Welcome Peace: Finding Refuge in Community is a weekend residential meditation retreat in the Insight (Vipassanā) tradition led by Sharon Shelton and Caroline Durham. Together we'll explore how mindfulness, compassion, and community become places of refuge amid the complexities of everyday life.

The retreat includes periods of guided and silent sitting meditation, walking meditation, Dharma talks, group discussion, and opportunities for personal reflection. The schedule is intentionally spacious, allowing plenty of time for rest and enjoying the peaceful surroundings of the William Kelley Retreat Center.

Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners, this retreat offers a welcoming environment to deepen your meditation practice, reconnect with yourself, and experience the support of practicing in community.

WJ Kelly Retreat Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

Thursday - September 3rd Check In 3:30-5:30 pm Dinner at 6 pm, program begins at 7:30 pm

Friday - September 4th Full day of Programming Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Served

Saturday- September 5th Full day of Programming Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Served

Sunday - September 6th Full day of Programming Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Served

Monday - September 7th Breakfast and Closing Ceremony Depart Center by 11:30 am

You'll receive 11 meals, 4 nights accommodations and endless opportunity for rest and be in community.

When budgeting for this retreat please be prepared to practice dana/donate to your teachers at the end of the retreat. Read more about the practice of Dana?

Read More about our Teachers:

Sharon Shelton (she/her) began practicing meditation in the late 1990s while in early recovery from alcoholism and has been studying and practicing ever since. She is trained in the Insight tradition and has practiced Vipassana for nearly two decades. For more than 15 years, Sharon has taught workshops and retreats, led community groups, and mentored practitioners in both Dharma and secular settings. She teaches regularly at Triangle Insight Meditation Community in Durham, North Carolina, and serves as a mentor in Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield. Sharon is a Founding Advisor and Mindfulness Teacher at Banyan and a member of its Teaching Council. She is a graduate of the first cohort of the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program and a Certified Mindfulness Teacher through the International Mindfulness Teachers Association. In 2013, she received transmission of the Three Jewels and the Five Mindfulness Trainings from her teacher, the late Cheri Maples. Sharon is also an experienced coach and member of the International Coaching Federation, having graduated from an ICF-accredited training program. She has coached individuals and groups for over 15 years and brings decades of leadership experience in corporate and nonprofit settings, most recently retiring from 12 years as a Vice President at a global software company. She is the creator of Women Thriving in Midlife, a mindfulness-based offering supporting women to navigate midlife with clarity, purpose, and confidence. Read more about Sharon on her website.

Caroline Durham, founder of Mindful Justice, grounds into the dharma from a foundation of engaged Buddhism. A creative, visionary, and changemaker, Caroline interweaves the dharma with 25+ years service as a public defender and community organizer focused on healing the structural racism underlying the criminal legal system. Committed to healed, thriving communities through engaged Buddhism, her practice is grounded in the lineage of Thich Nhat Hahn through her dear mentor and friend Cherie Maples. Working on local and national level to bring about an end to the carceral state, she focuses on supporting community activists and people with lived experience with the criminal legal system and strengthening communities in the South.

Caroline understands the impact of second-hand trauma, system-created burnout, and brings to light ways the teachings of the Buddha serve as a salve for healing, strength, and action. Since 2005, she has led wellness trainings for public defender offices, bar associations and community social justice organizations. Having studied mindfulness and wellness practices for more than twenty years, Caroline developed a comprehensive, thoughtful approach to the dharma and the power of refuge within it.
The Mindful Justice Lineage Mindful Justice honors the work of Cheri Maples. A dharma teacher ordained by Thich Nhat Hahn, Cheri served as a police officer and then prosecutor in Madison, Wisconsin. A peace activist, she joined the Order of Interbeing in 2002 and was ordained as a dharma teacher by Thích Nhất Hạnh in 2008. Cheri founded the Center for Mindfulness and Justice. Mindful Justice’s name is an homage to Cheri’s work, mentoring and friendship.

Welcome Peace: Finding Refuge in Community

with Sharon Shelton & Caroline Durham