The cultivation of the lower belly center below the navel has been a central practice in the arts, martial arts, and meditations of  the Orient for thousands of years. The belly center has been recognized as the body’s vital center of gravity, essential for synchronizing mind and body or joining heaven and earth. The belly is also regarded as a support for simple, spontaneous, and direct ways of knowing and acting. In our disembodied culture, where mind is largely disconnected from body and earth, most people lack the groundedness that comes from a developed relation to the belly center. This can lead to pervasive feelings of anxiety, tension, insecurity, and imbalance.

In this daylong retreat, we will cultivate and settle into the belly center in a number of different ways. We will practice sitting, walking, breathing, moving, speaking, and listening from the belly. This day will provide a delightful opportunity to inhabit yourself in a refreshing and renewing way that will have many benefits for your meditation practice and your life.

Enrollment is limited. Early registration recommended.
Pre-register: http://sf.shambhala.org/program_details.php?id=46540&cid=177

Walk-ins $80 if program not sold out. Check web site
Contact: Noah Butter noahbutter@gmail.com

John Welwood, Ph.D., is a long-time student of Tibetan Buddhism, a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, and teacher whose work integrates Buddhist teachings with Western psychological practice. His books include Toward a Psychology of Awakening: Buddhism, Psychotherapy, and the Path of Personal and Spiritual Transformation; Journey of the Heart; Love and Awakening; andmost recently, the award-winning Perfect Love, Imperfect Relationships. This workshop on the belly is drawn from his training program, “The Body as a Field Presence.”