Clear Sky Meditation & Study Center

 Give yourself the gift of time and space & choose from a variety of personal retreat cabins to focus on your meditation practice only at Clear Sky Center. Book now @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/personal-meditation-retreats-cabins/  

 I’m part of an amazing spiritual community and I work with great people and yet, like many of us, I’m prone to this modern dis-ease, loneliness. The thing is, I recently moved to a new town where I was starting from scratch. Staying busy kept the loneliness bug at bay, for sure. When I wasn’t engaged in some project or other, however, my peace of mind deteriorated and in the end I had to admit that keeping loneliness at a distance just doesn’t work. Luckily, over the years I’ve learned some tools that helped me explore what was going on. Here, I share some insights that I hope will help others dealing with loneliness. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/3-ways-shift-loneliness/  

  Awareness and concentration are key to mindfulness and meditation. So what’s the difference between awareness and concentration, and can you have too much of one over the other? Focusing Concentration Surely focusing all our attention on what we’re doing is a good thing. Getting those dishes clean, hitting that nail in straight, finding that spelling mistake, these all need good attention to detail. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/concentration-vs-awareness/  

 What comes to mind when you think of the word meditation? Does an image of a yogi in a cave high up on a mountain come up? Or maybe of the sage levitating above a cushion? Perhaps mindfulness-based stress reduction, meditation apps, or envisioning yourself on a tropical beach come to mind. How about back pain, frustration, and constantly getting pulled into all sorts of stories and turbulent emotions?. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/finding-the-bliss-in-the-challenge-of-retreat/  

 Clearing the skies of a cloudy career direction “I need you to pull down your pants and turn around.” My naturopath was giving me my monthly vitamin shot to boost my energy. Although I ate healthily, exercised, and walked to work daily, I was exhausted. Work had become a fog where my mind slowly lumbered, behind on deadlines, until home time. Back home, I would collapse on the couch with barely enough energy to make dinner. I had tried several solutions, but nothing seemed to move the fog. One day, the clouds parted enough for me to try something different: career counselling. This process thinned the clouds somewhat. I realized that I was in a occupation ill-suited for me and my interests, and this realization led me to return to university and transition from technology into communications. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/why-do-buddhas-in-action-retreat/  

 Currently on the Karma Yoga program at Clear Sky, Richard shares a little about how he ended up on the meditative path, from learning about Buddhism to embracing multiple practice techniques. Without meditating, you are much less objective about your life, which opens you up to some unnecessary suffering. If you don’t meditate or do challenges [conscious exercises to step out of your box], you are more likely to run on habit, and when life throws a curveball at you or you go through a difficult experience, you will experience more suffering. The first noble truth is that life is suffering. I do not believe that life only has suffering, but life has more suffering than most people realize, and meditation is a way to realize and overcome that suffering. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/why-i-started-meditating-richardn/  

 What’s the best meditation retreat in North America, or the world? Asking Google this question is one way to find a good meditation retreat center, perhaps, if you don’t already know a teacher or retreat place you like. After all, we should want the best for ourselves and others. Isn’t the best meditation retreat one where you’re able to focus on your meditation without any added distractions? (Your mind will give you plenty of opportunity to be distracted, for sure, and you don’t want to add fuel!). So, a good retreat or retreat space is simply one that’s conducive to meditation practice, supporting you enough to let you get on with the work. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/how-to-get-the-best-short-retreat/  

 How can we keep things fresh, awake, while still maintaining a supportive structure in our week? Here we suggest the challenges as a balance to the idea of a following a supportive structure and routine. And, they can be much more than this. Our founding teachers recommend the challenges as a tool for growing beyond yourself, and a method to lightning fast spiritual progress. To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/are-you-up-for-a-challenge/  

 How will this support my mindfulness practice? Until I learned to ask the question, “how will this support my mindfulness practice” in everything I do, I had a really frustrating time. In fact, I had two patterns that drove me crazy. First, I’d practice with great enthusiasm for three or four days and get some momentum. Then I’d tail off, forgetting my meditation for three or four days, and falling into old habits instead. I’d hit a low and feel discouraged. Then finally I’d think to myself “Okay, I’ve got to get back to it!” and then restart a frustrating cycle that never seemed to shift.To Read more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/will-support-mindfulness-practice/  

 What we learned from people coming here to do meditation retreats People often come here for a few days or a week to do a meditation retreat in a cabin. Over time, we heard many of them say how they struggled to simply meditate all day, suddenly. And it’s not surprising. Often, retreatants book meditation time weeks or months ahead, knowing that otherwise it won’t happen – their busy work or family life would just keep going. This is also why they arrive straight off the highway of life, their minds and nervous systems still going at 120 km/h. With this, even though we encourage everyone to have a meal with us before they go into silent retreat, it’s still a shock to be in silence and in “deep retreat” mode, barely 24 hours since leaving home. To Know more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/planning-a-meditation-retreat-why-balance-matters/  

 Our personal meditation retreats are intended for those who already have or who are trying to re-establish a regular meditation practice. We offer structured support for newer meditators with the flexibility to accommodate your individual practice. Stay from three nights to three months. The intermediate meditator package is ideal for those trying to build a regular practice. Includes two to three hours of mindful activity, daily check-ins, and more.To Know more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/privatecabinmeditationretreats/   

 Our Associate Teachers have day jobs. That means that they share the same concerns about career, money and relationships that many have in our modern world. That also means that they get to practice staying present, calm and meditative every single day. And they’ve become experts at it. We are so proud of our Associate Teachers and their unshakeable compassion, strength and dedication to benefitting all beings. Practice staying present, meditative & calm daily with our associate teachers. Their unshakeable dedication, strength & compassion will surely benefit you. To Know more visit online @ https://www.clearskycenter.org/associate-teachers/ 

 Zen is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyana, which is often translated as ‘absorption’.  Rigorous self-restraint, sitting meditation practice and insight into the nature of mind are central to Zen practice. For some historical context, Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China, where it was known as the Chán School. It later spread east to Japan and became known as Japanese Zen. Zen is a rigorous practice of meditative training. By cultivating awareness and equanimity one gains insight into the nature of mind for the benefit of all beings. Details Start: December 17 @ 4:00 pm UTC-6 End: December 31 @ 2:00 pm UTC-6 Event Category: Retreats with our Founding Teachers Website: https://clearskycenter.secure.retreat.guru/program/zen-meditation-retreat/?form=1&lang=en