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Dear
Thank you for your interest in self-awareness and creating personal peace. I hope you have been enjoying your summer! I've been eating peaches, meditating, teaching, and writing my next book for Hay House on love and attention. It will be out next spring.
I'm excited to announce new programs you might be interested in, such as our Be The Peace New Year's Eve Retreat and the weekly Community Meditation Gatherings.
If you are visiting Sedona, Arizona or live here, you are invited to join the group meditations every Sunday at my new center. There are lots of good reasons to make a trip to Sedona too... retreats, meditation classes, or to bask in the explore the beauty and wonder of this land.
Feel free to share this issue of Inward Bound with your friends by using the link on the bottom of this page. Let's meditate together sometime very soon!
Sarah
Sarah McLean, Director
McLean Meditation Institute
411 State Route 179, #8
Sedona, Arizona 86336
(928) 204-0067
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Peaches, Beginner's Mind & Meditation
This summer the peach trees in our backyard are loaded with peaches. My husband and I were delighted as we picked them and spread them out on the kitchen counter. The colors of the peaches are vibrant shades of reds and yellows, and they are covered with the fuzziest skins. Their smell is intoxicating. Each peach I bite into is mouthwatering, juicy, fresh, and satisfying. Today I am making peach chutney (click here for the recipe).
You might think you know all about my peaches. But no matter how much detail I give you, you won't have the actual experience of them through my words or ideas. The only way to truly know about a peach is to see, smell, touch, and taste it for yourself. (I have been giving them away at the Center here in Sedona! Pears will be next!)
 For many of us, words and ideas have actually become substitutes for a direct experience. Words are labels that can put distance between you and what they represent, and when you lean on labels you can be robbed of a direct connection with whatever it is you are actually experiencing. You may think you know something because you know the word that represents it. Peaches.
If I say raven or buttercup or strawberry, you'd "know" what I was talking about. But if an actual raven, buttercup, or strawberry were to appear in front of you, would you see it clearly and fully experience it? Or would you label what you see and dismiss it because you already "know" what you are looking at? If you did, you could miss the way the sunlight reflects off of the wings of the bird, or the seeds of the strawberry, or the tiniest stamens of the buttercup.
Maybe you do the same thing with feelings. Rather than experiencing the nuances of an emotion, some of us label feelings and move along. This can limit our experience so we don't fully feel what happy, sad, mad, and glad truly feels like. What if you decided to let go of labels and dive deeply into the experience of your life? I call this approach living with a beginner's mind. And any one can cultivate a beginner's mind with the practice of meditation.
When you experience life with a beginner's mind, whether you're looking at yourself, another, a situation, an emotion, or an object, you'll be more responsive to what is really there rather than reacting to a label or an idea. With a beginner's mind, you give yourself an opportunity to experience everything as it actually is. Life becomes more vibrant as you have a clear, intimate and direct experience of the ingredients of your life.
Keeping a beginner's mind is essential in meditation too. I love to teach meditation to those who have no  expectations about what they will experience. First-timers that come to learn meditation sit in silence for 20 minutes and report that they felt great and that it was easy. I attribute this ease to having a "beginner's mind," a mind free from expectations, labels, and judgments in meditation. Whether you are new to meditation or are a veteran meditator, it's important to treat each meditation as innocently as the first time you learned. And what you practice in meditation can be translated to how you can live your life. I have some other suggestions for those who want to get more comfortable with meditation. Read about them here.
Meanwhile, let's enjoy life more! Let go of your "I know mind" in and out of meditation, and let life surprise you with its beauty and depth.
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8 Ways to Get Your Meditation Groove On:
1. Learn how to meditate. Discover the Simple, Easy, Every Day Meditation Method with an MMI Certified Meditation Teacher. Find one in Sedona, Arizona or in a city near you. Find a teacher here.
2. Read the Hay House best-seller Soul-Centered: Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks with Meditation - and follow the powerful 8 Week program to transform your life. Available on Kindle too!
4. Immerse yourself in a meditation weekend: The Soul Radiance Retreat. Deeply connect with your true essence for inner peace, fulfillment, and clarity. Learn and practice deep meditations and mindfulness. Facilitated by Sarah McLean and friends in Sedona September 13-15, and in January. Also offered in Kansas City in March and Big Sur in June. Find out more here.
5. Cultivate your Creative Soul at the Writing & Meditation Retreat for Women. Learn meditation, mindfulness and creativity practices to connect with your authentic voice. Offered in Sedona, Arizona December 13-15, 2013 and April 11-13, 2014. Also offered at Esalen in Big Sur, California in June 2014. Find out more here.
5. Listen to a variety of meditations I have recorded for you here. They're fre*e!
6. Already meditate? Deepen your practice and become a certified meditation teacher! Meditation is becoming more and more popular and teachers are needed everywhere. Join others who are aiming to make a difference in the world. Apply to join the training now, it's open enrollment! Find out more about what you need to know to become a meditation teacher.
7. Come to the Be The Peace New Year Meditation Retreat at the Sedona Creative Life Center, in Sedona Arizona December 31 & January 1. Bring in the new year with deep silent meditations, mindfulness, and mystical music. Be the peace you want to see in the world. Find out more here. From $95.
8. Are you in Sedona? Join a community guided meditation practice offered every Sunday at 2 pm, or a silent meditation period at 4 pm. Please arrive on time to participate. $5 per session. Held at the McLean Meditation Center. Drop-ins welcome. Find us on Mapquest. Or call (928)204-0067.
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An excerpt from the book Soul-Centered: Transform Your Life in 8 Weeks with Meditation:
The real you is that aspect of you that has been with you since the day you were born. Some people say it's your soul, some call it your essence, or you may say it's your presence. It doesn't matter what you call it, but it's important to know it's the aspect of you that does not change while everything else around you does.
The real you is the one who is aware of your ever-changing body and calls it home. The real you is the one who witnesses or observes your thoughts, feelings, actions, and experiences.
When you say, "I am feeling happy," who is the I? The I is that awareness beyond the thought. It's the real you. Your body, thoughts, and emotions are only the expression of that I.
Take a moment to turn your attention to the one who is reading this page. Keep reading, but notice where your attention is coming from, what the source of it is. Who is looking through your eyes? Just be with this inquiry for a moment.
You may have, for an instant, become aware of your own presence. It's a clear and simple awareness. And though now you might only be aware of this presence for a fleeting moment, when you practice meditation regularly you'll create a deeper intimacy with and connection to this essential part of yourself. It's stable, wise, ever-present, and dependable.
Eventually, your own presence becomes your reference point and when you navigate life with this inner compass, the way you see yourself and the way you respond to the world will transform. I call this being soul-centered. Though subtle, it will be a powerful life-changing shift for you.
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Soul-Centered is entertaining, informative, and inspiring even for the most experienced meditator. -Deepak Chopra |
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Upcoming Retreats
Soul Radiance Retreat
September 13-15,
& January 31-February 2
Sedona, Arizona
Give yourself a nourishing vacation. Come to the Soul Radiance Retreat - the perfect way to relax, rejuvenate, and get inspired. Learn to meditate or deepen your meditation practice, meet soulful people, visit Sedona's sacred sites, connect to your soul-center, and discover inner peace and fulfillment. Led by Sarah McLean and friends at the McLean Meditation Center in the heart of Sedona. Visit www.RadianceRetreat.com or call 928-204-0067.
Meditation Teacher
Certification Program
Enhance your personal meditation practice and your career. Become an inspiring teacher and trusted mentor trained to teach scientifically proven, time-tested meditation techniques. Share the transformative power of meditation with your students, family, clients or patients to help them discover new-found strength, creativity, inner peace, and greater well-being. The 200 hour teacher training consists of a self-paced home-study and an on-site Training Intensive in Sedona, Arizona offered in February & May 2014. Apply now and be ready! An application and program information are available here.
Creative Soul Retreat
December 13-15,
& April 11-13, 2014
Sedona, Arizona
Discover meditation and a powerful writing practice and enhance your authentic expression, creativity, and awareness. You'll write, listen to yourself, and be heard, perhaps for the very first time. No experience is necessary. Facilitated by best-selling Hay House author and meditation mentor Sarah McLean. Find out about the retreat here.
Be The Peace
New Year Retreat
December 31 & January 1
Sedona, Arizona
Come to the Be The Peace New Year Meditation Retreat at the Sedona Creative Life Center. Bring in the new year with deep silent meditations, mindfulness, and mystical music. Be the peace you want to see in the world. Find out more here. From $95.
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Upcoming Classes & Presentations
Meditation Classes
Tues, Aug 20, 10 am-12:30
Sat, Sept 21, 1 pm - 3:30
Sat, Oct 5, 2 pm -4:30
Sun, Oct 20,10 am-12:30
Sedona, AZ
Community Meditation Gatherings Every Sunday in Sedona 2:00-2:45: Guided Meditation 4:00-4:45: Silent Meditation Anyone can have the experience of meditation whether they're new to meditation or have an ongoing practice. Come and meditate at the McLean Meditation Center, (find on Mapquest). Arrive on time to participate. $5. Walk-ins welcome. Call for information (928)204-0067 2:00-2:45 pm The Guided Meditation Gathering offers simple meditation guidance, Q & A and various meditations each week. No experience necessary. 4:00-4:45 pm The Silent Meditation Gathering is a self-directed, silent meditation period. No guidance or instruction is offered. Participants must have meditation experience. Scottsdale Society of Women Writers Wed, Aug 28, 5:30-7:30 pm
Scottsdale, AZ
Sarah McLean is the speaker at the monthly dinner meeting. It's an opportunity to network with women writers at the Chaparral Resort, 5001 N. Scottsdale Rd. RSVP call 480-250-5556 or email patricia@plbrooks.com
Discover the Science and Art of Opening Your Heart - Telesummit
September 9-13
Anywhere You Are
Heart-centered leaders Sarah McLean, Bob Proctor, Mary Manin Morrissey , Gregg Braden, Cynthia James, Caroline Sutherland, Liz Dawn Donahue, Ronna Prince, Sunny Dawn Johnston, Robert Pease, Larry Salazar, Donald Backstrom, Deborah Rozman, John Demartini, Kyle Cease, Mat Boggs, Nick Ortner, Howard Falco and Karla Magnan share their wisdom with you for free September 9-13. Visit this link to get your access now!
Experience Yourself Retreat
November 7-10
Sedona, AZ
Experience Yourself Retreat. A Women's Soul-FULL Retreat. Bonnie Wirth and Pamela Cushman bring you a weekend of inspiration, enlightenment, alignment, and awakening. Special guests include Sarah McLean, Shondra Jepperson, Tina Marie Bertoli, and Pete Sanders. At the Sedona Creative Life Center. Find out more here.
Additional Retreats faciliated by Sarah McLean are offered at these centers:
The Soul Radiance Retreat is offered at Unity Village, MO in March 2014. Call 866-348-6489 or email them.
The Soul Radiance Meditation & Self Discovery Retreat and the Soul-Centered Writing Retreat for Women with Sarah McLean are offered in June 2014 at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur.
Call 888-837-2536
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