Thursday, August 2, 2012

For Those Who Can Afford It............

See if there is something similar to this closer to home?  Sounds like a great holiday!

Hey, for those practicing Mindfulness, here is an new way to have a holiday while practicing Mindfulness and staying in shape that I found on the internet.   Bike tours in the Perigord/Dordogne region of France.  Not an inexpensive holiday but having spent quite a bit of time in that region it is amazing, a culinary delight and a slice of history as well.  Also you get an opportunity to practice your french.





A Mindfulness Mission to Do No Harm
&
Mindfulness Tours
  INSPIRATIONAL ADVENTURES ON THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT

Contact Dick & Marilyn at bikeoutfit@aol.com or 650 279 5018
Our Mission is to expand the awareness of the principle of being "mindful" about how we live our lives and treat other people and the planet we live on, thereby improving our own mental and spiritual health, and by extension the health of our planet.  Mindfulness Mission offers Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction classes in Walnut Creek area in Northern California. We also offer cycling tours in the Perigord, now called the Dordogne,  in the Southwest of France, which include stays at Plum Village, the home of Mindfulness Guru Thich Nhat Hanh. We also offer a tour that includes part of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in France to the Dordogne and then on to Plum Village.

Our Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Class is usually 8 weeks and helps you establish a Mindfulness Practice utilizing meditation and other techniques to "live in the present moment" and be happy, dropping your suffering and again enjoying your life.

Our Mindfulness Tours  are Self Guided for bicyclists who currently practice mindfulness meditation and are interestied in a vacation that can deepen this practice. The Dordogne is known for it's prehistory sites going back 40,000+ years, medieval structures both religious and military and an amazing number of spiritual communities because the area seems to be friendly to diversity in thought and open to new ways of thinking.  Also it offers some of the best cycling in the world on peaceful country roads where the bicycle and hiker are king!  Our France Camino de Santiago tour starts in Puy en Velay and follows the Camino into the Dordogne and finishes at Plum Village as well.  We recommend at least a week long stay at Plum Village to deepen your practice. These will not be a boring academic endeavor.  Instead, it will stretch your mind, body and spirit and may be the best vacation you have ever had!  
    Three of these tours begin in the prehistory capital of Europe, Les Eyzies, on the banks of the Vezere River referred to as "The Valley of Man" because of its many sites showing the development of our ancestors and their spiritual  beginnings.  One tour starts and ends in Bergerac on the Dordogne and visits all of the Plum Village hamlets and stays in B&B's or Plum Village. The fifth tour starts in amazing Puy En Velay, start of the most beautiful route to Santiago de Compostella.  All tours arrive at Plum Village on a Friday, the normal check in day.  Plum Village is the home and practice center of Thich Nhat Hanh, the world renowned Buddhist Monk, Peace Activist and Master of Mindfulness Training.

The tours are Self Guided but baggage transfer and emergency support are included. Bicycle rentals as well as different accommodation levels are available. Each Itinerary can be easily customized to fit your needs. The starting day of the week for each Itinerary is designed to have you arrive at Plum Village on a Friday, the normal check in day.  We recommend a minimum of a one week stay, which always includes a Sunday and Thursday Dharma Talk.  A 3 night Week End stay is possible.  For July, during the annual Summer Retreat, the stay at Plum Village must be 7 nights, or you can use nearby B&B options but meet and eat at Plum Village.



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