This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
A Simple, Quiet Day
An in-person daylong retreat with Jeanne Corrigal
Saturday, December 2, 2023 10:00 am – 4:00 pm St George’s Anglican Church 624 Avenue I South, Saskatoon
Join us for a day of simplicity, stillness, and also kindness, as a way of preparing for what can be a busy or complex season. Together we will practice cultivating the inner refuge of peace that we can carry in our hearts anywhere we go.
This day will include instruction, dharma reflections, deep practices of rest and nourishment, and community practice.
Please bring a mat for lying down meditation.
This retreat is offered through mutual generosity. When you register, there will be an opportunity to pay a registration fee to help SIMC cover our administration costs. During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne.
Registration
Registration is now closed.
For in-person: Guidelines for caring around COVID
We will review the situation in Saskatoon closer to the event and will publish guidelines at that time.
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Living Fully, Living Freely: Embracing Our Impermanence
An in-person non residential/residential retreat with Jeanne Corrigal and Nikki Mirghafori
November 17-19, 2023 Queen’s House Retreat & Renewal Centre, Saskatoon
This retreat is a community exploration of living wisely and fully in the light of our common human mortality. We will turn gently to this reflection with the intention of supporting our capacity to engage wholeheartedly in the richness of living this life, now; and as we prepare for its ending. Everyone is welcome, wherever you are in your life journey.
The weekend will include dharma talks, instruction, practice, reflection, and relational practice, so that we feel the support of the community as we reflect together.
This retreat is being offered in-person only. We offer options for people to stay at Queen’s House or commute.
We request that you fully commit to participating in the whole retreat, from 7:30 pm pm November 17 to 4 pm November 19.
If you are a commuter, this means arriving at the center for the first sit and instruction after breakfast, at about 9 am, and practicing with the community until 9 pm. A rest area will be available. The schedule will be confirmed about a week before the retreat.
This retreat is offered by mutual generosity. When you register, there will be a registration fee to help SIMC cover our costs. If cost is a barrier, scholarship support is available.
During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne and Nikki.
We will review the situation in Saskatoon closer to the event and will publish guidelines at that time.
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Dr. Nikki Mirghafori is an Artificial Intelligence scientist and an internationally known Buddhist teacher. She serves as a Stewarding Teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, where she is also on the Board of Directors, and a Dharma Teacher at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. She teaches with clarity and warmth on topics ranging from mindful leadership to cultivating kindness, with a rare expertise on mindfulness of death. Dr. Mirghafori is widely published in AI, has led international collaborations as a Berkeley academic, and advised technology startups. She is of Persian heritage, an advocate for wisdom and compassion in daily life, as well as ethical AI in our zeitgeist. https://www.nikkimirghafori.com/
You are invited to a Community Climate Conversation
Online with Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community and Calgary Insight Meditation Society And Special Guest Ram Appalarjaru
November 7, (7:30 pm CST/6:30 pm MT/5:30 PT)
A listening, sharing & learning circle exploring what may support us and our beloved earth, as we meet the challenges of the climate crisis.
Ram Appalaraju is a practitioner of meditation for over forty years, studying under Gil Fronsdal at Insight Meditation Center. He serves as an Eco-Chaplain on the faculty of Sati Center for Buddhist Studies. He offers mindfulness meditation and nature-based practices especially for underprivileged and marginalized communities. Ram is active on issues relating to climate change, and social issues such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. He passionately believes in serving people to enable them to discover their own potential to be kind through love and compassion.
Friends, we are delighted to announce that our 9-month deep dive dharma program is open for registration. Living the Dharma in Community (LDC) supports participants to deepen their formal practice and to integrate the dharma into their daily life. There are in-person and online options.
(Please note: this replaces the Community Circle Program)
“Good friends, companions, and associates are the whole of the spiritual life.“ The Buddha to Ananda, Upaddha Sutta: Half the Spiritual Life, SN 45.2
This program supports a shift from seeing the dharma as something we fit into our lives, to seeing our life through the lens of the dharma: the movement from having a spiritual practice to having a spiritual life. This is not about changing our lives, but rather changing our relationship with life. This program is offered in support of each of us living fully, with an open heart, expanding kindness, and wisdom and care for the world. Living the Dharma in Community combines the wisdom of study, reflection, and practice together.
Our theme this year is the ever-deepening and liberating teaching of the Four Noble Truths, with a special emphasis on the 3rd Noble Truth of Nibbana.
This teaching can be easy to list cognitively and challenging to understand in an embodied way. This year will give us a precious opportunity to slow down and sense into this process of freedom deeply and naturally. If you are in the early stages of your practice, this can orient your practice from a firm foundation. If you are an experienced practitioner, this will offer the chance to feel into these liberating practices in new ways and invite awakening as your own lived experience.
This time of practice in community is suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners.
The course includes:
7 online 2 hour sessions combining dharma talks, small group reflections, and relational practice
Home reflections, including sutta study, reading, audio resources, practice suggestions and reflection questions follow each session
Dharma buddies
Practice talks with Jeanne Corrigal
Dates and times
For online folks, click links for conversion into other time zones.
Administration fee: The administration fee paid at the time of registration helps cover the administrative costs for SIMC.
Teacher dana/donation: The registration fee does not include teacher support – there will be an opportunity to offer dana to Jeanne. See dana information below.
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Some words about the practice of dana
We often have queries about what might be an appropriate range for any financial dana offering to the teachers, that you might wish to make. Before we consider this, it is really important to know that the teaching of dana is a liberation teaching, because it is an intentional opportunity to practice generosity, which can directly erode the habit in the mind of grasping. The Buddha invites us to tune into the joy of dana, the joy of giving, before, during and after… so please, see this as a joy and liberation practice!
One of the gifts of dana is that it is optional, and if people decide to give in this way, they can give according to their means. And at the same time, asking about a range is a reasonable question… in Asia, folks often have an idea of how much is needed to support a teacher’s “requisites”, but in the west, we don’t have the same kind of guidelines, and folks in the west can be left a little bit out at sea in this area.
Offering guidance can be sensitive, as everyone’s circumstances are different. That said, in order to support the teachings, we offer these guidelines as a place to start, and those who wish to give in this way can move up or down on the scale, according to their means.
One guideline is to give the amount that brings you joy, knowing that your dana is supporting the Dharma to carry on (while being aware of not breaking the bank 🙂). One may also seek guidance by looking at the fees that are charged for similar events of workshops in our culture. Movies now cost $15 or more; yoga classes often $15/hour; in addition, workshop leaders are often compensated in recognition of the time it takes to prepare materials, the presentation, as well as their expertise.
Perhaps a helpful starting point for our sessions would be $30 – $40 per class. (This would be a range of something like $210 – $280 for the program). For one-on-one practice talks with Jeanne, a range of $35 – $50 per meeting could be a good range to consider.
Please feel free to offer less than this in order to ensure your participation, knowing that your presence and any financial contribution are valued. Please feel free to offer more, if you are able, and it brings you joy to support others and the program in this precious way. Feel free to offer monthly or once or twice during the course – whatever works for you. And, please know that we are very grateful for both the dana of your presence in the program, and your financial dana; both danas contribute to our capacity to continue teaching. You can feel that your support is supporting the Dharma. Thank you.
If you wish to offer your generosity to support Jeanne and our community, please visit our dana page to find details.
Registration for this is closed – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
This six-week introduction to mindfulness course will teach skills to develop a focused and embodied attention, self awareness, emotional intelligence, and greater sense of ease and well being. The course will include a variety of mindfulness meditations and practical ways to integrate mindfulness into daily activities at work, home and in relationships.
The course will include the following:
Training in meditation, developing awareness of breath, body, feelings and thoughts.
Managing stress and learning how to shift from reaction to response.
Recognizing and letting go of unhelpful habitual thoughts and mind states.
Exploring, understanding and working with a range of emotional experience.
The intro course is designed for beginners to mindfulness or those who would like a refresher in its basic principles and techniques.
Each two-hour class will have a mix of the following components:
Guided meditation
Talk on weekly themes
Practice check-ins
Question and Responses
Experiential practices or exercises
Small group practices (dyads, triads, mindful listening and speaking), or alternative journaling activities
Suggested home practices
Dates and times
Tuesdays, September 19-October 24, 2023 7-9 pm
Location
This is an in-person program, although we will pivot to online if necessary. Address will be sent out as part of the registration confirmation.
Course fee
The course fee is $200. This includes teacher support.
Financial assistance available: We want to assist you if the cost of the course is prohibitive for you. Through the generosity of our community members, we have some funds set aside for some assistance of up to 50% of the course fee. You can indicate this on your registration form.
Registration
Registration is closed.
Course Teacher
Andrea Grzesina is a MTI Certified Teacher, having completed the Mindfulness Training Institute’s Certified Mindfulness Teacher Training with Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward in July 2021. A life-long learner and lover of the Dharma, Andrea has taken several training programs, including the Intensive Practice Program through the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center and several courses in Social Meditation Facilitation with Vince Fakhoury Horn and the Buddhist Geeks Sangha. She has been practicing meditation and mindfulness since 2014, and contributes to SIMC as a local dharma leader, a member of the planning committee, volunteer, retreat manager, cookie baker, and other duties as required.
Guest Teacher
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
This course outline has been adapted from the Six-week Introductory Training in Mindfulness, developed by the Mindfulness Training Institute.
We aspire always to nurture community and connection. Committed to being truly inclusive, we welcome people of all social identities, including all ethnicities, classes, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, abilities and cultures.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
We are delighted to let you know that we enjoyed a very moving and engaging screening of the film Custodians in June. Great thanks to Twyla Yobb, from the PUP (Post Unwinding Project) for organizing this wonderful screening.
The film touched us so much that we have arranged a road trip to Herschel on Sept 16, for a personal tour of this special Indigenous heritage site.
Cost: $20 for the tour (cash or cheque only). The tour is with Dave Neufeld, who has been instrumental in preserving the site.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
With great gratitude we are inviting you to a celebration on Sep 7, honouring our founders Doris Larson and Carol and Bob Kavanagh. Carol and Bob have recently retired from our planning committee, and Doris is semi-retired; we thought this was a good time to express our heartfelt appreciation and love for them. And, to have a community potluck in person, which we have not done for over 3 years!
Please bring a potluck dish Sept 7 at 5:30 pm to celebrate. We will be at Leanne Brunelle’s home a few kilometres outside of Saskatoon, hopefully outside, if weather permits. Thank you so much, Leanne! Directions will be included in the confirmation email to you when you let us know you are coming.
Bring a vegetarian dish to share, along with your own cutlery, cup, and dishes. Tea will be available. If you have a chair, please bring that as well.
Doris founded SIMC in 1999 by bringing our first teacher, Joanne Broatch in for a weekend retreat. She brought Joanne in for 10 years, organizing everything for every retreat. Any of us who have ever sat a retreat with SIMC have Doris to thank for the gift that she gave the community of establishing a retreat tradition here. She also began a Sunday evening peer lead sitting group which nurtured our sangha for many years. Doris has been our registrar and bookkeeper for 23 years, ever since the beginning!
Bob and Carol joined the sangha early on, and then founded the Wednesday evening sitting group with Jeanne and Allyce in 2010. They have supported and fostered all the decisions and programs and growth in the sangha for the past 12 years. Bob created our first website at that time and has made most of the posters we used to advertise retreats, which in our second decade grew to two or three times a year. Between the two of them, Bob and Carol filled all committee roles on the planning committee for about 10 years, until we grew big enough to need a bigger committee! Bob is currently the organizer and facilitator of the Dhamma Friends peer support group. Carol began and lead our Care and Connection Circle for many years. Carol was also our announcement organizer for the last three years. They nurtured Jeanne as a new teacher with encouragement and feedback, and stewarded the development of all of the current programming that we now offer.
Doris, Bob, and Carol, our gratitude to you for bringing and nurturing the gift of the dharma to us is beyond measure.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
We are excited to welcome devon and nico hase to lead our session on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, at 7:00 pm Saskatchewan (7 pm Mountain, 9 pm Eastern, 6 pm Pacific). This will be online only.
devon and nico will talk on The Magic of Awareness: Mindfulness of Consciousness. This topic will complement with discussions Jeanne has been leading on the fourth foundation of mindfulness.
devon hase loves long retreats. Cumulatively, she has spent four years in silent practice in the Insight and Vajrayana traditions. Since discovering meditation in 2000, she has put dharma and community at the center of her life: she spent a decade bringing mindfulness to high school and college classrooms and now teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock, and other centers around the world. She enjoys supporting practitioners with personal mentoring, and her friendly, conversational approach centers relational practice and the natural world. Along with her life partner nico, devon co-authored How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life. She continues to spend a good part of the time in wilderness retreat in Oregon, Massachusetts, and elsewhere.
nico hase lived in a monastery for six years before earning a PhD in counseling psychology and becoming an Insight Meditation teacher full time. He currently mentors mindfulness teachers, teaches online and in-person retreats, and speaks with students in one-on-one sessions. He and his beloved life partner devon are the authors of How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Survival Guide for Modern Life.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
Silent Insight Meditation retreat at lovely Zeden Lake, with Jeanne Corrigal
August 28-September 3, 2023
On the eve of his enlightenment the Buddha touched the earth and asked for help to awaken. On this retreat we will touch the beloved earth with our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits. This immersion in kindness with the community of land, lake, sky, and trees cultivates our sense of care for ourselves and all beings, and supports liberation into the spacious, loving, connected heart and mind. This in turn can be a nourishment we carry back into the world, in all the big and small ways we care for our communities, including the earth itself, in all the challenges and joys of this time.
The retreat includes dharma talks, practice talks with Jeanne, reflective meditation practices, and gentle paddling each day. For more information, please email the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community at contact@saskatooninsight.com.
Photo of Zeden Lake, from the St John Bosco Wilderness Camp website.
Retreat requirements
To support the safety and practical aspects of this nature retreat, we ask that participants have:
A minimum of one weekend silent meditation retreat.
Familiarity with Insight Meditation practice.
Good swimming and basic canoe skills.
Basic camping experience.
Retreat Etiquette
We will share the happiness of the community work meditations of on-site food preparation and clean up.
This retreat will be held in silence, except for safety and logistical needs, and for practice talks with Jeanne. This supports the whole community.
Please come prepared to participate fully in the retreat schedule: Day 1: 3:45 pm to 9 pm Days 2-6: 6 am to 9 pm Day 7: 6 am to noon
Please note there is no cell-phone coverage at this location. An emergency number will be provided for you to give to family or friends in case they need to contact you.
Base registration fee: $315, plus a food contribution equaling about $80-$100. A provincial park pass is also required.
The base fee is for those who plan to camp (bring your own tent, etc.). There are two additional options for accommodation: 1) A bed in a bunkhouse for an additional $63 2) A private cabin for an additional $315
Some scholarship support is available, if the registration fee is a barrier.
Registration fees cover the operational expenses of the retreat (site, equipment, fees, transportation, etc.). They do not cover the teachings, which are offered on a dana basis. Dana is a Pali word meaning generosity. In keeping with Buddhist tradition, teachers do not charge for their services but are sustained by the generosity of their students. Dana allows the teacher and retreat manager to continue their Dharma work. There will be an opportunity to offer dana to Jeanne for her teaching. (Ways to offer dana to Jeanne.)
Protocols to safely offer this retreat in light of Covid will be determined closer to the event.
Registration
Registration is now closed.
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She deeply appreciates metta and nature based practices. She has been practicing since 1999, and is a graduate of Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioner and Community Dharma Leader Programs. Jeanne is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), is a certified MBSR teacher, and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee. She is a long-time canoeist.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings
Custodians, A Story of Ancient Echoes
Dear Friends,
SIMC is pleased to offer a screening of Custodians, A Story of Ancient Echoes in partnership with the Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre (AEIC) and the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Saskatchewan.
This new film from award-winning Rebel Sky Productions (Reserve 107, 2016) explores the work of local landowners, volunteers and municipal government of Herschel, Saskatchewan, in protecting and conserving the many signs of historic Indigenous presence in the region. Tipi rings, sacred circles, even petroglyphs show the importance of this site, and many like it across the prairies. The documentary raises important questions of land-sharing, the conservation of ancient intellectual and spiritual heritage, and respectful Indigenous-settler collaboration.
This will be a hybrid event offered free of charge. Please register for the event in advance, indicating your preference for in-person or virtual attendance, so we know how many people to expect.
A zoom link will be provided to registered participants before the screening for those who prefer to participate virtually.
If you are attending in person, please arrive 10 minutes in advance. Masks are optional.
Many thanks to David Neufeld (AEIC) and Randy Klassen (MCC Saskatchewan) for their generosity in supporting the screening.
Summary:
Date and time: Thursday June 8th, 7-9 pm Saskatoon/MDT (other timezones) Location: MCC Centre, Avenue C and 45th
