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Retreat Day in the Burren:
Heart of Nature 

Is Mindfulness and Meditation about effort? Is it about becoming something that you feel that you are not? Or is it an intuitive tuning into the reality of the Heart that is always here and now. When we spend time in majestic places in Nature such as in the Burren we can get a sense of something bigger than ourselves, a sense of awe at the expansiveness, connectedness and belonging that natural spaces seem to offer. What we are tuning into is the natural resonance of the Heart that is not special or remote but the awakened consciousness that is part of the fabric of each being. This is the same process that we are trying to cultivate an awareness of in meditation. It is not something that we do not have  but something that is so simple and inherent to being alive that it goes overlooked. This retreat day will explore tuning into the natural resonance of the Heart so that we can gain insight into the causes of mental suffering and begin to let them go. The retreat day will draw heavily on the practices of insight meditation and mindfulness 
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Saturday 26th of July 2025 from 11-4.30pm

On that day

In the heart of the ancient landscape of the Burren we will explore the simple tuning into the natural and ever present conscious awareness of the heart through mindfulness and insight meditation. 

This course is suitable for parents, carers, teachers, social workers, and other professionals.

This one-day Nature Retreat will be held at:

Venue: Michael Cusack Centre Sheshodonnell East, Carran, Co. Clare, V95 XT95

Date: Saturday 26th of July 2025 from 11-4:30pm

Booking: Places can be booked directly through the Creative Mindfulness website by clicking on "Enroll".

Attendees: 15 max


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About Paul McNamee

Paul is psychology lecturer, mindfulness course facilitator and curriculum developer. He has a degree in Psychology and an MSc in Mindfulness Based Wellbeing as well as qualifications in adult educational design and delivery. He is a certified MBSR instructor and also trained as a mindfulness teacher through the MMTCP programme with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield

Paul has worked on the design and delivery of professional development courses on mindfulness, mental health and wellbeing for primary school teachers for several years and is the co-author of Ireland’s first mindfulness primary school curriculum ‘The Mindful Heart’ https://www.creative-mindfulness.com/the-mindful-heart-curriculum

He is founder of MindHeart Education https://www.instagram.com/mindheartwellbeing/ www.mindhearteducation.com He offers retreats and workshops on meditation, mental health and wellbeing as well as providing individual mentoring


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Paul's philosophy

He is passionate about how an understanding of mindfulness and traditional insight meditation practices can give us a deeper sense of connection and oneness with nature. He believes that in this process both our sense of isolation and mental suffering can be relieved as well as helping to inspire action that heals our connection with the earth. One of his earliest inspirations for practicing meditation came from sitting in nature and experiencing the sense of belonging and not being separate. Since then, nature has been a constant support, inspiration and teacher throughout his journey with mindfulness meditation. Having lived for a number of years in a meditation retreat centre where he helped take care of the woodland, he has a particular resonance with the power of the forest to cultivate stillness and understanding. Drawing both on modern mindfulness and ancient insight meditation practices he believes that we can gain a much deeper insight into our internal world by taking the time to be with, explore and learn from the natural world.