Meditation Groups, Courses and Workshops
"In the woods, not quite out of the woods yet nothing but bewilderment."
-Sabine Schulze-Steele
Embodying Emotions With Somatic Meditation
Instructor: Ralph Steele
Date/Time: This course will be held each Wednesday from October 30 - December 11, 2024, at 11:00 AM & 6:00 PM Mountain Time, USA.
Location: Virtual - Zoom
Course Details:
- 7-week course that meets in weekly sessions of two hours each.
- Classes are virtually conducted using Zoom software.
- Each group is limited to seven.
Ralph presents the core principles of Somatic Meditation, helping participants experimentally understand how to use subtle energy techniques. The connection between emotions and how they manifest physically is explored on multiple levels. Somatic meditation means learning how to breathe through the experience of painful or anxious sensations in the body.
Participants will be able to work personally with Ralph throughout this 7-week course.
Meditation skills are not required, and sharing personal information with the group is discouraged as this is not the intention of the course.
After completion, participants are invited to continue with the ongoing weekly meditation groups based on the skills that were learned.
Registration required, contact us on how to start.
Suggested donation $400.00 or more.
Meditation Retreat for Individuals and Couples
Instructor: Ralph Steele
Date/Time: Reservation Required
Course Details:
Do you need to exhale? The silence of the high Mesa country awaits. Just a 15-minute drive from downtown Santa Fe, our meditation casita offers breathtaking views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountain range and a serenade by the Coyotes.
Your retreat can be specifically designed to fit your needs. An experienced former Theravada Monk/ Psychotherapist can co-design your schedule, guide your practice, and support your healing journey. His wife is available for Somatic Experiencing Trauma Treatment bodywork sessions and Yoga instructions.
Enjoy a structured or unstructured stay, from five days to three months.
Application required, contact us on how to apply.
Suggested donation: $400 per day
Breath Energy as Energy Medicine Meditation
Instructor: Ralph Steele
Date/Time: Sunday Mornings at 9 am
Location: Life Transition Institute & Meditation Center
Course Details:
Pranayama (breath of life) is an ancient breath practice that is culturally universal and, under various names, associated with many meditation systems. Our meditation combines the methods of two venerable traditions practiced in the forest wilds of Southeast Asia.
Sunlun Sayadaw (1878-1952) was influenced by Ledi Sayadaw, the most prominent meditation teacher of 19th century Burma and founder of a forest lineage. In 1999, only eleven of Sunlun Sayadaw’s original students were still living. Ralph Steele had the opportunity to study with U Vinaya Sayadaw, who was 90 years old at the time. Sunlun breath meditation practice begins with rapid breathing in order to quickly develop deep concentration, followed by extended periods of silent sitting that foster insight (Vipassana).
In Thailand, Ajahn Chah (June 17, 1918 - January 16, 1992) studied with Ajahn Mun Bhuridatto (1817-1949), the founder of the Forest meditation lineage and the most influential meditation teacher of the 19th century in Thailand. Ajahn Sumedho was Ajahn Chah's primary student who founded at least six monasteries in the USA & UK; the most senior Western Monk and a USA military Veteran. A USA Military Veteran, Ralph Steele, studied with Ajahn Jayasaro, who advised him to practice what works best. This breath technique begins with the coarse breath sensations at the nostrils, leading to an expansive awareness of the refined breath sensations and energy within and around the body. This process deepens insight, compassion, tranquility, joy, wisdom and purification of the body, mind and Chakra systems. This is one of many skills within the Forest Tradition that goes back to the time of the Buddha.
Registration is required; contact us to learn how to start.
Suggested donation: $15
Integral Somatic Psychology Module I
Course Details:
Integral Somatic Psychology is a complementary modality developed to increase the effectiveness of psychological work in any therapeutic or spiritual approach.
- Integral Somatic Psychology was developed by Raja Selvam, PhD.
- Comprehensive approach to embodiment based on Western as well as Eastern psychology.
- Currently taught in over a dozen countries in North America, Europe, and Asia.
- 24 CEUs are available.
- Ralph Steele has assisted Dr. Selvam in prior courses.
Annual Study Groups
The Four Noble Truths & The Great Discourse On Causation
Time/Date: The online study group will be 1.5 hours every Tuesday until May offered once a year for 20 weeks. Starting Tuesday, January 7 - May 27, 2025 @ 5:30 PM, MST.
Study Group details:
We will first study The Noble Truths:
- Illness/Uneasiness
- Diagnosing/What’s the Cause
- Stopping/Tending to it
- Eightfold Path/Cultivating a Structure.
Afterward, we will use the Nobility as a frame of reference to dialogue with the Great Discourse On Causation (Author: Ajahn Amaro of Catastrophe/Apostrophe), also known as The Interdependent Origination, and the Twelve Links. Our personal consciousness will be our resource.
Registration is required; contact us on how to start.
Other Retreats
Life Transition Meditation Center periodically offers retreats and meditation classes to the public, youth, family, and BIPOC.Â
Stay in contact with us as new events are posted regularly.
Veteran Meditation Retreat
September 20-23, 2024Â
Free Veteran’s Retreat at The Clyde Hotel in Albuquerque, where participants will learn simple yet powerful healing tools and coping mechanisms for stress, no prior meditation experience is required.