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SUMMARY:Calm Mind, Open Heart: Mindfulness and Compassion Retreat with Grant Rix
DESCRIPTION:Calm Mind, Open Heart\nMindfulness and Compassion Retreat\nwith Grant Rix\n17 – 23 February, 2026\n \nThis retreat still has SPACES AVAILABLE. See below to Register. \nThis retreat offers the opportunity to step out of the busyness of daily life and provides a practical immersion in mindfulness and heart-based meditation practices.\nRooted in the timeless wisdom of Buddhism, yet adapted for modern secular lives, this retreat is suitable for anyone with a sincere intention to develop or deepen their meditation practice.\nThrough daily classes, and a carefully held schedule of guided and self-directed practice – including meditation, gentle movement, and contemplative reflection – you’ll be supported in cultivating stability, clarity, and good meditation practice.\nClasses will provide clear instruction and explore how mindfulness and compassion are powerful pathways for insight, both personally and in how we relate to the world.\nHeld in a peaceful natural setting, this retreat provides an opportunity to explore meditation in a supportive environment. Whether this is your first retreat, or you’re an experienced practitioner, your questions will be welcomed, and expert advice for continuing your practice will be provided.\nIs this retreat for me?\nThe terrain is quite rugged and participants should be in reasonably good physical and mental health to enjoy the challenges, inner and outer, of retreat life at the Wangapeka.\nIf, for any reason, you are unsure whether the retreat is right for you, please email the Course Manager, Denise Quinlan denise@nziwr.co.nz to discuss your concerns before you register.\nAbout Grant\nGrant Rix has been a dedicated student and teacher of meditation for over two decades. He trained extensively under Tarchin Hearn, completing a three-year study and retreat programme at the Wangapeka Retreat Centre in the mid-2000s. He has also studied with teachers including Ven. Namgyal Rinpoche, Lama Mark Webber, and Sonia Moriceau. More recently, he has received Dzogchen and Longchen Nyingthig transmissions from Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.\nGrant is the creator of Pause Breathe Smile, New Zealand’s own curriculum-aligned and secular mindfulness in schools programme, which has now reached over 550 schools, 10,000 educators, and 170,000 children nationwide. He currently serves as Chair of the Pause Breathe Smile Trust and as its Director of Mindfulness Training and Development.\nGrant has a clear understanding of the distinctions between secular and Buddhist approaches to mindfulness. He values both, recognising that each can be beneficial depending on a person’s background, beliefs, and needs. Known for his grounded, open teaching style, Grant creates a welcoming atmosphere free of pressure or expectation. His approach helps people from all walks of life connect with timeless wisdom in ways that feel natural and accessible.\nHe has presented at conferences nationally and internationally and contributed to multiple research publications* on mindfulness in education. Grant is also the resident teacher at the Queenstown Dharma Centre, offering weekly classes.\nCosts\nCosts include accommodation, food, cooks fee and a resource fee. It does not include Dana to the teacher.\nRooms and Huts\n$700 Members\n$760 Non Members\nCamping\n$574 Members\n$592 Non Members\nDana\nDana means a gift freely given and generosity.  Generosity is at the heart of the Teachings on Buddhadharma.  Dana opens the heart to receive the blessings of the Teachings.\nGrant offers these teachings freely.  You are invited to offer Dana to Grant.  This supports him to continue offering the teachings. It is traditional to make a Dana offering at the start of the retreat.  There is a Dana box on the shrine in the Main Hall, where you can place your Dana anonymously.\nInformation and Registration\nFor more information, contact the Course Manager,  Denise Quinlan denise@nziwr.co.nz\nTo register please fill out our online registration form\nRegister now\nPayment\nPayment details are included on the Registration Form. Thank you.\nIf using Paypal please add 5% of the total cost and include with your payment to cover Paypal’s fees.\nPlease consider becoming a Wangapeka member – click here for details.\nImage Credit: Toedor Drobota on Unsplash\n\n*Publications\nKrägeloh C, Medvedev O, Taylor T, Wrapson W, Rix G, Sumich A,Wang G, Csako R, Anstiss D, Ranta J, Patel N, Siegert R (2018) A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial for a Videoconference-Delivered Mindfulness-Based Group Intervention in a Nonclinical Setting Springer US. View\nDevcich D A, Rix G, Bernay R & Graham E (2017). Effectiveness of a mindfulness-based program on school children’s self-reported well-being: A pilot study comparing effects with an emotional literacy program. Journal of Applied School Psychology\nRix, G. (2017). Mindful Aotearoa: Promoting the Benefits of Mindfulness Grounded in Local Context and Understanding in Ditrich, Wiles & Lovegrove (Eds.), Mindfulness and Education: Research and Practice (pp.103-124). Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.\nBernay R, Esther Graham, Daniel A. Devcich, Grant Rix & Christine M. Rubie-Davies (2016): Pause, breathe, smile: a mixed-methods study of student wellbeing following participation in an eight-week, locally developed mindfulness program in three New Zealand schools, Advances in School Mental Health Promotion, DOI:10.1080/1754730X.2016.1154474.\nRix, Grant, and Ross Bernay. 2014. “A Study of the Effects of Mindfulness in Five Primary Schools in New Zealand.” New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work 11(2): 201-220.\nRix, Grant, Ross Bernay, and Daniel A. Devcich. 2014. “Mindfulness as a core strategy for promoting mental health and increasing positive (flourishing) states of well-being.” Proceedings of the New Zealand Population Health Congress 2014: 228-230.\n
URL:https://wangapeka.org/events/calm-mind-open-heart-mindfulness-and-compassion/
CATEGORIES:Buddhism,Dharma,Heart based meditations,Mindfulness,nature,Retreats
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