Image by Irina Iriser- Unsplash
Arrows to Flowers
March 27th 10:30am - 4:30pm GMT*
*Please check here to see this event in your local time
Who it’s for
For those who have at least 6-months experience with meditation.
What it’s about
Our mindfulness practice supports us to become more fully present to the dynamic nature of our experience over time. Inevitably, this will bring us into relationship with painful unintegrated emotions and feelings that can be very difficult to stay with. We can easily feel thrown by such feelings. We might habitually strongly close down to or deny feeling or get lost and caught up in it, especially when trauma surfaces.
This challenge of the Buddhist path is famously captured in the life story of the Buddha with his own encounter with the forces of Mara. Applying the fruits of his practice, the Buddha saw the true nature of his unintegrated forces as they arose and they transformed into beauty. Mara’s arrows transformed into flowers. This gives a vision of what’s possible.
On this experiential event, we will explore how to find alternatives to denial and overwhelm in the face of difficult feelings. How can we find the transformative 'Middle Way' between these, where 'the places that scare us' are faced, processed and transformed in the clear light of awareness? How can we deepen our meditation so it's a cauldron of transformation, where our arrows turn to flowers?
Dana: Supporting our work
Events like this one are only possible because of the generosity of those who attend and can give. Please give what you can and only if you can. Those who give the maximum amount (or more!) make it possible for others with less financial resources to attend.
Suggested donation amounts depending on your circumstances:
Unwaged - £25
Student/benefits - £40
Waged - £60
Dana can be given via PayPal at paypal.me/radicalembrace or by bank transfer. Please email our Operations Manager for bank details at natalie@radicalembrace.org.
Please use reference: A2FMAR26
Who we are
Singhashri
Singhashri (she/her and they/them) is a queer, Chilean-American-British dharma teacher, writer, and somatic practitioner. They teach an embodied and relational approach to mindfulness and compassion as means to awakening to love, beauty, and truth and have committed their life to supporting collective liberation for all.
Singhashri has a background in youth work, training design and delivery, strategic planning, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. They are an ordained member of the Triratna Buddhist Community, an accredited Breathworks Mindfulness teacher, trainer and supervisor, and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP™). In 2024 they founded Radical Embrace CIC, a community-interest company providing embodied and relational healing and transformation at the intersection of dharma, somatics, and social and environmental justice. Singhashri weaves spirituality, embodiment, and deep care for each other and the planet into their writing, teaching, and one-to-one client work.
They teach at various retreat and urban centers across the UK, Europe, and the USA and support projects aimed at creating greater diversity and inclusion within Buddhist communities and the secular mindfulness field. They currently live in London with their partner.
Balajit
Balajit (he/him) has been leading retreats and events across the UK for around 15 years. For several years he lived and worked at Vajraloka Retreat Centre in North Wales.
Currently based in Birmingham, he mixes Buddhist teaching responsibilities with work as a trauma therapist. He has studied the newly emerging psycho-biological approaches to trauma work and nervous system well being- and is qualified in Somatic Experiencing, NARM therapy and SHEN Therapy.
In the past few years, Balajit has been exploring correspondences between these emerging approaches and the canonical Dharma. In particular, how transforming trauma can weaken forces that cloud the heart-mind, allowing a deepening of meditation and supporting the dawning of embodied wisdom.