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Recent blog posts

Forecast: Continued Unexpected Mindfulness Lessons

Our December 4th mindfulness class and retreat had to be canceled due to the arrival of ten inches of snow. While we weren’t able to gather for group mindfulness work, when I sent out the cancelation email early that morning I encouraged students to practice mindfulness with the snowstorm: This is our first snowfall of
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The 800-pound Gorilla in Our Mind

Coming to mindfulness brings many realizations, the most obvious being that our minds are pretty busy. Thoughts and memories, random emotions and remnant scraps of old events or hurtful comments – ours and others – echo loudly when we come to sit quietly. Meditation teachers often describe this mental background noise as the “chattering monkey
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Upcoming Retreats

Connecting Life’s Dots: Finding Your Path & Purpose Later in Life

Saturday June 16, 2012, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This day of learning and experience is geared especially for those in their late 40’s to 70 years of age who are in the process of moving between life’s transition points and seeking a deeper, more creative experience of this next phase of life. At such points of transition, we pivot from one direction to another or, frequently one way of being to another.

Your transition point may be that you are about to retire, or have retired, or have lost your job, or your children have left home or there is just a sense of something new you should be doing, but the “what” of that is frustratingly elusive. These pivotal transition times – these deep passage points of life – are an ashes time; a time as old as humanity and deeply woven into the human experience. It is an opportunity to explore and reflect deeply upon one’s life physically, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually and socially.

Connecting Life’s Dots is not a career counseling exercise, though the work can provide a soulful foundation to assist you in the transition into your next phase of life’s work with grace, energy and purpose. During the course of the day’s teaching you will be guided in taking a look at your life and those key points in life that have helped define who you have become and, most importantly, am in the process of becoming.

You will find this discovery process to be enlightening, moving and energizing. At the end of the day you will have a clearer perspective on your life and renewed sense of direction and hope for your future. You will also have a process book that will assist in your journey through this important time of passage.

Presenter Tom Balistrieri Ed.D. LMHC LPC is a licensed mental health counselor in both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Besides having served as a psychotherapist, university instructor and administrator in higher education for over 35 years Tom has also spent years living among and working with indigenous elders from around the world.

The focus of Tom’s work with indigenous elders has been the movement into and through the entire lifespan; from childhood through adulthood. He has brought the teachings of these life passages to universities and national conferences across America. He is a native of Wisconsin, having grown up in Milwaukee and done his undergraduate work at UW-Oshkosh. You can read more about Tom’s insights on our ever evolving process of life transitions at: www.passagetransformation.com.

For more information on the workshop please contact Tom at Thomas@ragspassage.com or call (570) 238-5091.

The teaching will be at the RoundRiver Institute LLC, Genoa, WI.

Given the deeply personal level of this supportive work, enrollment is limited to ten. The investment for this day of discovery is $97. If paid registrations arrive before June 13 you receive a 10% discount, and pay only $87.30. If you register with your partner or a friend you can enjoy another 10% discount. Do both discounts and pay only $77.60.

Call for availability of same-day registration.

(608) 483-2730  /  www.round-river2000.com

The Moment at Hand: Applying Practical Mindfulness to Your Daily Life

June 30, 2012  /  10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The pace of life goes faster and faster. The demands of family, work, home and the non-stop windstorm of news tumbling out of a 24/7 media can leave one feeling like life is lived on a runaway treadmill. Many people get caught up in this breathless cycle, living life as a human doing rather than the human being they are meant to be.

For many this role erodes physical and mental wellness and can be the source of relationship conflicts, job burnout, eating disorders and substance abuse. Others turn to medications to deal with the stressful cycle of living apart from their natural state.

In this daylong workshop “The Moment at Hand: Applying Practical Mindfulness to Your Daily Life” psychotherapist Mark L. Taylor MA LPC will guide you in practical ways to put the being back into your daily life. Through a blend of didactic and experiential leading Mark will introduce you to various mindfulness and Buddhist psychology practices that can bring you back to the being of living life in the only thing we are ever given – this precious moment at hand upon which our lives continually turn.

The workshop is June 30, 2012. We will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m.

Retreat Objectives:

Presenter Profile: Mark L. Taylor MA LPC – Mark is the founder of the RoundRiver Institute LLC and a licensed psychotherapist who uses many principles from Buddhist psychology and mindfulness in his work with a variety of clients and clinical issues. He believes that our internal wisdom and capacity to care and heal ourselves is both the key to living a more peaceful and dynamic life and as easily accessed as the next breath.

Mark has a number of past blog entries on mindfulness available for students to read beforehand. To access the blog go to: http://blog.round-river2000.com

What to Bring: Participants should dress for the weather and wear sturdy footwear for some outdoor practice. Items to bring: pad or meditation cushion or zafu; blanket to lie on; journal, water bottle; pen and dish to share for potluck.

Lunch Details: In order to keep down the cost for this important learning, we will be doing a potluck, though the RoundRiver soup pot will be full with a tasty vegetarian soup for everyone to enjoy.

Personal Investment: $28. If we receive your paid registration June 26 you get a 10% discount ($25.20). If you register with a friend you can deduct 10%. Both register with a friend and get your paid registrations in by June 26 and save 20% ($22.40).

Payment can be made to the RoundRiver Institute LLC and mailed to P.O. Box 35, Genoa, WI 54632-0035.

For questions or to inquire about late or same-day registration call (608) 483-2730.

RoundRiver Institute LLC

Wisconsin naturalist Aldo Leopld once wrote of Paul Bunyan's mythical RoundRiver. After toppling the big trees, old Paul would roll them into Round River, which of course flowed in a big circle. Leopold knew a fitting metaphor when he saw one. How, he pondered, would we treat the land if we knew that - like Round River - what is done to the land eventually circles back on us.

This extends beyond the environment. When we look deeply, we find no matter the issue or problem - from economics to education - all things are linked to everything else. Our world is woven of subtle interconnecting systems of relationships and works best when those systems are honored. The work of the RoundRiver Institute LLC is to seek out and celebrate those connections in a variety of fields from complimentary health and education to spiritual growth, business the arts and community building.