Dates: Sunday, January 27, 3:00pm – Friday, February 1, 11:30am; 5 nights
Sliding Scale: $1300 – $600, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 234R19.

This retreat is FULL with a short wait list and room for commuters. If you are interested in being on the residential wait list or attending as a commuter, please submit an application. We do have cancellations, so the longer you’re able to wait, the better your chances of getting in.

Retreat Description:
A river of presence and awareness flows through all of life, connecting us with ourselves and each other. On this silent retreat, we’ll open to a direct experience of this clear, wakeful presence through an unbroken, integrated flow of meditation in movement and in stillness.

Through the forms of seated meditation, gentle yoga, and qigong, we will learn to sustain embodied mindfulness in a durable and flexible way that translates directly to our daily lives. This gives us the freedom to respond with wisdom and compassion to our challenges and to the suffering we encounter in ourselves and in the world, rather than reacting out of habitual conditioning. As we unwind our physical and mental contractions, we unveil our innate capacities for joy, wellbeing, and connection.

Financial assistance is available for all Spirit Rock residential retreats. Our scholarship rate is $40/night and available for all those with financial hardship with special funds allocated to People of Color (POC), folks with serious medical conditions, and young adults (age 18-26). Scholarship funding is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Scholarships are budgeted per retreat and because they are in high demand, can run out quickly. We encourage you to register for a retreat as close as possible to the registration opening date (lotteries are an exception).

A unique scholarship opportunity! If you are an Educator, Health Care Professional, or Artist that has never attended a residential retreat longer than a weekend retreat (1-3 nights), you may qualify for a Hemera Foundation Fellowship to assist in attending your first week-long residential retreat. Hemera Foundation Fellowships: Click link for more information. ONE scholarship allowed per person, per calendar year.

Dates: Sunday, January 27, 3:00pm – Friday, February 1, 11:30am; 5 nights
Sliding Scale: $1300 – $600, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 234R19.

This retreat is FULL with a short wait list and room for commuters. If you are interested in being on the residential wait list or attending as a commuter, please submit an application. We do have cancellations, so the longer you’re able to wait, the better your chances of getting in.

Retreat Description:
A river of presence and awareness flows through all of life, connecting us with ourselves and each other. On this silent retreat, we’ll open to a direct experience of this clear, wakeful presence through an unbroken, integrated flow of meditation in movement and in stillness.

Through the forms of seated meditation, gentle yoga, and qigong, we will learn to sustain embodied mindfulness in a durable and flexible way that translates directly to our daily lives. This gives us the freedom to respond with wisdom and compassion to our challenges and to the suffering we encounter in ourselves and in the world, rather than reacting out of habitual conditioning. As we unwind our physical and mental contractions, we unveil our innate capacities for joy, wellbeing, and connection.

Financial assistance is available for all Spirit Rock residential retreats. Our scholarship rate is $40/night and available for all those with financial hardship with special funds allocated to People of Color (POC), folks with serious medical conditions, and young adults (age 18-26). Scholarship funding is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Scholarships are budgeted per retreat and because they are in high demand, can run out quickly. We encourage you to register for a retreat as close as possible to the registration opening date (lotteries are an exception).

A unique scholarship opportunity! If you are an Educator, Health Care Professional, or Artist that has never attended a residential retreat longer than a weekend retreat (1-3 nights), you may qualify for a Hemera Foundation Fellowship to assist in attending your first week-long residential retreat. Hemera Foundation Fellowships: Click link for more information. ONE scholarship allowed per person, per calendar year.

Date: February 16, 2019; 10:00am – 4:30pm
Sliding Scale: $75 – 200. Code DG1D19.
5.5 CE credits available for $55, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, and LPCCs.

Description:
This Valentine’s weekend program is an opportunity for couples to awaken the heart of joy and love together. In order to be intimate, we must learn to be fully present. Through partner meditations, verbal and nonverbal communication exercises, and group sharing, couples will practice the art of intimacy and learn skills to deepen the shared journey.

Please note: This event is not appropriate for attending alone as the majority of the day will be spent in partner practice.

Teachings are appropriate for the general public, as well as health care professionals. This day will help mental health professionals working with couples learn the skills of being more present and connected with a partner. This personal experience dramatically increases the professional’s ability to support clients in being more present and connected with others. Continuing Education (CE) credit available. See below for more information.

Learning objectives for participating health care professionals. Based on the content of this workshop, health care professionals will be able to:

• Utilize meditations and exercises in a clinical setting which improve partner intimacy;
• Describe communication skills that deepen compassion and self-awareness, in ways useful to clients;
• Utilize skills that help to strengthen one’s own ability to stay present in the movement;
• Integrate practices when working with clients to listen more deeply to a partner.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Date: February 24, 2019; 10:00am – 4:30pm
Sliding Scale: $75 – 200. Code MT1D19.
5.5 CE credits available for $55, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, chiropractors, and is pending approval for acupuncturists.

Description:
Health in our body and clarity in our meditation increases as energy flows more freely through the spine. In this day retreat, we’ll learn five simple qigong movements that awaken energetic wholeness in the spine and the entire body.

We will experience how awakening the spine through qigong is a valuable support and complement to mindfulness meditation.

These qigong practices release spinal stagnation and open a profound circulation of energy. This promotes health and wellbeing in body and mind.

Qigong and meditation bring a bright wakefulness and concentrated, embodied presence that help us discover who we are beyond our stories.

Teachings are appropriate for individuals as well as health care professionals. Health care professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program in ways beneficial to clients or patients. Continuing Education (CE) credit available.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals- Based on the content of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Demonstrate to clients how awakening the spine through qigong is a valuable support and complement to mindfulness meditation;
• Utilize six simple qigong movements that awaken energetic wholeness in the spine and the entire body, to help clients reconnect with innate love, joy and wisdom of true nature;
• Incorporate a wakefulness and concentrated embodied presence that help one discover a sense of self, in ways that are useful to both oneself and with clients;
• Utilize practices to release spinal stagnation, opening circulation of qi or life energy, which promotes health and wellbeing in body and mind.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Date: March 2, 2019; 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Sliding Scale: $30 – 100. Code JA1E19.

Description:
As we sing and meditate with our entire body, heart and spirit the “noise” of life can stop and we can reconnect with the sheer joy, depth and beauty of being.

The heart is an honored gateway to our most profound and boundless nature. Using the ancient and sublime blend of kirtan (chanting) combined with periods of guided and silent meditation, we can open the heart of infinite love. Kirtan in the Bhakti tradition taps the nectar of spiritual longing and devotion, and invites us to surrender everything into the sacred.

Dates: Monday, June 3, 3:00pm – Sunday, June 9, 11:30am
Sliding Scale: TBD, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 258R19.
11 CE credits available for $110, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.
Will open for registration on 2/6/2019.

Retreat Description:
“It is that gladness connected with the wholesome that I call an equipment of mind….for developing a mind that is without hostility and without ill will.”
-The Buddha

The Buddha was known as “The Happy One.” However, the teachings often seem to emphasize working with suffering. Joy and happiness can seem frivolous or unspiritual even though joy is one of the Seven Factors of Awakening. In this retreat we will practice with an emphasis on cultivating wholesome states to develop our natural capacity for well-being and happiness. Our own development of well-being and joy then becomes our gift to a troubled world.

The retreat includes silent sitting and walking periods with instructions and practice meetings with teachers, as well as some experiential exercises during the five days. This retreat is appropriate for both experienced as well as new/beginning students.

Practices will include:

• Inclining the mind toward wholesome states;
• The power of wholesome intention;
• Mindfulness as appreciation practice (wonder and gratitude);
• Embracing suffering as a path to joy;
• How letting go leads to true freedom;
• Integrity as a foundation for well-being;
• Metta (loving-kindness) for self and others;
• Mudita (sympathetic joy);
• Compassion–the expression of a wise heart;and
• The joy of simply being.

Financial assistance is available for all Spirit Rock residential retreats. Our scholarship rate is $40/night and available for all those with financial hardship with special funds allocated to People of Color (POC), folks with serious medical conditions, and young adults (age 18-26). Scholarship funding is offered on a first-come, first-serve basis. Scholarships are budgeted per retreat and because they are in high demand, can run out quickly. We encourage you to register for a retreat as close as possible to the registration opening date (lotteries are an exception).

Teachings are appropriate for health care professionals as well as the general public. Health care professionals will be able to incorporate the tools and practices offered in this program in ways beneficial to clients or patients. Continuing Education (CE) credit available. See below for attendance requirements and more information.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals-
Based on the content of this program, you will be able to:

• Explain how mindfulness can interrupt confused and negative thinking;
• Utilize the practice of inclining the mind towards the possibility of more joy, in ways that may improve patient care, or reduce burnout;
• Describe a gratitude practice that supports well-being and may be used to reduce challenging experiences such as stress, anxiety, or depression;
• Incorporate the use of the acronym RAIN when working with clients;
• Describe how compassion affects the nervous system;
• Explain to clients how attachment can lead to suffering;
• Integrate the practices of forgiveness, acceptance, and self-compassion in ways that improve patient care;
• Employ techniques to support clients in counter-acting a tendency towards self-judgment and feelings of unworthiness.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory