Choosing Presence & Joy: A 4-Week Introduction to Mindfulness

Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation (4 weeks): Friday April 10, 17, 24, May 1 – 10am-12pm

This four-week introductory course offers a practical and experiential foundation in mindfulness meditation, grounded in present-moment awareness, non-judgment, and compassion. Each session includes guided practice, teachings, and group reflection to support a sustainable and personally meaningful meditation practice.

Week 1 introduces mindfulness through the breath and other anchors, developing the ability to notice thoughts and gently return attention.
Week 2 deepens into mindfulness of the body, cultivating presence, sensory awareness, and grounding.
Week 3 explores mindfulness of emotions, including self-compassion, RAIN, and skillful ways of working within one’s window of tolerance, while understanding the relationship between thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
Week 4 opens into the “wise heart,” emphasizing joy, kindness, and integrating mindfulness into daily life.

Throughout the course, participants are invited to connect their personal intentions—such as health, resilience, or relationships—with their practice, strengthening the capacity to choose where attention rests and how we meet our experience.

Special focus: Nature as support
Some sessions will include time outdoors, inviting the natural world—sounds, sights, and quiet sitting—to support and deepen our practice.

This course is suitable for beginners as well as those looking to refresh or deepen an existing practice.

4 weeks  – 10-12 Fridays on April 10, 17, 24, May 1.

Please register if you can commit to all of the sessions.

About Dr. Stéphanie Marchal

Stéphanie is a registered psychologist and wilderness guide based in Victoria. She discovered mindfulness unexpectedly in Nepal during a 10-day silent retreat—an experience that was both challenging and deeply grounding, and which became the foundation of her work.

Since then, she has continued her practice through many retreats, most often at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and integrates mindfulness into psychotherapy, land-based work, and with clients of all ages, including teaching in elementary schools. She is currently completing a two-year teacher training with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach, which includes offering opportunities for others to learn meditation.

Nature-based practices have also been central to her work, supporting a deeper sense of engagement, wonder, joy, belonging, and purpose. She now weaves these with mindfulness so that presence and immediacy can come together in a lived, embodied way.

For Stéphanie, mindfulness is a core pillar of mental health: it helps us discern what is truly present from what is imagined, and supports clear, conscious choices about where to place our attention—allowing for greater stability, awareness, and purpose in life.