“New meditation students often mention the value of learning to focus and settle the mind, but they also name something more basic. As one person put it recently, ‘Just having those moments to be quiet is a gift to my soul.’ It is a gift to the soul. Stepping out of the busyness, stopping our endless pursuit of getting somewhere else, is perhaps the most beautiful offering we can make to our spirit.” – Tara Brach
Thank you for visiting us, and for your interest in pursuing mindfulness in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia! Along with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) workshops – our flagship service – we offer a variety of classes, workshops, and retreats throughout the valley designed to help you reduce stress and pain (emotional and physical), and discover your deepest self through the practice of mindfulness.
Classes and workshops are available for both individuals and businesses, those new to mindfulness, as well as more experienced practitioners who want to deepen their practice. All are welcome.
Please feel free to explore this site for more detailed information, and to learn all the many ways that mindfulness practice can benefit you.
For more information about mindfulness and MBSR, please click here.
THE INSTRUCTOR
Shell Fischer offers two decades of experience in mindfulness practice. She’s a teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington, D.C., trained by senior teacher Tara Brach in the Meditation Teacher Training Institute of Washington, D.C.. She’s also a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor trained by Dr. Jon-Kabat Zinn, founder of MBSR and the Stress Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. You can learn more about Shell’s mindfulness studies background here.
Shell is also an award-winning writer and editor who writes about mindfulness for national magazines, and edits books about mindfulness for teachers throughout the country. With an MFA in creative writing, she also specializes in editing literary fiction. You can learn more about Shell’s writing and editing experience here.
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS, RETREATS, AND CLASSES
July 1, Mon., 12:30-1:00 p.m. - Shell will be a guest on “The Valley Today” show, The River 95.3 WZRV, to talk with host Eka Kapiotis about the many benefits of mindfulness practice.
July 6, Sat., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. - Daylong Retreat, “Forgiving Ourselves and Others”
Aug. 2-4, Fri-Sun, 3-Day Retreat at Claymont Court Mansion in Charles Town, WV- ”Living With Joy”
Sept. 4, Wed., 6-7:30 p.m. – “Mindfulness in Nature” at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Sept., 18, Wed., 6:30-8:30 p.m. “Introduction to Meditation” at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Sept. 21, Sat., 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. – Daylong Retreat: “Nurturing the Divine Abodes”
Fall 2013 MBSR Workshops
Oct. 6 – Nov. 24, Sundays 9-11:30 a.m.
Oct. 7 – Nov. 25, Mondays 6:30-9 p.m.
*The daylong retreat for these workshops will be Sat., Nov. 16
Mindful Eating workshop (in the works)
Private Mentoring & Groups, available by appointment.
**If you’d like to be updated about these and future offerings, please sign up for the newsletter.