Mindfulness Meditation Day Retreat - Comfortable with Uncertainty

Life can feel overwhelming—endless responsibilities, incessant overthinking, and emotions that seem impossible to manage. Many of us get stuck in patterns of stress, frustration, and disconnection from what matters most.

It takes courage to accept that we can never know what will happen to us next. We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe. But the truth is that we can never avoid uncertainty. This not-knowing is part of the adventure. It’s also what makes us afraid.

Ordinarily we are swept away by habitual momentum. We don’t interrupt our patterns even slightly. With practice, however, we learn to stay with a broken heart, with a nameless fear, with the desire for revenge. Sticking with uncertainty is how we learn to relax in the midst of chaos, how we learn to be cool when the ground beneath us suddenly disappears.

In this retreat we explore the unpredictability and reality of insecurity and pain and try not to push it away. You will be introduced to powerful mindfulness techniques and applicable tools for managing difficult emotions.

You will learn tools to calm your mind, manage stress, and cultivate inner peace. Strategies for untangling thoughts and emotions, even in difficult moments. Guidance to integrate mindfulness into your daily life—at work, home, or anywhere. Practices that deepen your self-awareness, compassion, and well-being.

The day will include step by step instruction on the following foundational mindfulness techniques and practices to teach us how to create a resilient inner calm, enabling you to navigate challenges with balance.

Mindfulness Practice Fundamentals

• Develop key techniques like sitting meditation, walking meditation, and daily home practices to build a strong foundation for your mindfulness journey. We can experiment with keeping our hearts open even in the face of unpleasant circumstances. We might recognise what we fear and move toward what we habitually avoid.

Working with Your Thoughts

• Learn tools like thought labeling, awareness practices, and loving-kindness meditation to manage ruminations and cultivate kindness in your thinking.

Working with Your Emotions

• Navigate emotions using mindfulness strategies like the RAIN framework, and explore practices like movement meditation for self-compassion and balance.

Bringing Mindfulness Into Your Everyday Life

• Apply mindfulness to daily routines with simple yet powerful techniques like STOP, and incorporating mindfulness into activities like washing dishes.

People share that they feel more at peace, more grounded in the body and heart and restored after these retreat days.

The meditation space and gardens are beautiful and inspire slowing down and contemplation.Limited number of places available. Early booking is advised as these days tend to book out quickly.

Investment:

• Early Bird Offer €65 (Available until Mar 07th)

• Regular Rate € 80 (Available after Feb 07th)

Tea, coffee and light snacks will be provided. Please bring your own lunch.
Please contact me directly for more information on 086-3261305 or e-mail [email protected]

Rather than being disheartened by the uncertainty of life, what if we accepted it and relaxed into it?

What if this is what it means to be human and we decided to sit down and enjoy the ride."

- Pema Chodron

• Learn to settle and establish a connection to inner stillness and calm. This can help with relieving stress, anxiety and insomnia.
• Reclaim the space back into your life from the stresses and pace of modern living
• An opportunity to become more grounded and to soften around tension held in the body
• A nurturing space to turn towards difficult experiences with kindness and care
• Time to connect with what brings us pleasure, inspiration and joy
• Tools to create more space and spaciousness in your life
• An opportunity to connect and practice with others in a supportive space
• Help to establish a simple meditation practice at home which will serve you for many years to come.

• Beginners who are new in the practice of mindfulness meditation.
• Those with previous experience of mindfulness and meditation looking for an opportunity to take it further with a day of shared practice
• More experienced mindfulness practitioners who want to cultivate more balance and depth in their practice
• Those with an interest in exploring mindfulness and meditation who want to learn how it can enhance their lives and how to bring it more fully into their day-to-day experiences.

• Sitting Meditations
• Walking Meditation
• Eating Meditation
• Mindful Movement
• Mindfulness of Thoughts
• Mindfulness of Emotions
• Practice on Cultivating a Fearless Heart
• Loving Kindness Meditation
• Cultivating Joy and Happiness Meditation
• Full Body Relaxation/ Body Scan

Refreshments: Please bring your own packed lunch. Complimentary tea/coffee will be offered on the day. You might like to bring water. If you use a keep cup for hot drinks, you can bring that.

Comfortable Clothing: Please wear comfortable clothing that does not restrict your breathing as we will be doing mindful movement practice.

Outdoor Footwear: Please bring walking shoes as we will be practising walking meditation on the grounds of Scala.

Posture Supports: We'll have chairs in the room; please bring a yoga mat or cushion or meditation stool for sitting in circle if you prefer to be floor-based (and to stretch out for deep relaxation). No worries if you don't have a mat, there will be spare mats available.

Extra Comfort: Please bring any blankets or extra layers to keep yourself warm and cosy during the day.

Notebook: Bring a notebook (or something to write in) and pen if you'd like to take notes. There will also be opportunities for self-reflection and journaling during the day.

Any Questions: If you have any questions, please contact me on 086 3261305 or by email at [email protected]

The day is about being relaxed and at ease. The aim is for you to be as comfortable as possible, so please bring whatever you need to take good care of yourself.
Refund Policy: Full refund up to 7 days before the retreat. 50% refund within 2 days of the event start date. Eventbrite fee is not refundable.

About your Instructor;

Sinéad Collins is a certified Mindfulness Meditation Teacher having completed a 2-year training programme with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield through Sounds True and the Greater Good Science Institute, Berkeley University.

Sinéad is on the board of directors of Mindfulness Ireland, a network of people in Ireland who aspire to practice mindfulness meditation and weave it into their life to support a more heart centred and awakened journey.

Sinéad cultivated a deep practice in mindful living during her 2-year residency in the mindfulness retreat centre of Plum Village in France where she lived as a long-term resident and volunteer. She has co-organised a number of large retreats attended by retreatants from around the world. Sinéad returned to Ireland in 2022 and set-up her company Authentic Well-Being based in Cork offering one-to-one, group and corporate mindfulness meditation workshops, classes and retreats. She is a certified Yoga teacher and loves to interweave mindful movement into the experiences she shares.

Sinéad is passionate about mindful living, nature based mindfulness and well-being. She has practiced meditation for the past 25 years and throughout her 18-year career in the corporate sector. She has a keen interest in the connection between ancient wisdom teachings and science, when it comes to meeting the challenges we face in our own lives, our relationships and in the world.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Scala Retreat and Conference Centre, Castle Road, Cork, Ireland