Waking Up in Free Fall with Susan Gillis Chapman and Elesa Commerse

August 2nd—August 4th

Date details +
    Room: Lower Meditation Hall

    Prices TBA.

    Waking Up in Free Fall

     

    This weekend retreat introduces the view that certain turning points, or “bardos”, in our lives can be transformative if we know how to embrace fear with an open heart. It introduces Susan Gillis Chapman’s new book, Which Way Is Up? (available June 4, 2024), which uses her journey through cancer treatment as an example of this kind of bardo.

    We may not have faced a cancer diagnosis, but we have all collectively experienced a free-fall during the Covid 19 pandemic, when normal life seemed to flip upside down. While our individual stories are unique, the felt experience of groundlessness is shared by us all. This retreat is an opportunity to be gently guided by Susan and her colleague, Elesa Commerse through the three kinds of fear that soften and awaken us when they are held with loving kindness. 

     

    Retreat Schedule

    Friday August 2: 6:30 - 8 pm

    Saturday August 3 & Sunday August 4: 10 am – 4 pm

    Retreat Leaders

    Susan Gillis Chapman

    Susan Chapman has been on the Buddhist path since 1974, when she began studying with Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche. She has a BA in Philosophy and Literature from University of British Columbia and an MA in Buddhist and Western Psychology from Naropa University. She is a retired family therapist. Susan founded the Juneau Shambhala Center during her time living in Alaska and later spent nine years in retreat at Gampo Abbey, under the mentorship of Pema Chodron. She returned to Vancouver in 2008 and currently lives in Burnaby, BC with her husband Jerry and cat, Ziji. Her first book, The Five Keys To Mindful Communication, was published in 2012. 

     

    Elesa Commerse

    Elesa Commerse is the Co-Director of Touching Earth Mindfulness Learning Center, in Chicago. Her root teachers include her beloved mother, Evelyn Winslow, Pema Chodron and the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, with whom she studied for over thirty years. She created, “Finding Your Way,” the DVD/CD tool kit to help those newly diagnosed with breast cancer. To help yoga students learn Sanskrit chanting, she created “How Silent Is This Place,” a three volume CD and songbook set. With Dr. Barbara Meyer, she co-created the meditation card deck, “Befriending the Body, Befriending the Mind.” To help mayors across America, she directed and produced the documentary on the youth violence epidemic decimating Black boys and men, “All Rise: In Search of Hope.” Her basic meditation CD is, “Sit Comfortably.” She writes the meditation column for Yoga Chicago magazine. Elesa is a graduate of the Temple of Kriya Yoga. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Smith College and an MBA from The Wharton School.