contemplativeinquiry

OBOD member Siobhan McGee has just alerted me to The Heart of Silence conference on 16-19 April 2016 at Regent’s University London – see www.theheartofsilence.co.uk

The full title is Exploring the Place of Silence in Psychotherapy, Society and our World and the conference is dedicated to the proposition that:

Through Silence we are able to deeply listen to ourselves, one another and our Planet, and from this place we can act.  

 The organizers are the Association of Core Process Psychotherapists, and the event is open to anyone wanting to explore and experience the value of silence. The organizers say:

In Silence we can connect with the heart and during this Conference there will be the opportunity to experience and embody Silence together.   

The speakers and plenaries will focus attention on two central questions: 

What is the nature and role of Silence in relationship?
How can Silence unify us, in the midst of life today?

The keynote speaker is Brian Keenan, who, more than most, has had to confront the reality of enforced silence during his four and a half year incarceration as a hostage in Beirut.

The other speakers are:

Maura Sills, Founder of the Karuna Institute and one of the original mindfulness based psychotherapies, has been teaching mindfulness and silence practices to psychotherapists for more than 30 years.

Rebecca Crane is Director of the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University.

Matthew Adams and David Harley are researchers of silence at the University of Brighton.

Catherine McGee is an International Meditation teacher who brings an interest in the silent heart.

Mac Macartney, an author and founder of Embercombe, asks if, through silence, we can remember our humanity.

The workshop leaders are Amaranatho, an ex-Buddhist Monk and Alastair McNeilage, a Core Process Psychotherapist and writer.

The two day conference is fully catered.