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Relateful Daylong Retreat at Greatwood ZenSunday, Sept 7 2025 | 10am–6pm
📍 Greatwood Zen Center – 2631 Buckleigh Dr, Charlotte, NC
✨ Led by James Dial | 🥗 Vegan meal provided for lunch
💛 $50–$80 sliding scale suggested donation
“The next Buddha may take the form of a community — a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
You're invited to a full-day journey of relational presence, deep listening, and right speech in community.
This one-day Relateful retreat will be held at Greatwood Zen, a Plum Village-style community center next door to Reedy Creek Park. Rooted in the wisdom of mindfulness and interbeing, this retreat offers a powerful complement to silent meditation: the practice of being with others in truth and love.
🌀 What is Relatefulness?
Relatefulness is a conversational mindfulness practice that cultivates presence, awareness, and connection in relationship with others. Through honest expression, attuned listening, and staying present to what’s alive between us, we discover more of ourselves—and more of each other.
It’s like meditating together, in conversation.
If you’ve sat in silence with others, Relateful invites you to stay awake while relating. If you’ve ever longed for more depth or aliveness in your connections, this space is for you.
🌳 Why this retreat, now?
Many of us in the Charlotte community are dreaming of more chances to live our spiritual path in our connections.
Where we get to practice the inner freedom we may touch in meditation in community.
Where we don’t have to choose between depth and playfulness, or between truth and love.
This retreat is an invitation to live the Dharma in relationship:
To practice loving speech and deep listening
To co-create a space where all parts of us belong
To grow our capacity to be with joy, challenge, emotion, and impact—together.
Hosted by James Dial, who has stewarded the Charlotte Relateful community for 2+ years. Co-hosted in spirit by the many hearts who are shaping this community with their courage, care, and curiosity.
🌸 What to Expect
Guided Relateful practices (solo, dyads, small and large groups)
Gentle structure with spaciousness for rest, nature, and reflection
A nourishing space where authenticity is welcomed
Integration of mindfulness and relational presence
A beautiful setting among trees, trails, and stillness
No previous experience with Relatefulness or Zen is required.
🧘 Who this is for
Mindfulness practitioners wanting to explore relationship as a path
Those feeling aspects of isolation on their growth journey
Anyone longing for more aliveness, truth, and connection
Folks curious about community-based transformation
People who’ve tasted the magic of Relateful—and want more
🕙 Schedule
Sunday, Sept 7, 2025
10:00am – 6:00pm
(please plan to arrive a little early so we can start together)
Bring water and a journal. There will be a vegan lunch provided, but feel free to bring your own food. We will take between 1 hour and 1.5 hours for lunch sometime around 1pm.
📍 Location
Greatwood Zen Center
2631 Buckleigh Dr, Charlotte, NC 28215
A Plum Village-style practice space nestled next to Reedy Creek Park
💛 Suggested Donation
$50–$80 sliding scale. Portion of profits will also go to Greatwood Zen.
No one turned away for lack of funds. Reach out if cost is a barrier to [email protected]
Payment methods: venmo (James-Dial-1), paypal or zelle ([email protected]), or cash
If you’re unsure whether this is for you, feel free to email [email protected]. We’d love to connect and share more.
🌀 Come exactly as you are.
🌀 Bring your curiosity, your wholeness, your heart.
🌀 The next Buddha may indeed be us—practicing, loving, learning together.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
2631 Buckleigh Dr, Charlotte, NC 28215-7544, United States