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The Five Elements: An Exploration of Interbeing (in-person)

Program Type:
Teacher:
Time:10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Date:Sunday - September 14, 2025
Sessions:1
$125
$100
$85

This program will be hosted in-person at our Center in Cambridge. In-person space is limited. Registration will close at 12:00 pm on Friday, September 12th. Walk-in registration will not be available. A vegetarian lunch will be provided.

Tune in to your body. Feel the firmness of the earth with your feet, sense the wetness of a drink of water as it glides down your throat, look up and absorb the warmth of the sun, experience the tingle of a cool breeze, and open to spaciousness all around you. Join us on a journey of exploring the five elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Space through a Buddhist lens.

A growing body of research is now showing that old growth forests, fungi, microbes, and most matter -- including all of us -- are connected. Yet the Buddha's teachings have offered this perspective for thousands of years.

Practicing with the five elements helps us to reconnect on a deeper level to this truth. Challenging the notion of individualism and a separate self, we begin to realize, to experience, that we are a part of a complex relational network.

During this retreat, we will explore the five elements rooted in the teachings of Buddhism’s First Foundation of Mindfulness, growing our awareness of the body. We will aspire to increase our connection to nature and the environment as we bring humility, curiosity, and compassion to our place in the web of things.

This program is suitable for everyone, beginners, and experienced practitioners alike. Our time together will include Dharma reflections, meditation instructions, poetry, and ample opportunity for Q&A. All are warmly welcome

Full and partial scholarships are available. Please submit your requests to office@cambridgeinsight.org at least 72 hours prior to the start of the program.

Zeenat Potia teaches meditation in Buddhist and secular spaces. She has over 15 years of training, with extensive silent retreat experience in the early Buddhist tradition and advanced trauma-sensitive mindfulness. Zeenat incorporates her life experience — as a South Asian immigrant, as a mother, and as a strategic communications professional in higher education, non-profit, and publishing for over 20 years — into her teaching.

Her current work integrates mindfulness, 12-step recovery, and Internal Family Systems as a way to heal intergenerational trauma and transform structures of internal and external oppression. She is committed to sharing mindfulness with underserved and underrepresented populations. Zeenat has taught at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center since 2014, as well as teaching meditation in organizations and universities throughout the Boston area. Learn more at: zeenatpotia.com

NOTE: At check-in, participants will be asked to volunteer for a short period of mindful service during the retreat—a "yogi job." Yogi jobs enable the smooth running of the retreat and offer an opportunity to practice alongside other retreat participants.

There are no prerequisites for this program. All are warmly welcome.

Retreat

Attending an In-Person Retreat at CIMC (see below for attending online retreats)

  • Please arrive at least 20 minutes early to check-in and to find a comfortable place in the meditation hall.
  • Retreats are held in silence. Please power off your cell phone, smartwatch, or other electronic devices for the duration of the retreat.
  • Parking at CIMC is limited; we suggest taking public transportation to the Center whenever possible.
  • CIMC provides vegetarian meals at day-long, weekend, and multi-day retreats. We are unable to accommodate special dietary needs. If you have dietary restrictions, we invite you to bring your own vegetarian meal. Please note that nuts may be used in our kitchen.
  • Food and beverages, including water, are not allowed in the meditation halls.
  • We strongly recommend you dress in layers since the temperature in the meditation hall will vary throughout the day. The hall thermostat is set to a comfortable temperature range; however, please give yourself a range of clothing options, as individual preferences for warmth or coolness differ widely and cannot be accommodated.
  • Please leave shoes on the shoe shelves on the first floor and keep your valuables with you at all times.
  • CIMC provides zafus (round cushions), zabutons (large mats), meditation benches, blankets, and chairs for your use. At the end of the program, we request that participants brush off their zabuton and plump up their zafu. All other items should be returned neatly to where they were found.
  • CIMC is a refuge. Out of compassion for those who may have chemical sensitivities, please avoid using scented products—lotions, deodorant, after-shave, hair products, perfume, clothes laundered with scented detergent, or dryer sheets—before you come to the Center.
  • Retreat Meal Dana: In keeping with tradition, we invite you to sponsor a retreat meal as a simple and meaningful act of generosity. You will have the option to share a dedication of your generosity, perhaps to someone in your life, to a special occasion, or to an aspiration. Please contact the office for more information on offering Meal Dana for this retreat.

Attending a Retreat Online

  • Sitting a retreat at home and online is certainly different from coming to a meditation center. Tending to your comfort and giving yourself a quiet, private sitting and walking space (if possible, in the environment you are in) will help keep your attention focused and support your practice and learning. Plan to bring as much simplicity and ease to your day as possible. The schedule of the retreat is structured to support your well-being and practice with regular breaks and time for mindful movement.
  • We will be using Zoom for this retreat. Before your retreat begins, be sure to download Zoom and familiarize yourself with using the program, including the chat feature. Specifics about how we will be using Zoom during your retreat will be covered at the beginning of the retreat; however, we are not able to provide technical support during the retreat.
  • We ask that you treat our virtual meditation hall as if we were together in person, in the same room. The teachers and other yogis benefit greatly from your full presence and careful attention.
  • Join each session of the retreat a few minutes early. This will support the teachers and your fellow retreatants.
  • Please maintain noble silence as much as possible for the duration of the retreat and take any necessary steps to limit external distractions such as incoming emails, texts, or other interruptions so that we can maintain the integrity of our practice together. Close all programs on your computer other than Zoom and turn off all notifications on your devices.
  • Ideally, power off phones and smartwatches for the entire time scheduled for the retreat on each day. Please don’t check your devices during breaks. We suggest that you put an “away” message on your email and voicemail and leave your devices in another room during your retreat hours.
  • Please keep your video on during our time together as much as you can. This supports a sense of connectedness and sangha.
  • Closed Captions for CIMC Programs are generated through “live streaming” via Rev.com. CIMC programs are not live-streamed to any other platform for any other use.
  • You will receive a welcome email from CIMC a day or two before your program that will include the zoom link, retreat schedule, and further information.