Don't Just Do Something, Sit There: A Mindfulness Retreat with Sylvia Boorstein

by Sylvia Boorstein

Overview

Get away from doing and into being with this lively, down-to-earth guide to your own meditation retreat by beloved mindfulness meditation teacher Sylvia Boorstein. Presenting what Jon Kabat-Zinn has called "endearingly personal mindfulness wisdom," she offers a three-day retreat plan accompanied by timeless lessons -- always grounded in real life -- on how anyone can achieve calm, clarity and joy through meditation practices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062111920
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	08/09/2011
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	337 KB

About the Author

Sylvia Boorstein, teaches mindfulness and leads retreats across the United States. She is a co-founding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Barre, Massachusetts. Boorstein is also a practicing psychotherapist. Her previous books are It's Easier Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness and Don't Just Do Something, Sit There. She lives with her husband, Seymour Boorstein, a psychiatrist. They have two sons, two daughters, and five grandchildren.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgments
	Preparing for the Retreat	1
	Don't Just Do Something, Sit There	3
	Cosmology Is Optional	5
	"Nobody's Grandmother Is a Buddhist"	7
	Why Meditate?	8
	But Why Do a Meditation Retreat?	10
	Keep Everything Simple	12
	Take a Minimum of Stuff: Mary's Mantra	14
	"It's Only a Weekend"	17
	Day One: Arrival Day	19
	Schedule for This Retreat	21
	Unpacking	24
	Refuge Reflections	25
	Walking with Fresh Eyes	27
	Instructions and Helpful Hints	30
	Instructions for Sitting Meditation Practice	32
	The Easiest Instructions of All	36
	Late Tea	37
	"Nothing Happens, Next, This Is It!"	38
	Day Two: Full Day of Practice	41
	Before Breakfast: Sound Meditation	43
	Breakfast	45
	Three Exercises for Sitting Meditation	46
	Talking to Yourself	52
	Basic Instructions for Formal Walking Meditation	54
	Variation on the Theme of Breath Meditation	57
	"Nothing Is Worth Thinking About"	62
	More Walking Instructions	65
	There Are No In-Between Times	67
	Introducing Eating Instructions	69
	Eating Meditation	73
	Maintaining Mindfulness	75
	Afternoon Sitting Practice: Wait and Look Closely	78
	Working with Difficult Mind States	80
	"Mine Mommy! Mine Daddy!": A Lust Story	83
	Swimming in Jerusalem: An Aversion Story	87
	"Vait a Minute, Vait a Minute": A Sloth and Torpor Story	91
	Hawaii Is Here: A Restlessness Story	93
	The Macbeth Moment: A Doubt Story	95
	First Afternoon Walk Instructions: Choosing a Speed That Meets Your Need	99
	Late Afternoon Sitting Practice: Looking for Insights	101
	Late Afternoon Walk: Walking with Wisdom	103
	The Broccoli Phenomenon	105
	Dinner	108
	Evening Dharma Talk: The Seven Factors of Enlightenment	110