My upcoming trip to Plum Village

Window at New Hamlet in Plum Village 

Dear Friends,

Today I am heading to Plum Village for a week of retreat. I have been going to Plum Village since 2003 (during a terrible heat wave in France), sometimes joined by kids, nephew, husband, or friends, and in recent years mostly by myself.

In addition to mindfulness, the theme for next week’s retreat is vegan cooking! Because the rooms there are all full, I’ll be staying offsite at a guest house with a Dutch couple I met there last year. I’m excited to be returning to a place where I have experienced many happy and transformative moments.

My intention for this week is to drop more deeply into my mindfulness practice and silence as well as to reconnect with monastic and non-monastic friends in the practice. I will be carrying all of you with me and, as always, will share all of my learnings. 

This is also the last week of my Monday Applied Mindfulness class, which will be on hiatus for the summer. If you’d like to connect with me, please consider joining Opening Heart Mindfulness Community’s weekly Monday night sangha, come to the Half Day of Mindfulness (in person) on Saturday, June 24, or join the Five Mindfulness Trainings course which starts on July 1.

And, if you’re a Gemini like me, have a Happy Birthday!