About
Sharon Shelton began practicing mindfulness and meditation in 1997 during early recovery from alcoholism. She has nearly 20 years of practice in the Vipassana tradition. She is a Founding Advisor and Lead Teacher for Banyan and mentors students in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. She teaches dharma talks and daylong retreats at the Triangle Insight Meditation Community in Durham, North Carolina, and at Insight sanghas across the country.
Teaching focus
Sharon Shelton's teaching focus sits inside the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Vipassana practice as taught here works with direct observation of body, feeling-tone, mind-state, and dhammas, the four foundations of mindfulness as they appear in the Satipatthana Sutta. The instruction keeps coming back to what's actually arising rather than what should be. The teaching is shaped by the silent-retreat container, with the long arcs and the sustained quiet that container makes possible. Across the body of work, the consistent thread in Sharon Shelton's teaching is the refusal to let practice become abstract. The instruction asks for direct contact with what's actually arising, and the framing supports practitioners in giving it that. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion. Recurring questions in the teaching include how to keep practice honest across years, how to hold difficulty without bypassing it, and how the dharma actually shows up in ordinary life rather than only on the cushion.
Background
Sharon Shelton began practicing mindfulness and meditation in 1997 during early recovery from alcoholism. She has nearly 20 years of practice in the Vipassana tradition. She is a Founding Advisor and Lead Teacher for Banyan and mentors students in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. She teaches dharma talks and daylong retreats at the Triangle Insight Meditation Community in Durham, North Carolina, and at Insight sanghas across the country. She offers dharma talks and daylong retreats in-person at the Triangle Insight Meditation Community in Durham, NC and for Insight sanghas around the country. Known for her warm, conversational style, she guides practitioners in weaving mindfulness, compassion, and ethical living into everyday life. More at www.listentoyourlife.com. Sharon Shelton's teaching is anchored at Insight Meditation Community of Washington. The teaching draws from the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West, with insight meditation (vipassana) as the working ground. Areas of particular focus include retreat. In Sharon Shelton's talks the emphasis lands on direct observation. What the breath actually does, what mood actually feels like in the body, what arises and passes when nothing is being added. The practice is asked to deliver its own evidence. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way. Practitioners drawn to Sharon Shelton's teaching tend to be people who've already noticed that practice is a long arc, not a quick fix, and who want a teacher who treats it that way.
Lineage
Sharon Shelton teaches within the Burmese vipassana revival as transmitted to the West. Sharon Shelton Sharon Shelton discovered mindfulness and meditation when in early recovery from alcoholism in 1997 and has been studying and practicing the Dharma ever since. She is a Mindfulness Teacher and Mentor with close to 20yrs of mindfulness and meditation practice. Trained in the Vipassana tradition, Sharon is a Founding Advisor and Lead Teacher for Banyan and mentors students in the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP). Current affiliation runs through Insight Meditation Community of Washington. Sharon Shelton teaches as a lay practitioner rather than from a monastic role.
What to expect
On retreat with Sharon Shelton you'll get long sits, walking practice, and dharma talks that build on each other across days. The container is silent or near-silent, which gives the teaching room to land in a way that single classes can't quite reach. Sittings are conventional, mindfulness of breath and body, with metta and inquiry into difficult mind-states woven through. There's space for questions, and the answers don't get rushed. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own. The atmosphere is grounded rather than performative, and practitioners tend to leave with practical ground to keep working from on their own.
