A day of meditation practice and reflection in the Insight tradition with Mark Ovland

Saturday 23rd October 2027 10.00am - 5.00pm UK time, in person and online

Mark Ovland will lead this day of practice for Oxford Insight Meditation. The retreat is suitable for all levels of experience. During the day there will periods of stillness practice and periods of movement. There will also be meditation instructions, reflections, and opportunities for questions. Outside of these times we will share the space in companionable silence.

Mark Ovland began practising meditation in 2008 and spent the following four years living and working in retreat centres and monasteries around the UK and Asia. Motivated to make these precious teachings more widely accessible and available, in 2013 he co-founded Freely Given Retreats and soon afterwards pioneered taking mindfulness courses into UK prisons. In more recent years Mark has been especially engaged with environmental and social justice issues. He was a close student of the late Rob Burbea.

Dana: In the spirit of generosity, our teachers offer their teaching freely. We invite you to make a 'dana' donation to support Mark in continuing to offer the teachings in this way. There will be an opportunity to offer dana on the day. If you have a Paypal account you can make a donation to Mark via Paypal using his email address markovland@gmail.com. For other ways to make a donation please see https://markovland.uk (https://markovland.uk).

Please note we are unable to process donations for our teachers through Eventbrite.

Booking fee: The fee for online participation is £5/£3/£0 (freely given) and for in person participation £15/£5/£0 (freely given). The fee covers general running costs of the online and in person retreats, including Zoom costs, Eventbrite fees, hall hire and teachers’ travel + accommodation expenses. Our teachers receive no payment from the booking fee, instead you will be invited to offer a donation to our teachers in the ancient tradition of dana.

We invite you to pay the full rate if you are reasonably able to do so, as this supports the continuation of our retreats. We also offer lower rate tickets to those who are unemployed, full-time students, on a low income, or are otherwise finding it difficult to meet the full cost. To ensure that these days are accessible to everyone. we also offer freely given tickets for which there is no fee.

Cancellation and refunds: Please let us know as soon as possible if you need to cancel your place on a retreat – otherwise, someone else may be turned away unnecessarily. Please contact oxfordinsightmeditation@gmail.com to let us know that you can't be there. We offer refunds up to 24 hours before the retreat. Please see instructions here (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/support/articles/en_US/How_To/can-i-get-a-refund?lg=en_GB) for how to claim a refund.

For those attending online:

Zoom link: This will be emailed to those who have registered, shortly after registration. There will also be a further reminder email one week before the retreat, 24hrs before the retreat and again 1 hour before the retreat begins. Please check your junk mail if you have not received the emails.

For those attending in person:

Please arrive for registration between 9.15 and 9.45am.

Venue: St Margarets Institute, 30 Polstead Rd, Oxford OX2 6TN

The hall is wheelchair accessible and has an accessible toilet. There are two disabled parking bays directly outside the venue. Please contact us if you need any support on the day to enable you to attend.

See here (https://www.smi-oxford.org.uk/contact-us/) for a map of the location and for public transport travel information. Please allow plenty of time to travel so that you can arrive at the hall between 9.15 and 9.45 for registration.

Parking: there is no street parking in the area without a permit, except for two disabled parking bays, which are immediately outside the venue. We have made an arrangement for use of the car park at Makespace (https://makespaceoxford.org), a short walk from the venue. Makespace is at 1 Aristotle Lane, Oxford OX2 6TP. There will be space for 4 cars. Please note: the Makespace car park can only be accessed via Frenchay Road and Hayfield Road, and not via Polstead Road. If you park at Makespace, we ask that you make a donation equivalent to the cost of parking for a day in Oxford, which we will pass on to Makespace.

What to bring: The hall is heated, but uncarpeted, and we will have some windows open for ventilation. Please bring warm clothing and blankets, and a mat or rug, plus meditation stool or cushions if you wish to sit on the floor. We will ask you take off your shoes when in the hall, so you may also wish to bring slippers or warm socks. There are chairs available, you may wish to bring a cushion or two for padding.

Lunch: will be held in silence. We invite you to bring your own vegan or vegetarian packed lunch. A selection of teas, herbal drinks and plant milk will be provide

Description supplied by the event organiser.