Clown and the Art of Mindfulness will be held at The Kench Hill Centre, Tenterden, Kent.
Retreat overview
We will practice morning and evening meditation, deep relaxation and mindful meals, interspersed with clown sessions. Mindfulness practices will support the clown sessions, which have nothing to do with the circus, but everything to do with rediscovering our inner child’s capacity for play – often buried as we grow into adulthood.
Places limited to 12 and so early booking is recommended.
The Dharma teacher is offering the practice in exchange for donations to the Being Peace Practice Centre.
Transport
Click here to see how to get to the venue.
Retreat schedule
This retreat is led from Friday evening 17th of November through Sunday afternoon 19th of November.
Food
During the retreat vegan food will be offered.
Ticket pricing
In offering a range of ticket prices we aim to make the retreat available to as many people as possible.
These options will be available once you click on ‘Tickets’.
Facilitators
Teri West UK Dharma Teacher and Nose to Nose Facilitator and Laughter Leader Carol Thompson
TERI WEST
Teri was ordained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2000 into the Order of Interbeing and as a lay Dharma teacher in 2016.
Teri has been a student of Thay’s since 1988 and is a member of the North Devon Sangha. She is a storyteller, singer, musician, part-time poet and sometime clown. Teri was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2000, receiving the Dharma name ‘True Door of Virtue’ (chan duc mon) and the Lamp Transmission as a Dharma teacher in 2016.
Teri has pursued various occupations since leaving home as a teenager. By her mid-40s she began working as a professional storyteller and singer and as a member of an improvising clown group in the Nose to Nose school of clowning. She currently takes to the stage at every opportunity, using song to take a Dharma message into the unlikely environment of the world of cabaret and co-led in February and March 2018 two sold-out weekend courses ‘Clown and the Art of Mindfulness’ at the European Institute for Applied Buddhism in Germany.
Teri was fortunate enough to be invited to Plum Village in 1988 as a guest, with friends of Thay who had worked with him in the ’70s on founding a charity for Vietnamese refugees.
The 1988 experience was powerful; Teri bought ‘Breathe, you are Alive!’ which, together with ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ brought buddhism into a grounded, practical form that Teri could relate to, having previously read somewhat intellectual, complicated theories. She has been a student of Thay’s ever since, working on organising retreats, particularly those that welcome families, founding the westcountry sangha, becoming a member of the Core Community (Order of Interbeing) in the year 2000, and ordained as a Dharma teacher in 2015.
CAROL THOMPSON
When asked as a teenager what I wanted to be when I grew up I certainly didn’t have a clue that I would eventually become a Clowning Facilitator. My original training was in English and Theatre Arts at the University of Toronto and the Drama Studio in London. I worked in education and theatre for some years, then qualified to be a Psychosynthesis Therapeutic Counsellor and an NLP Master Practitioner. I took these skills into business in the public and private sectors as a Communication Skills Trainer. All this led to my involvement in the positive psychology movement as a Laughter Leader and then onto becoming a Clowning Facilitator. It feels like a combination and culmination of all my work in education, theatre and psychology. I have never felt happier or as privileged in what I do than now. My work is full of much joy!
I help people find a way to feel free enough to experience their open, spontaneous and playful selves in relation to others. Because this is clowning, the invitation is to be aware of how we are (including the more vulnerable side of ourselves) and to play with that. Our challenge is to stay present with what emerges through the games, exercises and improvisations. What we endeavour to create as a group is a safe, accepting, joyful environment in which that can take place. We learn and laugh a lot.
Testimonial from Order of Interbeing member Edith Husk
