Florida Community of Mindfulness upcoming events

Compassionate Presence: Emotional Awareness & Healing | A Weekend Retreat (17 Jul 2026)

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:00:00 GMT

With Brandy Kidd and Misti Oxford-Pickeral

Dates: July 17 - 19
Registration Deadline: June 19

Suitability

This is a Mindful Living Path Retreat and is appropriate for those FCM members who have participated in FCM's recent Emotional Awareness – Foundations for Healing Intensive Pt.1 (Feb.-May 2026) OR any Emotional Healing intensives in the past. If you do not meet those requirements, and you still want to be considered for admission into this retreat, please contact the Retreat Leader (Brandy Kidd at brandymkidd@gmail.com) prior to your application for registration.

Description

This retreat will offer participants the rich opportunity to practice the foundations of mindfulness that are conducive to emotional awareness and healing – without the distractions of everyday life. The retreat will also explore ways to recognize emotional patterns that take us away from our capacity to be steady and grounded in the present moment, with a mind

that is loving and compassionate.

While not strictly limited to Intensive participants, it will also offer current Intensive members the opportunity to create a collective energy of mindfulness together in person, bringing us together after many Zoom meetings.

This will be a silent retreat. The silence affords us the opportunity to deepen our meditative experience while absorbing the experiential meaning of the teachings and practices presented.

Retreat Leaders

Brandy Kidd is a Dharma Instructor with the Florida Community of Mindfulness. Professionally, she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Before having children, she worked with under-served populations (AIDS patients, migrant farmworkers, juvenile justice, abused children and their families) before establishing her private practice in 2001. Her interest and practice in mindfulness and Buddhism has spanned more than three decades. For the past ten years, she has co-facilitated and led FCM's Naples Sangha.

Misti Oxford-Pickeral was introduced to Buddhism in her 20s through the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron, and the Dali Lama. She has been a member of FCM since 2016. Having experienced profound changes in her life through Buddhist teachings and practices, she is grateful to serve the FCM community and support others' practices. Professionally, she is an acupuncturist and herbalist, as well as an acupuncture educator. With FCM, she is part of the Dharma Instructors group and participates as a new member mentor. Misti currently serves as chair of FCM's Board of Directors. She lives in Buckhannon, WV with her husband.

Fees

The fee for in-person participation is $180 for overnighters and $140 for commuters.

Retreat Scholarships are available; please click to see FCM’s Retreat Scholarship Policy and for an Application, which needs to be submitted prior to the registration deadline for this retreat.

Retreat Logistics

This retreat is in-person only (either staying overnight or as a commuter) participation at FCM’s Tampa Center. The retreat will begin with orientation at 5:00 pm on Friday, July 17 and ends after lunch on Sunday at 4:00 pm, July 19. Participation is open to FCM members.

Please note:

The deadline for registration for this retreat is June 19.

We will send a retreat acceptance letter by June 23 with additional information to help you prepare for retreat.

The full fee will then be due by June 29, otherwise the spot will be given to another applicant.

Please click here to read FCM's Retreat Cancellation Policy.

If you are not familiar with our campus, you may enjoy this short video tour.

New to retreating with FCM? Please visit our FAQs page.

The teachings are offered in the Buddhist tradition of Dana, wherein the teachers freely give of themselves to the students out of gratitude for what they’ve received from their teachers and a desire to be of service. The student’s response is also based on Dana, i.e. generosity that naturally flows from a sense of appreciation of the value of Dharma and gratitude to the living lineage. All retreat dana for this retreat will go towards supporting future programs at the FCM center.

Questions?
Please contact Rita at ritaanna727@gmail.com for any logistical questions.

Opening the Heart: A Loving Kindness and Qigong Retreat (28 Aug 2026)

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 21:00:00 GMT

With Angie Parrish and David Braasch

Dates: August 28 - 30
Registration Deadline: July 31

Suitability

This retreat will be beneficial for both newcomers to meditation and more experienced mindfulness practitioners with an interest in living with more equanimity, open-heartedness and compassion.

Description

The Brahmaviharas, also known as the Four Immeasurables, are four natural, beautiful qualities of heart that - when touched more deeply - open us to experiencing our interconnection with all of life: ourselves, others, and the world around us. These qualities, which include loving kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, are naturally present in our minds but are often covered over by fear and other emotions that cause us to wall off our hearts.

Our weekend retreat will focus on practices that will help us to rediscover these beautiful qualities, weaving together teachings on loving kindness with qigong, aligning body, breath, and movement with a loving and open heart. Using guided practices to bring mindfulness of body, heart and mind to both movement and stillness, we will explore how to meet life with equanimity, open-heartedness and compassion, and to work skillfully with obstacles that get in our way.

This will be a silent retreat. The silence affords us the opportunity to deepen our meditative experience while absorbing the experiential meaning of the teachings and practices presented.

Retreat Leaders

Angie Parrish has been a student of Buddhism and mindfulness for over 20 years. She is a Dharma Instructor with FCM, having been given permission by FCM’s teacher Fred Eppsteiner to share the Buddha’s teachings with the sangha. She is also a Qualified Teacher of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and is a frequent teacher of classes and retreats at FCM.

David Braasch has been a student of mindfulness and meditation at the Florida Community of Mindfulness since 2015, where he has taught Introduction to Mindfulness and Meditation, Buddhism: The Basics, and Mindfulness for Educators. He has been a student of Tai Chi, Aikido, and is a certified Qigong teacher under Holden Qigong of Santa Cruz, CA.

Fees

Retreat Logistics

This retreat is in-person only (either staying overnight or as a commuter) participation at FCM’s Tampa Center. The retreat will begin with orientation at 5:00 pm on Friday, August 28 and ends after lunch on Sunday at 4:00 pm, August 30. Participation is open to both FCM members and non-members.

Please note:

The deadline for registration for this retreat is July 31.

We will send a retreat acceptance letter by August 4 with additional information to help you prepare for retreat.

The full fee will then be due by August 10, otherwise the spot will be given to another applicant.

Please click here to read FCM's Retreat Cancellation Policy.

If you are not familiar with our campus, you may enjoy this short video tour.

New to retreating with FCM? Please visit our FAQs page.

The teachings are offered in the Buddhist tradition of Dana, wherein the teachers freely give of themselves to the students out of gratitude for what they’ve received from their teachers and a desire to be of service. The student’s response is also based on Dana, i.e. generosity that naturally flows from a sense of appreciation of the value of Dharma and gratitude to the living lineage. All retreat dana for this retreat will go towards supporting future programs at the FCM center.

Questions?
For more information, please contact Angie at parrish26@gmail.com. Please contact Rita at ritaanna727@gmail.com for any logistical questions.