“If we are at war with our parents, our family, our society, or our church, there is probably a war going on inside us also, so the most basic work for peace is to return to ourselves and create harmony among the elements within us - our feelings, our perceptions, and our mental states. That is why the practice of meditation, looking deeply, is so important.”
- Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
Greatwoods Zen is excited to begin offering daylong mindfulness retreats for families (dads, moms, and kids!)
The day will include a full children’s program where children will practice apart from parents for a while and times when the whole family will practice together. We welcome children 6 to 12 years old. Younger children may come if accompanied by an adult. Children older than 12 may attend as well, but the program will be mainly for children of the younger age range.
This retreat will offer all participants a chance to refresh themselves and to learn how to cultivate their own personal mindfulness practice as a base for well-being of the family. It will support them to have an experiential understanding of the practices, and develop the language and skills needed to bring the practice back home into daily life. They will also learn effective methods to enhance presence and connection with others, attention, kindness, and emotional well-being inside and outside the house.
The retreat center at Greatwoods Zen offers an intimate setting in nature that pleasantly supports our communal practice of mindfulness. The modest retreat size is a precious and powerful opportunity that allows for every participant to have personal contact with the Teachers.
We are excited to share that we are offering this retreat on a donation basis so that money is not an obstacle to attend. Those who attend are encouraged to donate what they feel is fair and what makes sense for their financial situation.
Retreat Teachers
The retreat will be led by David Viafora, Nick Neild and Dr. Vicktor Giangrasso. All three are core members of the Greatwoods Zen team and are delighted to bring the first family retreat into fruition!
David Viafora is the founder and spiritual director of Greatwoods Zen Center. He identifies as a white-presenting Chinese-American cis man. David has organized and led mindfulness retreats for educators, physicians, families, teens, children, young adults, and many others in North America, Europe, and Oceania. He first ordained as a monk with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2005 and spent several years living in the Plum Village tradition monasteries. David is now a lay ordained member of the Order of Interbeing. David works part-time as a licensed therapist for children, adults, and families. His forthcoming book is Conscious Communities: The Transformative Power of Sangha (Parallax Press, 2024).
Nick Neild has been practicing in the same tradition since 2011 and is an aspirant for the Order of Interbeing. He has been facilitating, staffing and supporting meditation communities, tours and retreats in the U.S. and Europe. He works as a teacher, is a Certified Anger Management Facilitator (CAMF-1) and is the Executive Director of Greatwoods Zen. He is the author of the children's book, "Just Bee!" which aims at helping children and their parents breathe with one of the most common stumbling blocks of the practice: "distractions". Most importantly, he is a father, a husband and deeply cares about helping support families be the healthiest that they can be!
Dr. Viktor Paul Giangrasso is a Body/Mind wellness practitioner who learned to meditate through Stanford University’s Compassion Cultivation Training program during two summers in New York City. As an undergraduate student, he learned the intellectual aspects of meditation in his studies of philosophy and world religions. Dr. Viktor is owner of Wellness_is_Now providing Physical Therapy, group meditation workshops, and his R2E method to support parents and children. Dr. Viktor also authored two books on personal spiritual body/mind wellness. After 16+ years working with the Geriatric population, he now works as a Pediatric Physical Therapist in a school district serving children with special needs. Vickor has been married for over tweleve years to his college crush and they are the proud parents of two amazing children. You can learn more about him on his website: https://viktorpaul.com
Schedule for the day:
Coming soon…