On Saturday September  29th, Napa Valley Insight Meditation will host a daylong retreat with guest teacher Jill Satterfield.

Cultivating Our Inner Awareness: The Practices and the Benefits

Both ancient contemplative practices and modern science tell us that exteroception, perception of the outside world, coupled with the ability to know and track what’s occurring internally called interoception supports an emotional and mental landscape of ease, confidence and presence. Called inner and outer awareness in contemplative traditions, these skills offer the capacity to recognize how our environment, conversations, job, and daily stressors affect us at the deepest level – and how to benefit from this information.

To cultivate inner awareness is to increase our capacity to be compassionate, sensitive and receptive to ourselves and to others. Being internally aware gives us an array of possibilities – for self regulation and care, for reflection and then action in the world and as a tool to be more available and present for others.

This day will include the practices of:

• Breathing techniques to cultivate kindness and spaciousness
• Mindfulness of the body practices while seated, standing, walking and lying down
• Inner awareness practices while in conversations with others

Inquiry and discussion into:

• How to be and the benefits of connecting to ourselves and others without expectation
• How and why internal awareness is an antidote to depression and anxiety
• How inner awareness betters presence with others
• How inner awareness is a skillful means to cultivate compassion

For more information about Jill go to: JillSatterfield.org