Join us for an immersive evening of Social Meditation, where mindfulness meets community. In this introductory session on social meditation, we will explore practices designed to deepen your awareness while engaging with others in a supportive environment. Guided by the principles of mindfulness, this evening offers an opportunity to experience how meditation can be both personal and collective. Whether you are new to meditation or looking to expand your practice, we invite you to join us for a unique evening of connection and reflection.
Thursday, February 5, 2026 7:00-8:30 pm Online – Zoom
This evening is offered on the basis of mutual generosity. There will be an opportunity to contribute to SIMC’s administrative costs and to support the teacher.
Andrea Grzesina is a certified mindfulness teacher with the Mindfulness Training Institute, having trained under Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward in 2021. She also an authorized Buddhist Geeks Teacher, having completed a two year teacher training program with Vince Fakhoury Horn and Emily West Horn. Also as part of Andrea’s passion for the Dharma and continuous learning, she has completed the Intensive Practice Program at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, various Social Meditation Facilitation courses, along with many dharma study programs, through centers like Spirit Rock and the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies. She has been a dedicated practitioner since 2014, and she contributes to SIMC as a community dharma teacher, planning committee member, volunteer, retreat manager, and occasional cookie baker.
Indigenous Presence Wisdom Teachings from the Indigenous and Insight Meditation Traditions
Fish Lake Metis Settlement, Saskatchewan
Saturday, January 24, 2026 noon-6 PM CST (1-7 PM EST, 10 AM-4 PM PST, other time zones) In-person in Saskatoon and online with Zoom
This very special hybrid daylong will bring together 5 friends who are Indigenous teachers, healers, and Insight Meditation teachers, from Canada and North America. They will weave Indigenous and Buddhist ways of knowing, exploring connections in the teachings of mindfulness, kindness, and Indigenous knowledge systems. Both traditions are anchored in a meaningful relationship with nature, ancestors, and healing silence. Gentle reflective practices will honour interconnection, and turn to our innate wisdom and capacity for peace.
This retreat is open to Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from around the world.
Portions of this retreat may be offered as a recording. In order to support a sacred, live opportunity for all present, we will make the decision of what is appropriate to share after the retreat is complete.
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 our teachers.
Bonnie Duran, DrPH, an Opelousas/Coushatta descendant, began Buddhist meditation practice over 35 years ago. She enjoys teaching Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioners Program, short and long retreats, and holds a People of Color and Allies Sangha in Seattle, WA. She also directs the University of Washington’s Center for Indigenous Health Research, is a member of Spirit Rock Teachers Council and a core teacher for IMS’s Teacher Training Program.
Carol Cano, M.A., began her practice over 30 years ago at Wat Kow Tahm in Thailand and has actively engaged in building communities and teaching Dharma internationally. She is a graduate of the 2017-2020 Spirit Rock Meditation Center’s Teacher Training program and a teacher at Spirit Rock often. She is a core teacher and a former board member of East Bay Meditation Center. Carol co-founded Philippine Insight Meditation Community in the Philippines. Her unique teachings are deeply grounded in Basque, Native American and Buddhist influences that braid the Dharma along indigenous wisdom and Earth-based practices. Her psychology background gives her a unique view into the human condition, which helps her hold community in a compassionate and confident manner. Carol reminds us to keep grounded in our hearts as we uphold spiritual ideals and encourages us to remain balanced within the demands of modern life.
Jeanne Corrigal is the guiding teacher for the Saskatoon Insight Meditation Community, and a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS teacher training program. She has trained primarily in the Burmese lineage of Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, with a great affinity for the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Buddhadasa and for the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a certified MBSR teacher, is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She has taught with Mindfulness Magazine, Lion’s Roar and Tricycle’s online programs, and teaches across North America. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Karen Waconda-Lewis is a native from Isleta/Laguna Pueblo. After initiation into the Native Medicine, she brought the native medicine into an urban American Indian health clinic in Albuquerque, NM and continues to expand the program to local hospitals, Indian Health Service, VA Hospital and surrounding organizations. She joins Western Medicine with Native healing in preventive health, mental health and overall well-being. She is the founder and director of Center for Native American Integrative Healing, LLC located in Albuquerque, where other indigenous healers practice their traditional medicine and extends out to the community. She also is the founder of Wa’Kanda Retreat & Spa which brings in holistic, chemical free, healing for those in chronic need.
Elvina Charley, Ed.S. is Diné (Navajo) school psychologist practitioner and integrates mindfulness as a part of serving children and youth. Charley has been practicing mindfulness since 2013, introduced to her by Bonnie Duran, Ph.D. as a way to heal from historical trauma. She found parallels between her Diné philosophy of life – Sa’ah naaghái bik’eh hózhó and Buddhism. Charley continues to cultivate her practice through people of color retreat programs through the Insight Meditation Society and Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. Charley also received training through Mindful Schools to bring back mindfulness to reservation schools.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
Date: October 23, 2025 Time: 6:30-9:30 pm, Saskatchewan (5:30-8:30 PDT, 8:30-11:30 EDT, other time zones) Location: Online (Zoom link provided upon registration) Facilitator: Fresh “Lev” White
Join us for a mindful online gathering to learn about transgender experiences in a supportive and welcoming space. Guided by Fresh “Lev” White – a heart-centered teacher, advocate, and mindfulness teacher – we will practice listening with presence and openness as we explore transgender lives, inclusion, and belonging. Through stories, reflection, and dialogue, we will deepen awareness and celebrate the richness of diversity.
This event is open to all – whether you are part of the transgender community, an ally, or someone seeking to learn more with curiosity and compassion.
Registration Details:
Cost: This event 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 Lev.
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 support Lev’s work in the world. See dana information on the SIMC website.
Register Here: Registration is closed.
Let us come together to create a supportive, heart-centered space of learning, connection, and celebration.
Fresh “Lev” White is a love and compassion activist. He offers mindfulness, mediation, and diversity trainings as tools for shifting towards more authentic, conscious, and passionate living. He teaches and writes about how unconditional love and self-compassion are the ultimate gateways to honoring and understanding others; thus, healing our communities and our planet.
As certified coach and Founder of Affirmative Acts Consulting, Lev has supported executives, entrepreneurs, artists, other coaches and teams with achieving their goals. He earned facilitation skills through his coaching certification, and an extensive leadership training program, each through the Co-Active Training Institute (formally known as The Coaches Training Institute) in 2011. He was trained on delivering LGBTQIA+ Ally trainings by CUAV in 2002, and in 2005 became a Certified Trainer through Out and Equal Workplace Advocates.
Friends, we are delighted to announce that our next 7-month deep dive dharma program opens soon for registration. Living the Dharma in Community (LDC) supports participants to deepen their formal practice and to integrate the dharma into their daily life through study, reflection, and community practice.
Our theme this year will be The Insights of Insight Meditation: The Heart of the Path.
We will delve into the three liberating insights of Insight Meditation: anicca (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), and anatta (not-self).
These teachings illuminate the nature of reality and serve as pathways to ease and peace. We will focus especially on anatta, exploring it through key wisdom teachings. Together, we will investigate how understanding not-self can lead to greater happiness, well-being, and freedom in our lives.
Living the Dharma in Community combines the wisdom of study, reflection, and practice together. The course includes:
7 two-hour monthly-ish sessions (in-person or online) combining dharma talks, small group reflections, and relational practice. Participants have shared that one of the highlights of this course is the relational practice, which truly supports dharma friendship.
Monthly home reflections, including sutta study, reading, audio resources, practice suggestions and reflection questions following each session.
Connecting with dharma buddies.
Optional daily support for integration during the month of January with Andrea Grzesina.
Optional practice talks with Jeanne Corrigal.
More information about the LDC
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 a deep dive and exploration of the heart of the Buddhist teaching. The course is designed in a 6 year rotation through the core teachings. You can join in any year, and deepen through more than one 6 year cycle, coming to the first themes again with lived understanding. This can be a way of really seeing the deepening of our practice, over time. There are in-person and online options.
Is This Program Right for You?
This program is best suited for practitioners with a minimum of two years of Insight Meditation practice. The teachings will build on foundational meditation skills, such as mindfulness and concentration, and explore deeper insights into the nature of reality.
If you have less experience, or if your practice background is primarily rooted in another tradition, we warmly invite you to have a preliminary discussion with a teacher. This conversation will help determine whether the program aligns with your current practice and aspirations.
Dates and times
For online folks, click links for conversion into other time zones.
In person (Thursdays, and one Tuesday) 7-9 pm Saskatoon Unitarian Centre
Online (Thursdays and one Tuesday) 7-9 pm Sask time (links 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 our teacher Jeanne Corrigal. Jeanne will also share your generosity with our supporting dharma leader, Andrea Grzesina. 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 has trained primarily in the Burmese lineage of Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, with a great affinity for the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Buddhadasa and for the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a certified MBSR teacher, is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She has taught with Mindfulness Magazine, Lion’s Roar and Tricycle’s online programs, and teaches across North America. She is Metis, and one of her first teachers in loving presence was Cree Elder Jim Settee.
Local Dharma Leader
Andrea Grzesina is a certified mindfulness teacher with the Mindfulness Training Institute, having trained under Mark Coleman and Martin Aylward in 2021. Jeanne Corrigal has been her teacher and mentor for many years. She was invited into the 2024-25 Buddhist Geeks Teacher Training with Vince Fakhoury Horn and Emily West Horn. Andrea’s passion for the Dharma and continuous learning led her to complete the Intensive Practice Program at UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center, various Social Meditation Facilitation courses, along with many dharma study programs. She has been a dedicated practitioner since 2014, and contributes to SIMC as a local dharma leader, planning committee member, volunteer, retreat manager, and occasional cookie baker.
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 $20/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 $35 – $65 per class. (This would be a range of something like $250 – $450 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.
This is for a past event. For current events, please visit our Upcoming Events page.
Friends, we are delighted to announce that our next 7-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 through study, reflection, and community practice.
Our theme this year will be The Path to Awakening: Exploring the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. The Seven Factors of Awakening are important qualities both on retreat and in daily life. Cultivating and balancing these factors support insight and freedom, understood as the highest happiness. We will also explore liberation teachings themselves, including Liberative Dependent Origination, emptiness, awareness, and not-self. This course will be situated in the context of our lives: how can these teachings support us in wisdom in the midst of all that is happening in the world.
Living the Dharma in Community combines the wisdom of study, reflection, and practice together. The course includes:
7 two-hour monthly-ish sessions (in-person or online) combining dharma talks, small group reflections, and relational practice. Participants have shared that one of the highlights of this course is the relational practice, which truly supports dharma friendship.
Monthly home reflections, including sutta study, reading, audio resources, practice suggestions and reflection questions following each session.
Connecting with dharma buddies.
Optional daily support for integration during the month of January with Andrea Grzesina.
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 our teacher Jeanne Corrigal. Jeanne will also share your generosity with our supporting dharma leader, Andrea Grzesina. See dana information below.
Registration
Registration is closed for this offering.
Course 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 has trained primarily in the Burmese lineage of Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw, with a great affinity for the Thai Forest Tradition of Ajahn Buddhadasa and for the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. She is a certified MBSR teacher, is certified with Indigenous Focusing Oriented Trauma Therapy (IFOT), and she has trained with Mindful Schools and Somatic Experiencing. She has taught with Mindfulness Magazine, Lion’s Roar and Tricycle’s online programs, and teaches across North America. 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.
More information about the LDC
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.
This annual course is designed both for new participants and as a progressive deepening for those who join over multiple years. Currently we plan a rotation over 6 years, spiralling round to the first themes again in year 7. You can join in any year, and deepen through more than one 6 year cycle, coming to the first themes again with lived understanding. This can be a way of really seeing the deepening of our practice, over time. There are in-person and online options.
In February, we will be having Wednesday evening practice online-only, as Jeanne will be teaching at the Forest Refuge in Barre, Massachusetts, but she will zoom in to teach our Wednesday evenings. We have taken the online opportunity to invite some very special guests to join Jeanne each week: Lev White, Bob Stahl, Marienala Medrano, and DaRa Williams. Learn more about them below!
Register for the Zoom link here:
February 7 – Lev White: Readings from Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices
Fresh “Lev” White is a lover of life and all beings, who lives to reflect and offer the possibilities of unconditional love and self-compassion to his diverse global community through his writing, mindfulness offerings, and Diversity Trainings. A graduate of Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leadership Program, Lev offers Dharma at centers around the SF Bay Area, including his sangha home at the East Bay Meditation Center (EBMC).
February 14 – Bob Stahl: Making Peace with Ourselves and Life
Bob Stahl, Ph.D., a long-time insight meditator, lived in a Burmese Buddhist monastery in the Forest tradition of Ven. Taungpulu Sayadaw for over eight years. He founded and directs mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) programs in three medical centers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bob is a professor of the practice in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health at Brown University, and is a senior teacher at the Brown Mindfulness Center. He formerly served as a senior teacher at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Bob is the co-guiding teacher at Insight Santa Cruz.
February 21 – Marianela Medrano: Healing Historical Grief: A Path to Awakening in Connection. In her offering, Marianela Medrano will address historical grief, which emerges from historical trauma. She’ll speak about her journey tracing and reclaiming Taíno spirituality and how mindfulness practices resonate with the traditions of her people, creating a new sense of home away from home. This offering also looks at indigenous practices that carry the seed of interdependence and interconnecting embodied in Thich Nath Hanh’s interbeing.
Marianela Medrano, Ph.D., was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and has lived in Connecticut since 1990. She is a Mindful Eating instructor/facilitator and a certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield through The Sounds True Foundation, a program for teaching awareness and compassion-based practices. Additionally, she is a mentor/supervisor for the International Federation for Biblio/Poetry Therapy, IFBPT. A poet and writer of nonfiction and fiction, she holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and is now researching interspecies care with a grant from the Bess Family Foundation. Her TEDTALK at Ursuline College speaks about her work and research on the Taino people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pQeBYd2oJk.
February 28 – TBA: DaRa Williams isn’t able to join us on February 28. She will join us another time!
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.
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
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
Dear friends,
We are delighted that some of our sangha friends are joining us as we go online only for four Wednesdays in May:
May 3 Jeanne will be leading online;
May 10 our good friend Elvina Charley will be leading us in the Navajo Beauty Way;
May 17 Jill Shepherd, founder of Auckland Insight will join us;
May 24 Jeanne’s teacher training colleague Walt Opie will dive into Clinging and Non-clinging.
All of these dear hearts are looking forward to spending time with our special sangha, while Jeanne is teaching in BC, and then on personal retreat there. Any dana you offer will be passed on to these beautiful teachers.
Enjoy, dear sangha! What a gift that these teachers from around the world can come to visit us.
To join us online, please register for the Zoom here:
When your register, Zoom will email you a personalized link to join the Wednesday session. The Zoom link will remain the same for the foreseeable future.
With every good wish, Jeanne and SIMC
May 10: Elvina Charley
Elvina Charley, Ed.S. is Diné (Navajo) school psychologist practitioner and integrates mindfulness as a part of serving children and youth. Charley has been practicing mindfulness since 2013, introduced to her by Bonnie Duran, Ph.D. as a way to heal from historical trauma. She found parallels between her Diné philosophy of life – Sa’ah naaghái bik’eh hózhó and Buddhism. Charley continues to cultivate her practice through people of color retreat programs through the Insight Meditation Society and Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center. Charley also received training through Mindful Schools to bring back mindfulness to reservation schools.
May 17: Jill Shepherd
Jill Shepherd began practicing insight meditation in Thailand in 1999, and since that time has lived and worked at several meditation centres and monasteries in the US, Australia, England, and Thailand. She is a graduate of the IMS / Spirit Rock teacher training program in the US, under the guidance of Joseph Goldstein and Gil Fronsdal, and at the founder of Auckland Insight. Currently, she divides her time mostly between the USA, Australia and New Zealand, teaching insight / vipassanā and brahmavihāra retreats and offering ongoing study and practice groups focused on bringing the dharma into daily life. She also leads courses and non-residential workshops exploring the relational practice of Insight Dialogue, as developed by Gregory Kramer and colleagues. https://jill0shepherd-insightmeditation.com/
May 24: Walt Opie
Walt Opie was introduced to insight meditation in 1993, but didn’t realize its full life-changing potential until sitting his first two residential retreats at Spirit Rock in 2005. He has a strong interest in early Buddhism and serves as a facilitator for online courses based on the work of Bhikkhu Analayo through the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies (BCBS). In addition, he teaches retreats and speaks at insight meditation centers around the country. Walt has also led sitting groups for people in recovery for many years and helps facilitate Buddhist services in a California prison. His most influential teachers include Bhikkhu Analayo, Sayadaw U Tejaniya, Joseph Goldstein, Gil Fronsdal, and Guy Armstrong. He is a graduate of the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program. Walt received an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. His writing appears in the book collection Still, In the City: Creating Peace of Mind in the Midst of Urban Chaos edited by Angela Dews (Skyhorse Publishing, 2018). His website is www.waltopie.com.
This is for a past event – please visit our Upcoming Events page for current offerings.
The Factors of Awakening A Process of Liberation
(OR, Jeanne’s secret title: The Factors of Awakening: Otter Teachings)
An in-person non residential/residential retreat (online option available) with Jeanne Corrigal
April 21 – 25, 2023 Queen’s House Retreat & Renewal Centre, Saskatoon
This retreat will begin with an exploration of how we can understand awakening, in the Buddhist teachings, and then an understanding of how the seven factors supports this freedom. We will cultivate each factor within our meditation, practicing with them with the intention of cultivating the conditions for this highest happiness. This map is one that can guide us both on and off retreat, to support this peace in the mind and heart.
This retreat will offer dharma talks, practice talks, instructions in the factors, and to close, gentle relational community practice.
There are many ways to participate – in person with full residential; commuter; or online.
With the in person and commuter residential options, we request that you fully commit to participating in the whole retreat, from 7 pm April 21 to 11 am April 25.
If you are a commuter, this means arriving at the center for the first sit and instruction after breakfast, at 9 am, and practicing with the community until 9 pm. A rest area and place for you to eat your meals, if you are bringing your own, will be offered.
If you choose the online option, you can choose whether to participate fully, or if you wish to make the retreat your own, with your own schedule. If you participate fully, we will connect with you about practice talks.
To support our return to the in person residential form, we are subsidizing the cost of the full residential offering by $100 off the cost for the first 25 people registering for this option. As of February 27, we have 12 of these subsidized seats still available.
This retreat is offered by mutual generosity. When you register, there will be a registration fee to help SIMC cover our costs. During the retreat, we will provide information for those who are able to offer financial support to Jeanne. If cost is a barrier, scholarship support is available.
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.
