Mindful Senses - College of Marin, Kentfield

Mindful Senses is a one-day mindfulness mini-retreat at College of Marin in Kentfield, California, in Marin County. It is part of the Mindful Biology series, which brings life science and contemplative practice together. This session turns to vision, hearing and our sense of position, and it suits anyone curious about biology-based mindfulness, nature connection, or easing a sense of isolation. It is taught by Will Meecham, MD, a former ophthalmologist.

What to Expect

The day runs from 10 am to 3 pm on the Kentfield Campus. The theme is how the senses weave us into the living world. Using inspiring imagery, guided meditations and sensory practices, the class celebrates the natural miracles of eyes, ears and the sense of position, and explores how these systems resonate with the earth.

The aim goes beyond appreciation. Participants are invited to feel how the senses generate our experience of nature, and then to feel how these systems are themselves nature, alive and potent within our own bodies. The class teaches biology-based mindfulness with the intention of dissolving feelings of isolation and restoring a seamless connection with life.

About Will Meecham, MD

Will Meecham, MD, is a former surgeon and self-described accidental mystic who teaches Mindful Biology, a blend of life science and contemplative spirituality. He has offered its insights and practices publicly since 2009. Its guiding phrase is "habitat restoration for human consciousness," and its meditations cultivate embodied experiences of awe, love and wholeness.

His path began in biology. After a solo trek of the John Muir Trail in his teens, he set out to become a field biologist and studied zoology and ecology at UC Berkeley. Graduate work in biophysics followed, then medical school at UC San Francisco. He trained in ophthalmology and became an oculofacial surgeon, treating skin cancers near the eyes and related problems. At forty-one, intractable neck pain ended his surgical career. That background in eye and sensory biology is what he brings to this class on the senses.

The Setting

The class meets on the College of Marin Kentfield Campus, in Kentfield, CA.

Before You Go

Mindful Senses is one of three Mindful Biology mini-retreats offered at College of Marin, alongside classes on muscles and bones and on the skin. No prior meditation or science background is mentioned as a requirement, and the material is presented in an accessible, biology-informed way.