Confidence Beyond Concept: with Craig Warren Smith, Greg Heffron and Vicky Moyle

“Mindfulness” doesn’t mean anything without embodiment. What are we mindful of? The Buddha’s first ‘foundation’ for mindfulness was our body. The unique discipline of Mudra Space Awareness challenges us to see that even ‘highly trained’ people aren’t often willing to relate in a raw way with sensory experience. Instead of relating to our actual body, we tend towards what Chogyam Trungpa called “psychosomatic body” — where we think about our bodily experience, rather than actually feeling embodied. This process is one of the main ways we disconnect from experience and lose our innate confidence.

Mudra Space Awareness is a powerful mind-body meditative discipline unique to the Shambhala lineage, and is rarely taught or practiced. While rooted in ancient Tibetan yogic practices, mudra is shockingly devoid of religiosity. It is direct, requiring no particular approach beyond curiosity and a willingness to find out what is hidden inside our momentary experience of the body and its perceptions — especially our perception of fear and anxiety.

This workshop will introduce Mudra to those not familiar, and deepen it for those that are. Note that Mudra Space Awareness is entirely distinct from Maitri Space Awareness. The two disciplines are not directly connected in their practice or presentation.

Click here for registration and further info

TEACHERS

Dr. Craig Warren Smith

Craig Warren Smith is director and founder of Mudra Institute. Craig is a longtime teacher of Buddhism and one of Trungpa Rinpoche’s early students. He first taught Mudra at Naropa Institute in 1974 and contemplated Mudra applications as a professor of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and as an advisor to United Nations, Microsoft, Intel and health care institutions.

.

 Greg Heffron MFA owns and manages Green Zone Institute where he teaches Mindful Communication with author and Buddhist teacher Susan Gillis Chapman MA. He has been a mindfulness meditation teacher in the Shambhala Lineage since 2005. In 2005, he apprenticed with Craig Smith and become authorized to teach Mudra Space Awareness. In 2007, Smith and Heffron taught this practice in a workshop for fouth-year students in the Dance Division at The Juilliard School in New York City. His background is in creative writing, having earned an MFA in Nonfiction Creative Writing from the University of Iowa 2003.

Generosity Policy:

“The Bellingham Shambhala Center is funded solely by membership and program donations. Thank you for your generosity as you consider what you can pay for each program at our Center. We strive to price our programs in a way that accurately reflects the financial need of our Center and the cost to us of producing the program. We are committed to offering our programs to everyone, regardless of their financial situation. If you are unable to meet any of our listed pricing tiers please contact us to discuss your current needs. In addition to offering scholarship pricing for those in need, we also offer the option of paying for some programs in installments. Please use the “pay in accord with your circumstances” option when registering and enter the amount that you can offer.”