DESCRIPTION
In modern times – despite technological advances that might tell us otherwise – isolation, stress and trauma, both individually and collectively, are increasingly common and can result in depression and anxiety, health repercussions, and loss of spiritual equilibrium seek valdiazep.com. This five-day programme will explore an alternative, faith-based, understanding of different issues relating to mental wellness and trauma resilience. Lectures by Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad and Dr Najah Nadi will explore these issues as they relate to religious practices, while workshops led by Micah Anderson and Abdallah Rothman will offer practical ways to develop skills for self-care, stress reduction, healing from trauma and building emotional literacy. The programme format will include discussions, guided meditations and breakout groups, combining workshop and retreat-style learning. The overall retreat will be a much welcomed opportunity to slow down and “unplug” from the business of our daily lives to focus being in a more skilful relationship with the world around us: be it the Divine, ourselves, or the people important to us.
RETREAT SESSIONS
» Prayer
The days will be oriented around prayer times, beginning with congregational Fajr prayer and ending with Isha. The experience of praying in congregation, often uncommon in our busy lives, fosters a notion of community and spirituality, connecting us more deeply to each other as well as our own selves. Enhanced by dhikr sessions, these elements will ground the theme of the weekend in ultimately embodying the Islamic ideals of an integrated mind, body and soul.
» Silence
The general atmosphere of the retreat will be a welcome break from the noise of our daily lives with the infusion of periods of silence and reflection. The workshops will provide instruction on techniques to facilitate and make the most of these times as well as how they can be cultivated in your everyday life. Silence will be introduced and infiltrate into other activities, as a natural accompaniment to cultivating a mindful and meditative experience of activities such as walking, exercise and even eating!
» Presence & Self Awareness
These sessions will look at the importance of presence and self-awareness from the perspectives of both our own Islamic tradition as well as more recent, evidence-based, modalities. The sessions will offer teaching, discussion and guided meditation practice periods. Concrete tools will be learnt to increase presence with the Divine, ourselves and those around us through several meditative and contemplative practices. Participants will be introduced to grounding tools and techniques to help navigate times of stress and crisis. The sessions will consist of mostly experiential guided meditations, with plenty of room for discussion and Q&A.
» Spiritual Bypassing
Spiritual bypassing describes the process whereby ideas related to faith or religious practices are used to avoid dealing with unfinished or delayed personal development, unresolved issues, psychological wounds or current day-to-day stressors. We will identify three main symptoms of spiritual bypassing and develop techniques for working with them. Participants will understand concepts such as shame and guilt, the shadow, and how setting healthy boundaries can help us develop in a more emotionally resilient way. Learn how spiritual bypassing is often caused by our resistance to pain and discomfort. Topics will also include working with difficult emotions such as grief, anger and shame, and the “shadow” – the part of ourselves we often keep hidden or disavow. The session will include teaching, guided meditations and breakout groups.
» Stress &Trauma
These sessions will focus on learning and understanding how stress and trauma impact our daily lives and particularly on the body, mind and spirit. The sessions will offer learning, discussion, Q&A as well as concrete tools to manage stress and begin to engage trauma though meditative, therapeutic and contemplative practices. The sessions will offer a deeper understanding of both stress and trauma and how they play a role in our daily lives. Topics will include the importance of the Divine in healing from trauma and managing stress, as well as how to recognize when our personal transformation from trauma may need outside support, and how to go about getting it.
» Self-care & Resiliency
Learning the basics of how to care for oneself on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual is an underestimated feat. These sessions will offer psycho-educational learning paired with discussions and breakout groups to facilitate an understanding of the importance of increased self-awareness to improve our relationship with the Divine, ourselves and our communities. By strengthening our ability to care for ourselves, we strengthen our ability to care for others, whether or not we have careers as community caregivers or are helping raise or care for a family. Participants will be shown concrete tools and approaches for maintaining consistent self-care in the form of meditative, therapeutic and contemplative practices.
» Physical Exercise
Participants will have the opportunity to engage in various activities geared towards contemplative meditation in movement. This will include regular walks aimed at connecting us with our familiar but often neglected everyday physical movements as well as an appreciation of the environment around us. We will also offer daily classes of exercise, for both men and women, through the arts of Yoga and Capoeira. Loose clothing and non-slippery, flat shoes are recommended.
» Healthy Eating
In keeping with the themes of the retreat, the food provided will be locally sourced, fresh and nutritious with a variety of vegetarian, fish and meat-based meals. Mealtimes provide a forum to engage more intentionally with what we eat and practise the concepts of mindfulness and an experience of silent eating – to more fully appreciate the textures, tastes, and origins of eating for optimum health and well-being.
DATES
24 – 28 April 2019
The programme begins at 3pm on Wednesday, 24 April and ends after Dhuhr prayer and lunch on Sunday, 28 April.
VENUE
West Lexham Retreat Centre
TRAVEL INFORMATION
The nearest airport is Stansted Airport.
There will be free shuttle service from Downham Market station on 24 April, at 2.30pm, 3.30pm and 4.30pm. Participants who arrive later than this should call Bishops Travel on 01366 324307 to organise their own journey to West Lexham Retreat Centre. The journey takes 30-35 minutes.
Participants who choose to travel by car can park at the retreat centre.
TUITION
Programme costs (£700-£750) vary depending upon accommodation choice
Accommodation includes double en-suite rooms (2 people, en-suite bathroom) and several tree houses (2 – 6 people, en-suite & shared bathroom)
*Places are limited.
**Please email us with details for family rates.
REGISTER HERE
» INSTRUCTORS
Micah Anderson is the Director of Wellness at Ta’leef Collective, an organisation with campuses in the San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago, that provides an alternative social and sacred space for Muslims. He is also Programme Director at the Mind Body Awareness Project, which offers mindfulness and emotional literacy programs for incarcerated populations. Micah also works as an Associate Marriage Family Therapist, running groups as well as providing psychotherapy for individuals and couples. In the last decade, Micah has taught at retreats and led training sessions on mindfulness, trauma resiliency, and emotional intelligence in five countries, and leads both weekly and monthly meditation groups in the Bay Area. Micah holds a master’s degree in Psychology/Counselling and lives in Oakland, CA.
Shaykh Abdal Hakim Murad is the Dean and Aziz Foundation Professor at Cambridge Muslim College. Shaykh Abdal Hakim was educated at Cambridge, Al-Azhar and London universities. He is currently the Shaykh Zayed Lecturer of Islamic Studies in the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University and Director of Studies in Theology at Wolfson College. He has published and contributed to numerous academic works on Islam, including as Director of the Sunna Project, and is a leading figure in inter-faith activity, notably as one of the signatories to the Common Word statement. He is well-known as a contributor to BBC Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’.
Dr Najah Nadi has completed a DPhil from the University of Oxford with a focus on kalām and uṣūl al-fiqh. Najah holds an M.A. in Religious and Theological Studies from Boston University and a B.A. in Islamic studies from al-Azhar University. She completed several years of traditional training at al-Azhar Mosque’s reading-circles, receiving ijāzāt in Shāfi’ī fiqh (jurisprudence), uṣūl al-fiqh (legal theory), ‘ilm al- kalām (philosophical theology) and manṭiq (logic). Najah is the Aziz Lecturer at Cambridge Muslim College, teaching on the BA (Hons) degree programme.
Abdallah Rothman is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 15 years experience as a practicing counseling psychologist working with individuals, families and young people. In addition to his academic and clinical training in Western psychology, Abdallah studies and practices Islamic Psychology and is currently doing doctoral research in this area.
