• Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre (map)
  • 41160 Retreat Road
  • Cochrane, AB, T4C 1W7
  • Canada

We are now taking a wait list for this retreat.

See here for more details and to add your name to the wait list.

With clarity of mind, embodied presence, and a warm heart we can open to deeper truths of human life based in wisdom and compassion. The Buddha taught Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati) as a progressive meditation practice, bringing calm to our hearts, minds, and bodies. Through twelve meditative steps we can develop samādhi, a steady collection and unity of attention, and a deeper peace within. Samādhi is an intimate basis to investigate what is true in our lives.

This retreat is appropriate for those new to retreat practice as well as those who are already dedicated to this path of awakening. The retreat will be held in noble silence from the first evening until the last day, including a requirement to turn off and put away all electronic devices. We welcome all people from widely diverse communities and backgrounds.

Calgary IMS is pleased to welcome Tempel and Kristina!
Tempel teaches mindfulness, insight and metta meditation with an emphasis on Buddhist psychology and mind-body awareness. He spent a year as a monk in Burma with Sayadaw U Pandita and Pa Auk Sayadaw. Tempel serves on the Spirit Rock Governing Teachers Council, organizes the Dedicated Practitioners Program (DPP), Concentration, and Month Long retreats for Spirit Rock, and teaches classes online for experienced students.

Kristina is an insight meditation teacher, therapist, and Somatic Experiencing practitioner. She has trained primarily in the Burmese lineages of Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw and Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw. She enjoys supporting students in deepening samadhi and insight. Opening the door to an expansion of the heart and to liberating wisdom. In support of the Buddha’s teachings, Kristina also draws on knowledge from western psychology and Somatic Experiencing. She invites a kind, patient, and embodied approach as a base for samadhi and insight meditation practices.

Kristina lives in Victoria, BC from where she offers mediation guidance, somatic experiencing support, and therapy to students and clients via zoom in North America and Europe. She is being mentored by Marcia Rose, Bonnie Duran, Sally and Guy Armstrong to teach insight retreats at Spirit Rock in California and Insight Meditation Society, Barre, MA.

LOCATION: Mount Saint Francis Retreat Centre, Cochrane, AB