MEDITATIVE LISTENING Retreat

What is Meditative Listening?

Do you feel a profound, intuitive commitment to the life of empathy?
Is the experience of entering into the feelings of others something
that lies at the very centre of the path of your life?
Have you found that the act of listening to others enlarges your spirit,
just as profoundly as it is enlarged when somebody listens to you?

Today, there are many ways to approach the inner life of feelings and
the life of human relationships – many psychological methods, many
spiritual paths. And we have been wondering:

What is common to all paths and methods?

Is it not empathy?

We shall set out to listen empathically, to hear what your experience of
empathy has been, to touch the central stream of feeling in ourselves
and in one another.

Is there anything more important in human life than empathy?
Is anything more urgently needed at this (or any) time?

In Meditative Listening, empathy is everything. We put our trust in the
power of pure empathy. Consequently, as in art, literature or music, we
are always at the beginning.

Meditative Listening is simple. You will understand it easily. It is also
very deep. One never comes to the end of empathy.

For what is not a new beginning is merely a repetition of the past.

Who is Rob Foxcroft?

Rob is a classical pianist, a poet and a Focusing teacher. He discovered
the Person-Centred Approach in 1982. In 1987, he learned Focusing
from Gene Gendlin, Bebe Simon, Ann Weiser Cornell and others.
He has been a Focusing Co-ordinator for over twenty years. Now he
is studying spiritual accompaniment with Brian Thorne. He regards
Meditative Listening as his life-work.

For forty years, Rob has believed in the power of empathy to transform
situations which seem utterly intractable – to bring peace to the heart, to
bring peace in the family, to bring peace to the world.

Rob has a website at www.robfoxcroft.com, currently being re-created.

Who is Suzanne Noël?

Suzanne is an artist, a poet, a Focusing teacher, an anthropologist, an
entrepreneur and a mother. She studied Focusing with Robert Lee and
others, and is currently a Focusing Co-ordinator-in-Training.

Suzanne works with people suffering from alcohol and drug addiction,
and is known internationally for her sensitivity and insight in this field.
She is the creator of Recovery Focusing.

Suzanne is bi-lingual in English and Spanish, and has lived for many
years in Costa Rica. We are happy to welcome Spanish-speakers to the
retreat, and will provide Spanish-English translation when it is needed.

Where will the training be held?

Grasmere is one of the loveliest places in the world. Easedale is a side-
valley, peacefully hidden away. It is a valley of wonderful green pastures,
glacial in form, with a flat bottom and rugged steeps enclosing it. You
can walk on the flat; or walk down to the village nearby, with its shops
and restaurants; then past the Wordsworth museum at Dove Cottage to
the nearby lakes, Grasmere and Rydal Water. Or you can take the path
to Easedale Tarn, a quiet water cradled in a hanging valley, and so on to
the great hills. You might even bring ropes, to climb the rocky crags.

Glenthorne is an old, solid Lakeland house, comfortable and warm,
with historic and literary associations. Since the house was given to the
Religious Society of Friends in 1961, people have come from all over the
world to enjoy the landscape, and to find renewal in a haven of peace
and Quaker hospitality.

The sun may shine every day – it is often sunny here – but in the
mountains, one must be prepared for showers.

For more about Glenthorne, visit www.glenthorne.org

What about continuing professional development?

At the end the training, you will receive a certificate, acknowledging that
you have done 44 hours of continuing professional development. The
training will count towards the Diploma in Meditative Listening offered
by the Centre for Meditative Listening. It is likely to count towards
qualifications offered by The Focusing Institute and the British Focusing
Teachers’ Association. This is something to be agreed between you and
the Co-ordinator or Mentor with whom you are training.

How do I book?

To book, please e-mail rob@robfoxcroft.com, or write to Rob Foxcroft,
19 Balmoral Drive, Bearsden, Glasgow G61 1DJ, Scotland, UK. Please
tell us your name, address, e-mail address and telephone number. And
please say something about yourself, and what draws you to this training.

At the same time, please transfer your deposit of £275 Sterling to:
Royal Bank of Scotland, Glasgow Byres Road (A) branch,
Sort Code 83-21-37
Account 00156736, “Mr Robert N Foxcroft”
BIC
RBOS GB 2L
IBAN
GB44 RBOS 8321 3700 1567 36

Or you can pay “Rob Foxcroft” via Paypal.

The balance of £550 Sterling must be paid by 30th June 2012.

There are only sixteen places available. Please let Suzanne or Rob know
if you are interested, even if you are not yet ready to commit yourself.
There are six single rooms, and the other rooms are twin-bedded.

There is no extra charge for single rooms. They will be allocated on a
basis of “First come, first served”. If you are coming with a friend, and
want to share a twin room, please let us know when you book. If you are
coming alone, we’ll be happy to pair you with a room-mate.

The price includes dinner, bed and breakfast. You will be given a packed
lunch, since experience has shown that most guests at Glenthorne like to
be out and about in the middle of the day. Afternoon tea will be served
at 1630 each day.

The retreat will begin with afternoon tea at 1630 on Monday August
30th, and end at 1100 on Monday August 6th.

How do I get there?

By air

Fly to Manchester Airport, and take the train to
Windermere. Glenthorne is ten miles by taxi from
Windermere. Or there is a local bus from Windermere to
Grasmere village.
The nearest railway station is at Windermere.

By car

See directions at: www.glenthorne.org/location.0.html