Embodied Mindfulness for Ease and Stability
Join us this May for a seven-day silent insight meditation retreat grounded in the Satipaṭṭhāna teachings of the Buddha — a path of embodied mindfulness that supports steadiness, clarity, and restoration.
Many of us are carrying a sense of depletion: personally worn down by sustained effort, stress, or emotional load, and shaped by a wider culture of constant stimulation, urgency, and demand. This creates conditions in which the system becomes over-activated without sufficient opportunity to settle, discharge, and replenish.
Through simple practices of sitting and walking meditation, gentle movement, and mindful attention to daily activities, we will cultivate awareness of experience both internally and externally — the body as it is lived from within, and the conditions that continually act upon us from without. As we learn to recognize how reactivity and over-activation take shape, we also begin to discover how ease and stability naturally emerge when the system is allowed to rest and reconnect.
Rather than aiming for particular states or insights, the emphasis is on developing a grounded, embodied presence that can receive experience without becoming overwhelmed. In this way, the heart gradually regains its capacity for steadiness, responsiveness, and care — not only for our own inner life, but in relationship to the world we inhabit.
This retreat is an invitation to restore the ground of experience itself, and to reconnect with a form of mindfulness that is intimate, sustainable, and deeply human.
All are welcome. Prior meditation and/or retreat experience is recommended but not required.
Please ask us if you are interested but unsure if this experience is for you. Held in noble silence, this retreat offers a supportive container for deepening insight, compassion, and inner freedom.
Restoring the Ground
7-Day Meditation Retreat
with Heather Fenton and Julie (Jaya) Boyse
Sunday, May 17 to Saturday, May 23, 2026
This retreat is hosted by Jericho House located at 10845 Rathfon Rd., Port Colborne/Wainfleet, ON L0S 1V0
All meals will be provided. Meals are vegetarian. Options are available for dietary restrictions and preferences; a meal surcharge will apply for dietary preferences. This will be discussed with you once you complete the intake form.
Accommodations: Single rooms with private bathrooms.
Capacity: 16 participants.
Participants must attend and remain on site for the full length of the retreat and participate in sessions from Sunday, May 17 at 4pm to Saturday, May 23 at 2pm. The practice of remaining in the ‘container’ of the retreat is supportive for ourselves and for the other participants.
BOOKING DETAILS
1. Please register using the ‘book now’ button below. You will receive an email confirming your reservation and advising on payment, cancellation policy, meals, dana and other details. Sliding scale cost can be viewed further down this page. E-transfers must be sent directly to Jericho House at jerichohnp@hotmail.com. Please include “Stream Yoga + Meditation, May 17-23, 2026, [Your Full Name]” in the etransfer note.
2. Please complete the retreat intake form that will be sent to you prior to retreat. The information collected on the intake form is confidential and reviewed only by our teaching team to help us create a safe and supportive retreat environment. If you have previously been on retreat with us, we still ask that you complete the form so that all information is current.
COST + DANA
Registration for this retreat is offered on a sliding scale. Please pay what you can afford. Your generosity supports the existence of our Stream community, the programs we offer and our operating costs. The registration fees listed below cover the costs of holding the retreat (administration, food and accommodations).
The teacher(s) do not receive compensation. It is traditional for teachers to offer the Buddhadharma freely and be supported in turn by the generosity of students. Teachers rely on this generosity to continue to share their experience and understanding of the teachings. There will be an opportunity to offer donations (dana) for the teacher and retreat manager at or after the retreat.
SLIDING SCALE
Benefactor $1,455 (inc HST)
The Benefactor rate provides the opportunity to offer a little more to support Stream and allows us to offer reduced rates for others with limited income.
Standard $1,315 (inc HST)
The Standard rate represents the actual cost. Please choose this level or higher if you are able, as it sustains our ability to continue offering retreats at an accessible cost.
Reduced $1,195 (inc HST)
Payment at this subsidized rate covers a portion of the cost and removes barriers for those experiencing financial need. Please choose this rate only if makes the difference in being able to attend.
The Stream Membership discount is not available for this event.
FACILITATION
Heather will draw on her experience in both Mahayana and Theravāda traditions, offering reflection and guidance rooted in both. The retreat will follow a classical Vipassanā structure, with alternating periods of seated and walking meditation, mindful eating, and rest periods. There will be opportunity for individual or group interviews with the teacher during the retreat. The form will be slightly modified to include yoga asana and yoga nidra as supports. This steady rhythm offers an experience that is both rooted and spacious, inviting us to trust the unfolding of wisdom already present within—as we stay in and travel gently down the stream.
Jaya will be supporting the retreat as both yoga teacher and retreat manager. She will offer daily yoga asana and yoga nidra sessions to complement the meditation practice, helping participants care for the body as a foundation for deeper stillness and insight. As retreat manager, she will also tend to the physical and practical needs of the group with warmth and care, helping to create a supportive environment for inner exploration.
Heather Finlayson Fenton combines 25 years of Buddhist meditation training with a lifelong interest in mental and physical health. She takes joy in community practice and teaches from the heart with warmth, compassion and humour.
Heather offers regular meditation sessions, workshops and retreats in the Niagara region and online. She and her husband, Michael Fenton, established Stream Yoga + Meditation in 2018 in Port Colborne, Ontario.
Heather’s main interests are introducing and supporting simple meditation and mindfulness practices and encouraging others — whatever their background or beliefs — to build and sustain a daily (or daily-ish) practice of stillness and inner reflection.
Heather is the author of 100 Days of Care: Cultivating Curiosity & Kindness, an ‘at-home’ meditation retreat workbook designed to integrate meditation in daily life.
In addition to offering regular weekly sessions, workshop and retreats, Heather is available for one-on-one meditation mentoring and support. Please reach out at hello@gentlydownthestream.org.
Julie (Jaya) Boyse is a yoga teacher, Ayurvedic practitioner, and lifelong student of yogic philosophy. After two decades in the corporate world, she experienced profound burnout, which led her to rediscover yoga as a path of healing and balance. Her teaching is informed by deep study, lived experience, and years of training in both Canada and India.
Jaya offers accessible and grounding practices, including yoga asana, yoga nidra, mantra, and meditation, with a focus on restoring harmony in body and mind. Her offerings are shaped by her love of service, study, and song—often shared through the sacred sound of kirtan.
She is the founder of Journey to Balance, where she shares her teachings and retreats locally and internationally. You can learn more at journey2balance.com.