The Method in Madness Institute
Writing Practice & Mindfulness Events
A Study of the Mind
Upcoming Events
Welcome to the 2024 MiMi Spring Retreat Program!
SPRING 2024
"The Propensity to Be Bothered"
We kick off the new season with the exciting exploration of a key question for both writers and meditators: how to work with our "propensity to be bothered"? In other words, how to work with our "beautiful monsters" - the difficult thoughts and emotions that tend to pop up when we sit down and get in touch with what truly matters, as writing practice, reading, and meditation invite us to do.
All too often, these difficult thoughts/emotions (or "kleshas" in Sanskrit) are experienced as "hindrances," obstacles turning our writing or meditation practice into moments of suffering that at best don't feel very inspiring and at worst are so painful that they make us abandon the practice altogether.
This spring season, during the first Sunday of each month, we will meditate and write together, read aloud in breakout rooms, and study key passages from Pema Chödrön's book How We Live Is How We Die.
What You Will Learn
How to recognize mental and emotional states that cloud our concentration as soon as they arise
How to install three ways of working with these states instead of sticking with the default reaction of trying to push them aside
How to use writing practice and meditation to "continue under all circumstances"
Retreat Schedule
- Opening Meditation
- Introduction
- Writing Practice
- Breakout Rooms
- Pema Chödrön Reading
- Break
- Walking Meditation
- Writing Practice
- Breakout Rooms
- Discussion and Q&A
- Closing Meditation
Registration is Now Open!
Sign up for the entire season or for a single event
WHAT IS A "SIT WALK WRITE RETREAT"?
When stripped of its cultural expression, Buddhism is often presented as a "science of the mind." Traditionally, it proposes different ways of studying the mind and working with the causes of all suffering, including through sitting and walking meditation.
"Writing practice" is what Natalie Goldberg called the writing method described in Writing Down the Bones, a method that is simultaneously an authentic Zen practice.
MiMi Sit Walk Write Retreats combine guided meditations, writing practice, breakout rooms, and the study of texts explaining the Buddhist view on how the mind works and how to make it work for us rather than being tossed around by it.
FOR WHOM?
MiMi Sit Walk Write Retreats are open to anyone interested in studying the mind through writing, reading, and meditating. No previous experience is necessary.
"The Propensity to Be Bothered" Spring 2024 Program is for you if you find yourself writing/reading/meditating less than you'd like because conditions don't feel right and may be better "tomorrow."
The season will also be particularly helpful if you tend to "push through" difficult moments, only to notice that your practice is drying up and no longer alive.
The three events of the Spring Program mutually reinforce themselves, but signing up for a single event is possible too.
The Program In Detail
Feeling sad or anxious is natural when we reflect on the passage of time and the fading of all our experiences. (...) It can be heartbreaking to notice how death and loss are occurring continually. It can make us feel shaky to realize that we're always in a gap. But these feelings aren't a sign of something being wrong. We don't have to push them away. (...) In that very fear, in that very melancholy, is our compassionate heart, our immeasurable wisdom, our connection to all living beings on this planet.
HOW WE LIVE IS HOW WE DIE
Pema Chödrön
Turning Poison Into Medicine
SUNDAY MAY 5
- Starting at 9 am PT, 12 pm ET, 5 pm UK
- Ending 3.5 hours later
- How to transform difficult emotions into wisdom and compassion?
$49
Beautiful Monsters
SUNDAY JUNE 2
- Starting at 9 am PT, 12 pm ET, 5 pm UK
- Ending 4 hours later
- How to see the wisdom and compassion inside difficult emotions, so we can "let them be" there?
$49
A limited number of scholarships are available for those who may need them. To apply for a scholarship, click HERE.
The Propensity to Be Bothered
"Feel What You Feel"
Half-Day Sit Walk Write Retreat
Sunday, April 7
The first event of The Propensity to Be Bothered Spring Writing Practice Program will focus on seeing how we can turn towards difficult thoughts and emotions by not merely becoming aware of them, but also by using awareness itself as a container in which we can hold them and be with them - a skill that writers vitally need to be able to touch the reader's heart, without being tossed away.
The Propensity to Be Bothered
"Turning Poison into Medicine"
Half-Day Sit Walk Write Retreat
Sunday, May 5
During this event, we will write, meditate, and study the second way of working with difficult emotions as proposed by Pema Chödrön.
After having become aware of them and resting in awareness as a way to "be with" them (Sunday April 7), we will see, in May, how it is possible to use their energy to transform them into experiences that increase our love and compassion for both ourselves and humanity as a whole (another vital skill for writers and meditators).
- To SIGN UP for this event only, click HERE.
- To apply for a scholarship, click HERE.
The Propensity to Be Bothered
"Beautiful Monsters"
Half-Day Sit Walk Write Retreat
Sunday June 2
The third way mindfulness invites us to work with difficult emotions is learning to see the wisdom, love, and compassion inside the most stormy mental states. Now, we're not only befriending them by transforming them into a bigger heart, we see how they already manifest "the Buddha" inside, or the true nature of the mind. Turning towards them and "being with" them becomes more possible than ever before.
Since this is also the last "The Propensity to Be Bothered" Spring Writing Practice & Mindfulness Retreat, it will be a 4-hour instead of 3.5-hour event.
- To sign up for this event only, click HERE.
- To apply for a scholarship, click HERE.
About The Teacher
Anja Van Rompaey is a published author, philosopher, and certified Trauma-Sensitive meditation teacher (trained in teaching Jon Kabat-Zinn's MBSR, Mark William's Mindfulness, and Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach's Awareness meditation programs).
She led the Natalie Goldberg- style writing practice community EU Writing Down the Bones for more than four years and founded The Method in Madness Institute, a MindX SRL division dedicated to allowing everyone to learn how to meditate, read the classics in world literature, philosophize, and use writing practice as an authentic Zen "study of the mind" - or to deepen their practice.
Anja is currently teaching The Compassionate Writing Year program as well as a weekly seminar on Suzuki Roshi's classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. Passionate about writing, reading, mindfulness, and sharing her knowledge and expertise wherever possible, she has organized more than fifty Half-day and Full-day online Sit Walk Write retreats. She's currently a student of Mingyur Rinpoche.
Combine all three events for the most transformational effect,
or feel free to sign up for only one event to see whether or not this is for you.
If you are a writer or meditator, however, learning more about how to "roll out the welcome matt" (as poet Rumi calls it) for our "beautiful monsters" is a key skill to study and practice over and over again and THE secret to continuing under all circumstances with effortless effort. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to use this opportunity to enroll in the entire season.
100% Money-Back Guarantee
We guarantee a full refund until 24 hours before the day of the event.
Will there be breakout rooms to read my writing aloud?
Will the event be recorded?
What is the difference with Natalie Goldberg Sit Walk Write retreats, if any?
Are scholarships available?
In the words of a regular retreat participant...
Clarity, kindness, compassion, curiosity, patience, and humor:
these are the qualities that Anja's retreats embody.
Thanks to them, I have begun to go for the jugular and explore my darkest fears in a much more profound way. I see now how I can hope to find real happiness for myself and others.
So if you are living your life in a way that feels smaller than who you know you are,
join MiMi retreat programs.
They could change your view of life (and death) - and in the process, your writing.
LYNN
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Writing, literature, and meditation should be available to all, regardless of background or financial circumstances.
We're deeply grateful for any donation to the MiMi Scholarship Fund (one-time or recurring)
helping those who may need it to benefit from our educational services and community too.
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