The Power of Authentic Gesture

This program has been cancelled.

Another Opportunity for Mudra Coming Soon!

Save the Dates for an In-person, 4-day Mudra embodied space awareness retreat, October 5-8. There will also be a weekend-only option.

Mudra means 'gesture'

We make gestures all the time.
Our movements are gestures.
The words we speak are gestures.

Gestures are how we relate with others and the environment around us.

Our whole life is a gesture

Typically, we use gestures to express our personalities, to get what we want to convince or influence others, to ward off or avoid what we dislike. They are appropriated as transactional tools - intertwined with our preferences. Although we may put a great deal of effort into honing our speech and perfecting our actions, often we use our gestures in the short term without a thought for their living quality that lasts beyond a brief expression.

What if we looked at our gestures with a bigger sense of their impact?

What would a truly powerful gesture look like? More importantly, how would it feel
What if we didn't have to try so hard?

• Could genuinely powerful expressions be less self-involved?
• Could real power be something different from what we thought?
• Could a gesture with power be non-aggressive?

Nonaggression is the key to life

Chögyam Trungpa said that nonaggression is the key to life. Mudra Space Awareness was a mind/body discipline that he developed and offered to his early dharma students. He saw how important it was to help them explore their perceptions deeply and discover their own particular styles of relating to reality.

Relating with our own tension

Chögyam Trungpa introduced Mudra, a series of core intensification and relaxation exercises, in 1973 at a major conference of theater leaders and visual and performance artists. He emphasized that:

In order to relate with space properly, we must learn to relate with our own tension first.

In Mudra Space Awareness, this fundamental approach leads us to see and feel how our human perceptions operate. We begin to better understand the basic energy of our senses - as well as our habitual responses - that underlie any activity we engage in. And we discover how this complements and refines our meditative awareness.

Discovering the hidden power of a spacious mind and authentic gesture

Mudra Space Awareness trains us to:

• Explore the space in which the dramas of life arise
• Synchronize our body, speech, and mind to respond to space -however it arises - with bravery and presence and
• Engage in our living dramas with kindness, more kindness, intelligence, and fearlessness.
• We learn how to meet our world more authentically

Core intensification and relaxation exercises open us to an expanded perceptual, emotional, and mental experience. Related exercises create a bridge for applying authentic gesture in all aspects of our lives.

There is nothing quite like Mudra - There is nothing quite like the core intensification and relaxation exercises of Mudra. With each exercise, every time, I feel a more spacious mind, a decrease in self absorption, an increase of awareness, and a lighter state of being. These core exercises are like a doorway to experiencing sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch in a fresh way, and are building blocks for authentic gesture.

Suzann Duquette

What can you expect in this retreat?

• An introduction and/or deepening in the power of Mudra, or authentic gesture, based on nonaggression and space.
• Core intensification and relaxation exercises - the building blocks for relating with our senses fully and for wakeful and compassionate living
• Individual and group practices
• Contemplations and slogans based on key Mudra principles
• Shambhala Art-related exercises

This retreat is for you if you…

• Are interested in exploring gesture and space in order to relate more genuinely and authentically to the present moment
• Would like to have a better understanding of your reactions and underlying approach to events in life
• Want to do deep work with the senses to understand their basic energy and how they affect your relation to reality
• Are curious about experience from a perceptual, non-conceptual basis versus experience from the self-involved, ego mind
• Would like to join others in this exploration of presence through gesture

Arrival & Departure

Please plan on arriving between 3pm and 6pm on June 23 to register and check-in.
Dinner is offered at 6:30pm.
The program begins that evening at 7:30pm.

The weekend will conclude on June 25 with lunch.

If you have any questions, we would love to hear from you. Please contact Joan Carney at MudraSpaceAwareness@gmail.com

Prerequisites for attending on zoom:

Online Introduction to Mudra Space Awareness

For those new to Mudra, there will be two opportunities to take a short 3-hour introductory class. These will be offered on:

• Sunday, May 21, 1:00p – 4:00p Eastern US time
• Sunday, June 4, 1:00p – 4:00p Eastern US time

Attending this practice session will qualify you to attend the retreat via Zoom. Everyone is welcome to join this session, which will include a contextualization of Mudra, selected key postures and exercises, and discussion.