sat intensively at IMS in the U.S., and in Thai monasteries abroad, and has integrated mindfulness into a simple lifestyle based on daily contact with nature. His teaching style emphasizes what can be known in this present moment rather than formal doctrine or terminology. His practice and teaching are influenced by A Course in Miracles  and Byron Katie.  Miles lives and leads retreats at Sky Meadow Retreat

Combining Practice Writing with Insight Meditation

Writing practice is the foundation for any form or any genre of writing, with an emphasis on process, not product. It strives to open to the source of creativity, allowing surprise, wonder, and all possibilities. 

Insight meditation is a simple practice of bringing direct awareness to the experience of each present moment. Doing this brings clarity and calms the mind, enabling one to see through interpretations and concepts and know the freedom of a direct experience of reality.

Combining these two practices, together with a structure of silence can create opportunities for experiencing deep presence and possibilities for breaking through ñ finding your true voice.

For more information, contact Michelle at 802 -878-6675 
For more information on Sky Meadow or
Insight Meditation, contact Miles at:   802-533-2505  or miles@skymeadowretreat.com