Beauty in Practice: One-day Workshop with Jill Shepherd

The Kalyānamitta Dharma Collective will host our first ever in-person event in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland on December 6th, 2026!

The word Kalyāna in our name refers to the beautiful, onward-leading qualities of mind and heart that can develop in our meditation and everyday lives.

In this one-day workshop, our teacher Jill Shepherd, will offer some ways of cultivating these qualties through guided sitting and walking meditations, short talks about the framework of the practice, and some opportunities for optional small group discussion.

Members of the collective will contribute a beautiful, onward-leading lunch...

All are welcome! This event is suitable for newcomers as well as experienced meditators.

About Jill

Jill Shepherd is the guiding teacher for Auckland Insight. She has been practicing meditation for nearly 30 years and is a graduate of the IMS / Spirit Rock teacher training program in the US. She lives in Aotearoa New Zealand and teaches internationally.

Jill will also be leading a one-day workshop on October 18th: you can find details of that offering and others on her website.

About KDC

We are a group of friends whose dream is to create a community in Aotearoa New Zealand committed to meditation, social engagement, and care for the earth. Alongside more accessible opportunities for practice, a central aspect of our vision is an annual offering of a long silent meditation retreat, all on a dāna basis.

You can find out more about KDC here.

Cost & Registration

The event is offered freely, in the spirit of dāna / koha, as a fundraiser for the KDC long retreat in 2027. Jill is also offering her time freely so that any contributions (exceeding the cost of hosting the workshop) will go toward the six-weeks venue hire and food for that retreat.

Registration for this one-day workshop is limited to 50 people, so be sure to sign up if you're keen! And please let us know if circumstances change and you can't make it, so we can adjust catering and open another space for someone else.

Sample schedule (times are approximate and may change on the day)

9:15-9:30 - Arriving and settling

9:30-10:45 - Reflections on theme and guided meditations

10:45-11:15 - Morning tea and optional small group discussions

11:15-12:30 - Instructions and guided meditations

~ 12:30-13:30 - LUNCH! ~

13:30-15:00 - Reflections, instructions and guided meditations

15:00-15:45 - Meditation and closing circle

15:45-16:30 - Afternoon tea and pack down