Annual Retreat

revolution from the inside out

3 Ways to Attend

Residential Retreat
Residential Pass (includes hotel style private room and 3 daily meals, only 5 rooms remain) = $1800
MAM members receive a 20% discount by entering discount code MEMBERS20 at checkout. Registration deadline is 9/23/2022, no refunds will be provided after this date.
Commuter Retreat
Commuter Pass (includes 3 daily meals) = $1000
MAM members receive a 20% discount by entering discount code MEMBERS20 at checkout. Registration deadline is 10/6/2022, no refunds will be provided after this date.
Online Retreat
Online via Zoom (sliding scale – those who can pay more make it possible for those who have less to participate)
Deadline to register is 10/21/2022, no refunds will be provided after this date. Zoom link will be provided in an orienting email near the start of the event.

Tentative Retreat Schedule

Guiding teacher talks happen daily at 10 am, 3 pm, and 7 pm US Central time, These are required for CE credit. All other offerings are optional.

Sun

4-5 pm orientation
5-6 pm dinner
6-7 pm personal time
7-8 pm guiding teacher talk
8-9 pm optional community practice

M-Th (optional small group interviews 9-9:30 am or 1-1:30 pm)

7-8 am optional guided practice
8-9 am breakfast
9-10 am personal time
10-11 am guiding teacher talk
11 am – noon optional guided practice
12-1 pm lunch
1-2 pm personal time
2-3 pm optional guided practice
3-4 pm guiding teacher talk
4-5 pm optional guided practice
5-6 pm dinner
6-7 pm personal time
7-8 pm guiding teacher talk
8-9 optional community practice

Fri

7-8 am optional guided practice
8-9 am breakfast
9-10 am personal time
10-11 am guiding teacher talk
11 am check out

Testimonials From Past Retreats

I especially benefited from the community of participants. I felt such warmth and kindness and humor and engagement from all of them. I also especially benefited from the schedule. It was a perfect balance and order of activities. The meals were delicious and generous. I hope we have a retreat every year.

I was amazed by and loved the variety of practices offered. I found it incredibly helpful that each activity offered reminders and support from all of the different teachers for me to prioritize my response to what my system needs right now over anything else.

I cannot think of a more perfect retreat for what I needed right now… it wasn’t until the retreat that I felt the space and support to even be able to get close enough to my internal experience. I’m so grateful to MAM… and each participant that helped create this environment.

…morning yoga/silent meditation was a really important part of my experience and gave me some powerful insights about what I want and need in my home practice.

A wonderful way for me to “get out” again. What a lovely group of people.

I learned that it truly is okay and necessary to pause and take care of myself. It was nice to be in a space where that was viewed not as selfish or navel-gazing, but instead as a way to stay resilient and able to continue to care for and support others. It was also good to have the pause in normal life to reflect on the ways in which my day to day does not reflect my core values, and to use that feedback to consider some changes. I also realized there are some changes in the ways I want to practice at home (more movement, more in the morning, more with others, using self-inquiry after practice). I have dreaded mornings for the majority of my life, mostly out of anxiety, but starting with yoga/meditation makes such a difference in my entire day, physically and emotionally. Truly lovely!

The meals were delicious and generous. I truly appreciated having meals provided, it was great to not think about how to feed myself for the week!

I think that might have been some of the best catered/delivered food I have ever had. Incredible.

Ways of Looking: A 5-Day Mindfulness and Self-Compassion Retreat

Sunday – Friday October 23-28, 2022

Each year the Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness offers a secular mindfulness retreat to the general public that also meets requirements for teachers of mindfulness based programs. Cultivating a clear mind and an open heart requires us to be willing and resourced enough to hold in awareness all that is here, including what’s happening inside us and our relationship with the world. There are many ways of looking that can help us discern what matters most from all the noise and distraction, allowing us to engage with our experience, individually and collectively, according to our highest values and with greater compassion and courage. We invite you to join our guiding teacher, Dr. Sydney Spears, and some of the core teachers of the Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness, for five days of companionate silence, inner exploration and nurturance, and deep nature connection. Participants will be guided in a variety of optional practices such as meditation, mindful movement, gentle yoga, sense and savor trail hiking, mindful eating, labyrinth walking, and mindful photography.

Our annual retreat receives praise from those who are newer to longer retreats as well as those with significant retreat experience, because we make it customizable to meet a variety of needs. Though this five-day, silent teacher-led retreat is designed for the general public, it also meets requirements for teachers of mindfulness based programs and up to 14 hours of continuing education credit are available for KS & MO licensed mental health professionals. There are three ways to attend: stay with us in our private, hotel style accommodations, commute in each morning and return home at night, or participate online via Zoom.

Themes/Practices:

Cultivating Loving Awareness of Self, Others and Our Planet Home – Learning to befriend ourselves and establish inner resources creates space for greater attention to our own needs, consideration of the needs of others, and concern and appreciation for the natural world. Participants will be guided by a variety of trained mindfulness teachers in compassion cultivation, meditation, mindful eating of vegetarian and vegan meals, yoga nidra for interconnection, trail hiking and forest bathing.
Establishing an Embodied Presence – The body acts as a harbinger, if we are open to its messages. It affirms and reinforces our contact with opportunities for joy and pleasure and offers the earliest warning signals of suffering and pain, offering an opportunity to respond skillfully. The body is also the vehicle through which we interface with the world and we can learn to be more intentional in our actions with practice. Participants will be offered somatic teachings and a number of body-centered practices such as trauma sensitive yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, mindful trail hiking, and labyrinth walks.
Exploring Ways of Looking – Photography can be a wonderful vehicle for practicing mindfulness – its an accessible way of noticing and savoring that can provide us with continuing reverberations of joy. When we lovingly capture a moment on camera, it requires us to be still, to get in close and really notice – or take a step back and observe from a wider view, and to appreciate what is right here in front of us. Participants will engage in creative exploration through a mindful lens of wonder and awe, the fruits of which they can take with them to appreciate and enjoy again and again. The technical aspects of photography will not be a focus and no special equipment is required (the guides are not professional photographers – a phone camera will suffice).

Learning Objectives for Continuing Education

Define the constructs of mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion, and identify common misconceptions
Engage in practices designed to cultivate mindfulness, compassion (for self and others), lovingkindness, joy, equanimity, embodiment, savoring, gratitude and self-appreciation
Explore interconnection with one another and the environment
Identify common obstacles and practice strategies for mitigating them
Recognize resources within ourselves, in community, and the natural world to support emotional resilience
Deepen capacity to relate kindly to oneself and remain present with experience

Our Guiding Teacher

Sydney Spears, PhD, LCSW, LSCSW, TCTSY-F is cofounder of the Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness, a certified Mindful Self-Compassion teacher, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging for the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion, a licensed clinical social worker, and a Trauma-Sensitive Yoga facilitator and certification supervisor for the Center for Trauma and Embodiment. Dr. Spears has offered the practices and attitudes of mindfulness and self-compassion across a wide spectrum of contexts and diverse settings. She is an adjunct instructor at the University of Kansas incorporating these skills and concepts into her coursework in diversity, anti-oppression, social justice, and trauma-sensitive practice. Dr. Spears also teaches adaptive yoga at the Kansas City, Missouri VA for veterans who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and for community survivors of complex trauma through private sessions. She co-designed and co-led a culturally sensitive mindfulness-based training for incarcerated males through the Missouri Department of Corrections to support their re-entry into the community. Through her counseling practice, MidLife at Ease Counseling, Dr. Spears specializes in mindfully supporting people with chronic stress, grief/loss, trauma, anxiety, depression, and relationship challenges. Dr. Spears has taught academic courses in cultural diversity, social justice, and clinical social work practice for 15 years and is passionately committed to advancing social justice efforts through providing and maintaining a non-oppressive, trauma-sensitive, and culturally responsive practice.