Finding Courage Within When It’s Most Needed: A Buddhist & Psychotherapeutic Exploration

Finding Courage Within When It’s Most Needed: A Buddhist & Psychotherapeutic Exploration With Dr. Pilar Jennings & Jon Aaron

This in-person retreat with Dr. Pilar Jennings and Jon Aaron will explore our shared need for inner strength and courage when facing personal and collective hardships. In Buddhist psychology it is suggested that the mind is equipped with all needed resources for navigating our most arduous challenges. The psychotherapeutic tradition has offered a similar insight – that when we utilize the minds deepest intelligence to turn toward inner and societal truths, we can find our way to a place of well-being. In this retreat we’ll examine the healing methods offered in these traditions for building courage and emotional receptivity when facing difficulties. Together, we will contemplate our many internal gifts needed for resilience and determination as we move through this complex time. With periods of meditation, conversation, chanting, and reflection, we will enjoy a day of connection and practice. We sit in chairs, no prior experience with Buddhism or meditation is necessary–all are welcome.

In order to support Pilar and All Souls, we are requesting an offering of $150 for this retreat. Need based scholarships are available. We encourage those who are financially comfortable to contribute any amount above $150. To request a scholarship, please send an email to Pamela with the amount you are able to contribute. We try to offer as many programs as we can for free, and we appreciate your understanding in making an offering for this program and some others.
There will be two 15 minute breaks plus an hour break for lunch.

Please email Rebecca at [email protected] to register.

Pilar is a psychoanalyst in private practice with a focus on the clinical applications of Buddhist meditation. She has been working with patients and their families through the Harlem Family Institute since 2004. She is a Visiting Lecturer at Union Theological Seminary, a guest lecturer at Columbia University, and a faculty member of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science. In our Buddhism & Mindfulness program, she has taught several short courses, including “Working with Difficult Emotions – A Buddhist and Psychotherapeutic Approach,” which explored a range of emotions from a spiritual and clinical perspective. More recently she taught “How To Be in Relationship.” Her website is drpilarjennings.com.

Jon Aaron’s Dharma home is New York Insight Meditation Center, where he teaches Buddhism and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction. He is also the co-guiding teacher of the Makom Havurah at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. His training has been mainly grounded in the Theravāda tradition, in addition to non-dual and Mahayana approaches. His teacher is Matthew Flickstein. More recently he has been training with Kittisaro and Thanissara. Jon also studied contemplative care at the Zen Center for Contemplative Care and completed the Integrated Study and Practice program at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. Jon Aaron has taught more than 100 cycles of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and is a Certified MBSR Teacher Trainer. As a Somatic Experience Practitioner®, he has a particular interest in somatic approaches and healing trauma. You can find Jon in weekly conversation with his friend Doug Smith over on the Diggin the Dharma podcast. JonAaron.net, Space2Meditate.com