Come and enjoy a day immersed in mindfulness. We will sit, walk, rest and eat together in stillness and friendship, generating peaceful, healing energy for the benefit of ourselves, our families and for the world.
Saturday 10th February 10am-4pm (Please arrive from around 9:45 for a 10am start)
Open to everyone, of all faiths and none.
Please bring some plant-based food to share for lunch. Donations (around £5/£10/£15) for hire of the venue will be gratefully received if you are able to make one.
St Mark’s Unitarian Church, 7 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2DP.
Just to let you know that this coming Thursday (21 December) will be the last Thursday evening practice session this year. We will be taking a break on 28 December.
The first session in the 2024 will be on Thursday 4 January and then on Saturday 6 January 2024 there will be a Day of Mindfulness at St. Marks led by Gustaf. The session will be from 10am to 4pm but we suggest that you arrive a little earlier so that we are all ready to start at 10am. Please bring some plant-based food to share for lunch.
Wishing you all a peaceful, relaxed and restorative time.
We will be having a Morning of MIndfulness on Saturday 2nd December from 10am – 12 midday at St. Mark’s Unitarian Church, 7 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2DP
Join us for a morning of mindfulness meditation, sitting and walking together in stillness and friendship, generating peaceful, healing energy for the benefit of ourselves, our families and the world.
This practice is open to everyone, of all faiths and none.
Organised by EICSP and chaired by Sara Trevelyan there will be four talks, each of 12 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion among the speakers, the chair, and the audience, followed by Q & A. The speakers are Mhairi (Vari) McLuskie, Susanne Olbrich, Martin Pitt and Alex Nunn.
We will be having a Day of Mindfulness on Saturday 4 November 2023 at St. Marks Unitarian Church from 10am to 4pm. Flyer attached.
Please aim to arrive slightly earlier than that so that we can start promptly at 10am and please bring some plant-based food to share for lunch.
The day will include guided meditation, walking meditation, deep relaxation, a mindful lunch, readings, reciting the 5 mindfulness trainings and sharing.
If you intend to come please drop us a note through the contact form so we know the numbers.
Pete is offering a Morning of Mindfulness on Saturday 7th October, meeting at 10am at Lochend Park, (Lochend Rd S, Edinburgh EH7 6BP) by the wildfowl viewing platform.
He likes the poem ‘The Peace of Wild Things’ by Wendell Berry, and, although he doesn’t get up in the night and actually liedown beside a duck pond, he does sometimes go for a stroll around Lochend Loch to chill out. So his suggestion for a Morning of Mindfulness is for us to have a mindful walk together around Lochend Loch, come back to his place to listen to a recording of a talk by Thay and then have a shared lunch. It’s a bit of a touch and go as to whether the weather will be suitable in October, but hey, let’s just see what happens !
Attached are directions to Lochend Loch from the Balfour Street tram stop since parking is a bit awkward in Leith. Lochend Loch is about a 20 minutes gentle stroll from the tram stop. Wear suitable clothing and please bring a little whole food plant-based food to share for lunch.
If you are coming along please let Pete know either by replying to the email he has sent out or by using the contact us form if you haven’t received an email.
A Day of Mindfulness with Dharma Teacher Susanne Olbrich on SATURDAY 9th SEPTEMBER, 2023, 10am-4.30pm Hosted by the Wild Geese Sangh, St. Mark’s Unitarian Church, 7 Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2DP.
A day to enjoy mindfulness meditation, togetherness and explore the fruits of our practice.
Please bring a harvest item and some lunch to share (see below).
Following our theme of “Harvest” we would like to create a harvest shrine so please bring something that symbolises harvest for you, e.g. a picture, an object from nature or something else that captures the energy of harvest. For our potluck lunch together, it would be wonderful if you could include a harvest ingredient that is locally or regionally sourced (accessible and affordable). This is an invitation to celebrate the gifts of the earth from allotments, local gardens, fields and farmers markets at this bountiful time of year. Arrival is from 9.30am for our 10am start.
The kids are back at school, the festivals are dispersing but the Wild Geese are gathering again.
Sunday 3rd: Mindful Peace Walk Saughton Park
We will walk together in mindfulness and peace at Saughton Park.
Venue: Saughton Park and Gardens, Balgreen Road, Edinburgh, EH11 3BQ. Gather at the Bandstand. Serviced by bus route 1, 3, 22, 25, 30, 33, 36, 38.
Date: Sunday 3rd September 2023. Time: 12 noon. We will finish within an hour.
Event Description: This silent walking meditation is an open event. It will be led by the lay members of the Wild Geese sangha in Edinburgh who practice in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. Before the walk begins there will be a brief introduction to mindful walking as a meditation practice. We will just walk in silence. It is not a protest or demonstration but actually putting peace into practice. Dress for the weather – it can get chilly in September!
We will be meeting again at St Mark’s Unitarian Church on the 7th, 7:15pm till 9:00pm and then each Thursday night till Christmas. Come along to meditate and share with friends.
Saturday 9th: Day of Mindfulness with Dharma Teacher Susanne Olbrich
Susanne will lead a longer session of meditation, talks, sharing and eating at St Marks starting from around 9am – details are here.
As usual we will be taking a break from meeting in person at St Marks during August. This is because the church is used for other events during the festival and we all need a bit of a break. It is good to take a lazy month once a year just as it is to have a lazy day every week or so! The next meeting at St Marks will be on Thursday 7th September.
There are still things to do in August though:
On Sunday 6th August come join us for a mindful walk along Silverknowes Beach, From 10.30 to ~1-1.30pm. We’ll begin at the start of the Cramond Island walkway, heading towards the Granton gas bell. We will walk mindfully together, have a tea break along the way, and finish with an earth touching. The walk will have a theme of earth caring, and reflecting on our interdependence with the fossil fuel infrastructure of the forth. Please bring suitable clothing, a thermos with a drink, and some light bites to share during the break. Any questions, get in touch with Gustaf, 074 253 760 42
The ‘Scot’s Pines’ online Sangha will continue to meet on Wednesday evenings from 7pm to 9pm. If you are interested in that please let me know and I can put you in touch with the facilitator. We are currently working our way through ‘Old Path, White Clouds’.
Plum Village UK email weekly ‘Weekend Dharmabites’ to members and circulate ‘Here and Now‘ which always lists many online events.
And of course there are all those festivals going on …
As many of you will know, on 22 January this year a plum tree was planted in the Community Garden on the Meadows to commemorate Thay’s visit to Edinburgh in 2003. On 24 May a plaque next to the tree, inscribed with the words ‘Peace is Every Step‘, was unveiled by 8 visiting monastics from Plum Village. Thanks again to those of you who contributed to the plaque and/or attended those events.
As a continuation of this mindful energy, we will be holding a silent walking meditation for about 1 hour on the Meadows on Sunday 23 July starting from the tree. Before the walk there will be a short introduction to mindful walking which will start at 12 noon. The walk in total will last about 1 hour.
If you are on Middle Meadow Walk facing in the direction of Marchmont, then the Community Garden is to your left just before you get to the tennis courts.
This event aims to simply provide a collective experience of ‘being peaceful’ together. It is not a protest or campaigning event, so please don’t bring any banners/placards etc, however we will share the energy with those who might benefit from it at the end.
Edinburgh Wild Geese Sangha 