A Day of Relational Mindfulness
Facilitated by James Dial | Vegan lunch provided | Capped at 13 participants
“The verb ‘to be’ can be misleading, because we cannot be by ourselves, alone. ‘To be’ is always to ‘inter-be.’” — Thich Nhat Hanh
Our language often reinforces our sense of being separate individuals. This can be beautiful and useful: it helps us clarify our values, needs, boundaries, and choices. But when we over-focus on "I," we can lose sight of how deeply our experiences are shaped by the people, places, and conditions around us.
Recently, while meditating on interbeing, I felt grief. There was fear that opening to see experience as relational would threaten my individuality.
This fear inspired a question at the heart of this Immersion:
What if individuality is not something to overcome, but something to understand as relational from the beginning?
Even as you are reading these words, you might notice how much of your experience seems to arise through relationship. These words, the sounds around you, your emotions, your thoughts, and even the act of reading itself all appear in a web of conditions that make them possible. What happens when we become curious about that?
You're invited to a full-day journey of relational presence, where we will explore interbeing. Not as a theory to discuss, but as something to notice, feel, and practice together.
This one-day Relational Meditation Immersion will be held at Greatwoods Zen, a Plum Village-style community center next door to Reedy Creek Park. This day offers a powerful complement to silent meditation: the practice of being with others in presence, truth, and love.
This day is not about dissolving yourself into the group, overriding your boundaries, or pretending difference does not matter. It is about becoming more intimate with a paradox: we are distinct, and we are not separate. Our needs, limits, longings, and choices matter. And they are always arising within a living web of relationship.
Why Come?
You might be someone who:
Practices mindfulness and wants to bring that presence into relationship
Is curious about what “waking up” looks like in connection with others
Wants to explore interbeing without bypassing values, needs, or boundaries
Longs for more compassion, honesty, and aliveness in connection
Wants to experience the paradox of being distinct without being separate
Is drawn to relational practice as a complement to silent meditation
This immersion is a chance to let these longings become something we practice together. Whether you have been meditating for years, or are new to mindfulness, you are welcome.
What We'll Explore
Across large-group sessions, small groups, and pairs, we'll play in the field of connection:
Bringing language to what's happening right now — in body, heart, mind, and awareness
Exploring how the boundaries between self and other are both meaningful and more fluid than they may seem
Sinking into our experience in connection, letting ourselves feel the aliveness that is already here
Listening for others’ experience and noticing how our assumptions update in contact
Softening control while staying responsible for our impact and choices
This will be a more structured day, with specific practices and insights relevant to interbeing. You will also have freedom within the structure to bring what is true for you, and choose your level of involvement.
What May Become Available
Each person’s experience will be different, and the day itself will be shaped by the particular group that gathers. Some possibilities include:
A felt sense that your experience does not have to be held alone
More trust in what unfolds when we are present in connection
Greater sensitivity to how your inner world and others’ inner worlds shape one another
More capacity to stay present while being distinct, honest, and impacted
Practical ways to bring relational mindfulness into everyday life
Nick Neild, a member of the Greatwoods Zen community, shared: "This practice has really propelled my mindfulness practice to a whole new level. I am now more in my body, aware of my emotions and thoughts, as well as being more in tune with what others might be experiencing in the present moment."
What Not to Expect
This is not a therapy session or group healing experience, although healing can occur. It's a group exploration of truth, love, and awareness, created by the people who are present.
We don't promise comfort, breakthroughs, resolution, or specific outcomes. Instead, we create conditions where awareness, curiosity, honesty, and care can emerge in relationship.
You will never be required to share beyond your boundaries or participate in any exercise. We welcome both challenge and nourishment as valuable parts of being human.
We value honest expression, and we also stay attentive to its impact on others. This is a space for mindful connection, not expression at any cost. Facilitators may pause or redirect moments that move away from relational presence.
Details
🕰 Date & Time: Saturday, August 8th, 2026 | 10am–6pm
🗺️ Location: Greatwoods Zen, 2631 Buckleigh Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215
🥑 Lunch: 90-minute break around 1pm. Vegan meal provided.
🙏 Price (Sliding Scale): Scholarship: $55 | Sustainer: $85 | Benefactor: $110
Additional scholarships available on request through the generosity of GWZ donors.
📝 Registration: Through Zeffy payment portal. Capped at 13 participants.
📩 Questions: jamesdial99@gmail.com
About Your Facilitator
James Dial is the steward of Relateful Charlotte, devoted to building local spaces of real connection where presence and growth intertwine. He is known for his clear, earnest, heartfelt presence. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Talent and Organizational Development.
If you are curious to hear James speak about how relational meditation can help us experience the “I” as relational rather than separate, listen here: The Personal & Transpersonal
Nowhere to Go, Nothing to Do
Interbeing is already here.
We don’t have to discover, force, or create it. At this daylong immersion we will simply be given chances to re-member what is already here.
Perhaps you can already start to notice it as you are reading this. There may be a resonance with these words, or a resistance, or something more subtle. That response isn’t separate from what you’re reading. The relationship is already here. You’re already in it.
If this type of connection is something you want more of, I hope to see you there.