Silent Mindfulness Online Day Retreat

Oxford Brookes Business School invites you to register your interest for this online day retreat.

Sunday 28th February £25.00 Price subsidised by Oxford Brookes University

Relax and listen to teachings on mindfulness and silence - and practise mindfulness techniques that nurture tranquillity, serenity, equanimity, and insight in these challenging times.

About this Event

This online day retreat is based on published research on mindfulness and silence conducted by Jeff Waistell of Oxford Brookes Business School. Jeff was presented with the ‘Innovative Paper Award’ for his article on the salience of silence at the prestigious Academy of Management in Boston, and he has published journal articles and presented papers on mindfulness at several United Nations conferences. For nearly half-a-century, Jeff has committed himself to his daily practice of meditation.

This silent online day retreat will help you nurture tranquillity, serenity, equanimity, and insight in these challenging times. You don’t need to have previous experience of mindfulness, but you do need to be committed to embracing what the full day has to offer. Resolutions to improve diet and exercise require positive intention and patient perseverance, with the result that life improves slowly but surely: the same applies to mindfulness.

The retreat will take place via a webinar, with teachings interspersed with periods of guided meditation. You will need to commit yourself to blocking out the whole day (9am to 5pm) in your chosen quiet place, where you will be entirely undisturbed.* This is a retreat (a treat) for yourself, so you need time out from your normal tasks and busy life, without any interruptions whatsoever.

Mindfulness is about awareness of the body and it is concerned with practice (as opposed to abstract philosophising and intellectual debate). Therefore, please note that the day focuses on the secular practice of mindfulness (with no discussion of any religion, spirituality, doctrine, or philosophy). This will make the day accessible, helpful, and practical for everyone.

There are no burdensome goals for the day: instead, you are invited to unburden yourself by embracing your everyday lived experience with non-judgemental awareness and insight.

Structure of the Online Day Retreat

08:30 to 09:00 Log-in, in readiness for the retreat.

09:00 to 09:30 Introduction to the day.

09:30 to 10:30 Guided meditation: Jeff will guide you through mindfulness practices that nurture tranquillity, serenity, and equanimity (helping you with the symptoms of unease).

10:30 to 11:00 Mindful break (please maintain silence and awareness whilst relaxing).

11:00 to 12:00 Teaching: awareness of interdependence.

12:00 to 13:00 Guided meditation: Jeff will guide you through mindfulness practices that reconnect us with each other and our natural world.

13:00 to 14:00 Mindful lunch (please maintain silence and practice awareness of eating).{Kindly pre-prepare your lunch and drinks, before the day commences}.

14:00 to 15:00 Teaching: the salience of silence.

15:00 to 15:30 Mindful break (please maintain silence and awareness whilst relaxing).

15:30 to 16:30 Guided meditation: Jeff will guide you through mindfulness practices that engender insight into the underlying causes of unease – and enable you to let go of them.

16:30 to 17:00 Questions and answers on integrating mindfulness and silence into our daily lives. {To maintain your silence, questions will be via ‘chat’ within the webinar}.

*Please arrange your own quiet room (usually at home) plus computer/tablet with internet and audio.

© Jeff Waistell

For further information please email: OBBS-ExternalEngagement@brookes.ac.uk