Yoga Retreat

Tibetan Buddhism, Yoga and Psychotherapy

The Gradual Path to Awakening

October 15 - 22, 2011

Miles Neale, Psy.D. and Emily Wolf, Ph.D. (cand)

About the Retreat

Join Miles Neale, Psy.D. and Emily Wolf, Ph.D. (cand.), psychotherapists from the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, for a week of meditation, yoga and personal inquiry. The emphasis of the retreat will be exploring the Gradual Path (lam rim) teachings of Tibetan Buddhism, a comprehensive and systematic approach of self-healing and self-mastery designed to lead individuals from distress to full awakening. Drawing on his background in psychotherapy and Buddhist meditation, Dr. Miles Neale will present the Gradual Path teachings through the contemporary lens and language of clinical psychology and neuroscience. He will also provide daily instruction and guidance of the three major types of Buddhist meditation: deep mindfulness, analytic contemplation and visualization.

Emily Wolf will provide complementary instruction in asana, pranayama, chanting and assist with meditation, discussion and group facilitation. Together, Miles and Emily will provide an enriched environment for learning, by offering conceptual models and practical skills to help participants overcome their own self-imposed limits and access their innate potential for wisdom and compassion. All levels of asana and meditation experience welcome. The retreat is ideal for enthusiasts of Indian Yogic traditions who would like to supplement their current philosophical understanding with the Tibetan Buddhist perspective, as well as for those new comers interested in acquiring a complete set of tools for embracing a contemplative lifestyle.

The Workshop: Core Theoretical Content and Meditation Practices

Day 1:
Overview of the Gradual Path and begin Four Noble Truths: The Personal Horizon
Asana, pranayama, chanting
Mindfulness Meditation morning and evening sessions

Day 2:
Complete Four Noble Truths
Asana, pranayama, chanting Mindfulness Meditation morning and evening sessions

Day 3:
Begin Four-fold Exchange of Self and Other: The Social Horizon
Asana, pranayama, chanting
Compassion practice morning, Analytic practice evening

Day 4:
Complete Four-fold Exchange of Self and Other
Asana, pranayama, chanting
Compassion practice morning, Analytic practice evening

Day 5:
Begin Mentor Bonding: The Embodied Horizon
Asana, pranayama, chanting
Visualization morning and evening sessions

Day 6:
Complete Mentor Bonding
Asana, pranayama, chanting
Visualization morning and evening sessions

Day 7:
Review the Gradual Path and final blessings
Asana, pranayama, chanting
Visualization morning and evening sessions

Suggested Reading

Thurman, Robert. (2005). The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism. Free Press.

About the Teachers

Miles Neale, Psy.D.

Miles Neale, Psy.D., is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice, a Buddhist meditation teacher and the Assistant Director of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, where he teaches public courses on the Indo-Tibetan tradition as well as collaborates on state-of-the-art clinical research of meditation. Miles earned his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 2006 from the California Institute for Integral Studies, and has taught meditation programs at several prestigious university hospitals including Harvard Medical School, Columbia Presbyterian, Cornell Medical College, and Albert Einstein/Montefiore Medical Center. (More info at www.MilesNeale.com )

Miles began practicing Buddhist meditation in India in 1996 and two years later met his primary mentor Dr. Joseph Loizzo, a Buddhist scholar, psychiatrist and Founding Director of the Nalanda Institute. In 1999 he began studying under Dr. Robert Thurman, renowned Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism at Columbia University and President of Tibet House US. He has also received essential teachings and instructions in India and Nepal from several great Tibetan masters of the Gelugpa school including Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Emily Wolf, Ph.D. (cand)

Emily Wolf, MSEd, Ph.D., cand., CYI, is a psychotherapist, certified yoga instructor and core faculty member of the Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science (www.NalandaScience.org). She is completing a doctorate in Counseling Psychology at Fordham University in New York, focusing on the integration of the contemplative methods of Indian yoga and Buddhist meditation into Western psychotherapy, recovery, and health education. Her dissertation examines positive psychological functioning of long-term highest yoga tantra practitioners.

Emily began studying Buddhist and Indian philosophical traditions in 1999 at Columbia University under Dr. Robert Thurman, and now continues under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Loizzo at the Nalanda Institute. She completed New York Yoga's teacher training under her primary teachers David Hollander and Michael Gilbert. She has deepened her yoga asana, sutra, pranayama, and chanting with Acharya V. Sheshadri and Dr. V. Nagaraj in Mysore, India as well as Manju Jois. Emily has continued to pursue traditional Buddhist studies and meditation under the guidance of renowned Tibetan masters Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Kyabje Gelek Rinpoche and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Daily Schedule

The program begins at 5pm on the first day of the retreat with a group welcome and departure is at 12pm on the last day.
The schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the teacher.

Based on request and availability, you are welcome to arrive early or extend your stay, our Residential and Wellness Programs details are on http://www.yoga-thailand.com/yoga-holidays.html

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