Dharma Body, Inspiratia’s meditation sangha, offers weekly, monthly and seasonal somatic meditation and movement classes and retreats at the Inspiratia mountaintop sanctuary in Santa Barbara, CA.
Weekly Somatic Meditation Classes
Upcoming live classes to be announced. Check our calendar for updates.
This is a community event offered by donation. The suggested amount is $15, however we do not want it to be cost prohibitive to anyone. All are welcome, no experience is necessary, and we'd love to have you join us.
All profits from Inspiratia programs are donated to organizations supporting Earth regeneration.
Can’t join us for a live class? Follow along with OUR recorded sessionS here.
For additional meditation opportunities, we recommend our teacher Marlies Cocheret’s weekly online guided meditation here.
Monthly Half-Day Practice
Next half day practice to be announced. Check our calendar for updates.
Once a month join us for A Morning of Presence, half-day practice on the land led by Timothy Tillman and featured movement facilitators.
We'll begin somatic meditation at our usual time at 7:00 a.m. At 9:00 a.m. we will share a potluck breakfast and I will provide chia-oatmeal porridge with yummy fixins and hot tea. We will then have another 2 hour meditation and movement set beginning at 10:00 a.m. and close our practice at noon.
This is a community event offered by donation. The suggested amount is $50, however we do not want it to be cost prohibitive to anyone. For questions, driving directions, or more information email info@inspiratia.org.
Seasonal Retreats & Programs
NEW PROGRAMS & RETREATS TO BE ANNOUNCED.
Check our calendar for updates.
What is NOBLE SILENCE?
"The practice of Noble Silence means that we refrain from talking, gesturing, writing to one another, and even making eye contact with one another, in order to give each other a wonderful and rare gift. This is the gift of allowing each other to experience the joy and contentment of our lives in a new way – truly being, truly together, truly being together. The practitioners at the retreat form a community, and Noble Silence gives us the opportunity to get to know one another in a very different, new way. Instead of asking, “Hi, what’s your name? What do you do? Where do you live? What movies have you seen lately?” we sit, walk, eat, and work together, side by side, in respectful and loving silence.
When the community practices together harmoniously, there is a quality of Noble Silence that feels like peaceful ripening. Standing under a fruit tree, we know that the apple or pear or persimmon above our head is ripening in the sunshine, but we can’t see or hear it ripening because its maturation and sweetening is happening slowly and invisibly. When we practice Noble Silence in this manner, we give ourselves and each other the opportunity to deeply experience the present moment. If we’re always talking, always interacting with other people, always thinking about what we need to do, usually we’re running on habit energy.
The practice of Noble Silence is a gift of creative spaciousness for ourselves and others. In this human silence, we can bloom and ripen very beautifully. We might suddenly hear with great poignancy the buzzing wings of the hummingbirds at the feeder, or the sound of water running in the kitchen as lunch is being prepared for us. We might smell and feel things we never noticed before. When we are quiet we become more receptive to everything around us and inside us. We have the chance to learn new things in a fresh way, to experience our genuine Self."
Meet Our Teachers
TIMOTHY TILLMAN, MA, CHT is a Somatic Psychotherapist, Hakomi Trainer, Somatic Educator, Meditation Teacher, and Founder of the FireTenders Men’s Movement with over 25 years experience in his field. He holds a B.S. in physical therapy and an M.A. in clinical and somatic psychology. In his years as a physical therapist, bodyworker, and somatic psychologist he experienced first-hand the connections between body, mind, and emotions. Today Timothy draws on personal and professional experience to provide a fresh mindfulness-based and embodied approach, guiding individuals toward self-inquiry and freedom.
LAMARA HEARTWELL inspires people claim their bodies as an essential source of intelligence, power, and pleasure. She uses a variety of movement modalities to teach people to develop body intelligence and expand their capacity for pleasure on a daily basis. Lamara has spent her life exploring what it takes to live in freedom in the body. She began studying and performing traditional dance styles at the age of 3 and was a devoted gymnast for much of her childhood. As an adult she became more interested in the mind-body connection and focused her studies on dance therapy and the transformative power of movement. She holds a B.A. in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a coaching certification through the Hendricks Institute, two years of counseling training at the Interchange Institute, and extensive yoga training since age 16.
LAURA TOWNE is a Santa Barbara native who is delighted to share the practices of yoga, meditation, and edgu with her hometown. She holds an MFA in Writing & Consciousness from California Institute of Integral Studies as well as a BA in Language Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She received her certification in hatha yoga at a Sivananda ashram in 2010 and has practiced meditation for a decade.
MEG WEST meditated for the first time in 2003 at a 10 day Vipassana retreat, where she recognized the importance of sitting every morning before starting her busy days as a Landscape Architect in Santa Barbara. After experimenting with many different types of meditation, she found the Dharma Body sangha, and had a breakthrough release that deepened her meditation experience greatly, and inspired her to practice more diligently. She currently lives in a quiet cabin in the woods, where she is writing a TV show about forgiveness and working on her carpentry skills.
