Dates: Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019. Registration open until February 1, 2019.
Sliding scale: $199 – $299. Code MC1N19.

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight Meditation practices. This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. These are essential teachings for building a baseline understanding, and for the Buddhist path of practice. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

COURSE INCLUDES:
• 5 video sessions for self-paced participation
• Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman (will be recorded and accessible for later viewing).

COURSE OVERVIEW:
Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness – Developing Awareness
Session 2: Four Noble Truths – Freedom From Suffering
Session 3: The Boundless Heart – Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
Sessions 4 & 5: The Eightfold Path – The Buddhist Path to Freedom

VIDEO CONFERENCES – 6:00PM PT ON:
January 16
February 13

REGISTRATION AND ACCESSING COURSE MATERIAL:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to the class page. Course materials will be available through April 1, 2019. This course is useful for newer students as well as those with more experienced who want to refresh their knowledge. Videos recorded in 2018. 

Sliding Scale: $75 – 200. Code M11D18.
5.5 CE credits available for $55 for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, chiropractors, and acupuncturists.

Do you experience the painful effects of self-judgment, from telling yourself you are never good enough? If you wish to be free from the torment of the inner critic, then this day is for you.

We will explore how to mindfully and skillfully work with self-judgment, and develop greater self- acceptance, self-compassion and forgiveness as antidotes to criticism.

The day will be a combination of talks, and interactive exercises, mindfulness and kindness techniques. This will be a practical and experiential day taught with lightness, compassion, and humor as a reminder not to take ourselves too seriously!

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:

• Describe the practice of mindful awareness, and how this relates to understanding the inner-critic;
• Contrast judgment and discernment, and their effects on well being;
• Incorporate self-acceptance, self-compassion and loving kindness practices when working with clients as an antidote to self-judgment;
• Describe a forgiveness practice to patents or clients as a support for working with judgment.

Young Adults (18-26) and Seniors (65+ with limited income) are invited to attend this day for $45.

Dates: Monday, November 26, 3:00pm – Sunday, December 2, 11:30am
Sliding Scale: $1505 – $685, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 217R18.

This retreat is full. If you are interested in being on the residential wait list or 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.

Please Note: All Young Adult rates for this retreat have been allocated.
If you are interested and need financial assistance, we may have a work exchange available.

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.

Retreat Description:
Mindful awareness is the foundation for living with wisdom and compassion and is the seed from which springs much joy and peace. Through this retreat you will learn skillful methods to establish and refine mindful presence that develops self-awareness, clarity and insight. We will draw on the Buddha’s discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as understood in Early Buddhist Teachings.

Participants will learn to cultivate mindfulness through meditations on:
1. The body, the 4 elements, exploring impermanence.
2. Responding to the changing nature of experience.
3. Understanding reactive emotions and states of mind that cause stress.
4. Cultivating qualities that support awakening.

The retreat will be a variety of sitting and walking meditations, talks on meditation and opportunity for questions and meetings with the teacher. Much of the day will be self-led where participants create their own rhythm of practice. This retreat is ideally suited for experienced meditators who wish to deepen their understanding of mindfulness.

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 more information.

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

• Define mindfulness and what practices develop mindfulness;
• List at least four benefits of the effect of mindfulness meditation on health care professionals;
• Describe the relationship between health care professionals’ mindfulness practice and improved patient care;
• Describe how practicing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develops present awareness, and can improve patient care;
• Utilize mindful breathing techniques to develop present moment awareness when working with clients;
• Utilize mindful breathing practices to reduce stress;
• Describe how mindfulness of feelings can result in reduced emotional reactivity;
• Describe how mindfulness of feelings practices may be supportive for calming difficult mental states such as anxiety and depression;
• Utilize compassion practices to reduce emotional exhaustion and professional burn-out;
• Apply, in a clinical setting, perspectives from Buddhist teachings on happiness and causes of happiness; on suffering and the causes of suffering;
• Utilize the powerful principles of equanimity and compassion for meeting the full range of human experience with balance and openness;
• Integrate the practices of equanimity and compassion for meeting stress, pain, and burnout with kindness and wisdom.

Dates: Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019. Registration open until February 1, 2019.
Sliding scale: $199 – $299. Code MC1N19.

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight Meditation practices. This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. These are essential teachings for building a baseline understanding, and for the Buddhist path of practice. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

COURSE INCLUDES:
• 5 video sessions for self-paced participation
• Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman (will be recorded and accessible for later viewing).

COURSE OVERVIEW:
Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness – Developing Awareness
Session 2: Four Noble Truths – Freedom From Suffering
Session 3: The Boundless Heart – Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
Sessions 4 & 5: The Eightfold Path – The Buddhist Path to Freedom

VIDEO CONFERENCES – 6:00PM PT ON:
January 16
February 13

REGISTRATION AND ACCESSING COURSE MATERIAL:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to the class page. Course materials will be available through April 1, 2019. This course is useful for newer students as well as those with more experienced who want to refresh their knowledge. Videos recorded in 2018. 

Dates: Monday, November 26, 3:00pm – Sunday, December 2, 11:30am
Sliding Scale: $1505 – $685, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 217R18.

This retreat is full. If you are interested in being on the residential wait list or 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.

Please Note: All Young Adult rates for this retreat have been allocated.
If you are interested and need financial assistance, we may have a work exchange available.

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.

Retreat Description:
Mindful awareness is the foundation for living with wisdom and compassion and is the seed from which springs much joy and peace. Through this retreat you will learn skillful methods to establish and refine mindful presence that develops self-awareness, clarity and insight. We will draw on the Buddha’s discourse on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness as understood in Early Buddhist Teachings.

Participants will learn to cultivate mindfulness through meditations on:
1. The body, the 4 elements, exploring impermanence.
2. Responding to the changing nature of experience.
3. Understanding reactive emotions and states of mind that cause stress.
4. Cultivating qualities that support awakening.

The retreat will be a variety of sitting and walking meditations, talks on meditation and opportunity for questions and meetings with the teacher. Much of the day will be self-led where participants create their own rhythm of practice. This retreat is ideally suited for experienced meditators who wish to deepen their understanding of mindfulness.

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 more information.

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

• Define mindfulness and what practices develop mindfulness;
• List at least four benefits of the effect of mindfulness meditation on health care professionals;
• Describe the relationship between health care professionals’ mindfulness practice and improved patient care;
• Describe how practicing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness develops present awareness, and can improve patient care;
• Utilize mindful breathing techniques to develop present moment awareness when working with clients;
• Utilize mindful breathing practices to reduce stress;
• Describe how mindfulness of feelings can result in reduced emotional reactivity;
• Describe how mindfulness of feelings practices may be supportive for calming difficult mental states such as anxiety and depression;
• Utilize compassion practices to reduce emotional exhaustion and professional burn-out;
• Apply, in a clinical setting, perspectives from Buddhist teachings on happiness and causes of happiness; on suffering and the causes of suffering;
• Utilize the powerful principles of equanimity and compassion for meeting the full range of human experience with balance and openness;
• Integrate the practices of equanimity and compassion for meeting stress, pain, and burnout with kindness and wisdom.

Teacher(s): Mark Coleman. For the schedule of teachers, click here.
Sliding Scale: $0 – 108. Code 49ML18.

PLEASE NOTE: This is the LIVESTREAM registration page. To attend in person, just come! Learn more here.

Join us for “Spirit Rock Live: Monday Nights with Jack Kornfield and Friends”, a Livestream of Monday Night.

Now in its 33rd year, the Monday Night sitting group at Spirit Rock has been a welcoming refuge to gather, hear the teachings of the Buddha, and practice insight meditation together as a community. The program includes a 30-40 min guided meditation, a short break, and a dharma talk.

If you’re unable to tune in Monday Night for the Livestream, register anyway! The recorded program will be available for 2 weeks. PLEASE NOTE: Registration available until midnight.

View a recording of Spirit Rock Live: Monday Nights with Jack Kornfield & Friends...

Dates: Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019. Registration open until February 1, 2019.
Sliding scale: $199 – $299. Code MC1N19.

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight Meditation practices. This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. These are essential teachings for building a baseline understanding, and for the Buddhist path of practice. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

COURSE INCLUDES:
• 5 video sessions for self-paced participation
• Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman (will be recorded and accessible for later viewing).

COURSE OVERVIEW:
Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness – Developing Awareness
Session 2: Four Noble Truths – Freedom From Suffering
Session 3: The Boundless Heart – Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
Sessions 4 & 5: The Eightfold Path – The Buddhist Path to Freedom

VIDEO CONFERENCES – 6:00PM PT ON:
January 16
February 13

REGISTRATION AND ACCESSING COURSE MATERIAL:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to the class page. Course materials will be available through April 1, 2019. This course is useful for newer students as well as those with more experienced who want to refresh their knowledge. Videos recorded in 2018. 

Date: January 5, 2019; 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sliding Scale: $75 – 200. Code MC1D19.
6 CE credits available for $60, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.

Description:
In this day of mindfulness meditation, we will cultivate awareness that supports clarity, understanding and insight. We will investigate how mindfulness practice develops insight into both the causes of stress and the causes of genuine happiness. We will develop tools to live with a genuine non-reactive freedom wherever we are, that leads to an inner peace we all seek.
Along with sitting and walking insight meditation practices, loving kindness and compassion will be integrated throughout the day. There will be periods of meditation, talks, questions and discussion. Suitable for experienced and newer students to meditation.

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:

• Describe how Buddhist philosophies on happiness and causes of happiness; on suffering and the causes of suffering can be utilized in a clinical setting;
• Identify at least 3 benefits of mindful practices for health care professionals resulting in improved patient care;
• Describe how mindfulness and heart-based practices function to promote clear-seeing and emotional-regulation, and how this supports being a more effective care-provider;
• Utilize mindfulness practices to support emotional regulation while working with clients.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Dates: Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019. Registration open until February 1, 2019.
Sliding scale: $199 – $299. Code MC1N19.

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight Meditation practices. This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. These are essential teachings for building a baseline understanding, and for the Buddhist path of practice. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

COURSE INCLUDES:
• 5 video sessions for self-paced participation
• Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman (will be recorded and accessible for later viewing).

COURSE OVERVIEW:
Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness – Developing Awareness
Session 2: Four Noble Truths – Freedom From Suffering
Session 3: The Boundless Heart – Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
Sessions 4 & 5: The Eightfold Path – The Buddhist Path to Freedom

VIDEO CONFERENCES – 6:00PM PT ON:
January 16
February 13

REGISTRATION AND ACCESSING COURSE MATERIAL:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to the class page. Course materials will be available through April 1, 2019. This course is useful for newer students as well as those with more experienced who want to refresh their knowledge. Videos recorded in 2018. 

Date: February 23, 2019; 10:00am – 5:00pm
Sliding Scale: $75 – 200. Code MC2D19.
6 CE credits available for $60, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.

Description:
Interested in living with genuine peace? The Buddha taught that there is a direct way for alleviating suffering and living with genuine ease, wisdom, and freedom in our lives: through cultivating the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

In this day retreat, we explore this liberating practice. We will investigate how mindfulness supports insights into what causes suffering and what creates happiness. What arises from this understanding is a tangible sense of inner freedom, spaciousness, peace, and letting go.

Suitable for beginners and experienced meditators who wish to refresh their understanding of this essential Buddhist practice.

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:

• List 4 practices that can be used to cultivate mindfulness;
• Describe how mindfulness practices can promote insight in to the origins of stress and suffering;
• Incorporate mindfulness of breath practices to develop presence moment awareness, and to calm the mind in preparation for, and when working with clients;
• Implement mindfulness-based self-care strategies to promote professional and personal well-being, including reducing emotional exhaustion & burnout.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Dates: Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019. Registration open until February 1, 2019.
Sliding scale: $199 – $299. Code MC1N19.

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight Meditation practices. This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. These are essential teachings for building a baseline understanding, and for the Buddhist path of practice. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

COURSE INCLUDES:
• 5 video sessions for self-paced participation
• Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman (will be recorded and accessible for later viewing).

COURSE OVERVIEW:
Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness – Developing Awareness
Session 2: Four Noble Truths – Freedom From Suffering
Session 3: The Boundless Heart – Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
Sessions 4 & 5: The Eightfold Path – The Buddhist Path to Freedom

VIDEO CONFERENCES – 6:00PM PT ON:
January 16
February 13

REGISTRATION AND ACCESSING COURSE MATERIAL:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to the class page. Course materials will be available through April 1, 2019. This course is useful for newer students as well as those with more experienced who want to refresh their knowledge. Videos recorded in 2018. 

Dates: Material available November 15, 2018 – April 1, 2019. Registration open until February 1, 2019.
Sliding scale: $199 – $299. Code MC1N19.

Foundational Buddhist Teachings offers a core understanding of the Buddha’s teachings and Insight Meditation practices. This course emphasizes cultivation of mindful awareness and learning to apply and live these wisdom and heart practices in our daily lives. These are essential teachings for building a baseline understanding, and for the Buddhist path of practice. In each session, there will be guided meditations, lectures, discussion, and inquiry.

COURSE INCLUDES:
• 5 video sessions for self-paced participation
• Teacher support: 2 video conferences with Mark Coleman (will be recorded and accessible for later viewing).

COURSE OVERVIEW:
Session 1: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness – Developing Awareness
Session 2: Four Noble Truths – Freedom From Suffering
Session 3: The Boundless Heart – Love, Compassion, Joy & Equanimity
Sessions 4 & 5: The Eightfold Path – The Buddhist Path to Freedom

VIDEO CONFERENCES – 6:00PM PT ON:
January 16
February 13

REGISTRATION AND ACCESSING COURSE MATERIAL:
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the link to the class page. Course materials will be available through April 1, 2019. This course is useful for newer students as well as those with more experienced who want to refresh their knowledge. Videos recorded in 2018. 

Dates: Monday, April 1, 3:00pm – Friday, April 5, 11:30am; 4 nights
Sliding Scale: $1000 – $500, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 240R19.
Will open for registration on 12/19/2018.

Retreat Description:
Have you ever been curious about Insight Meditation? This silent retreat will teach the essentials of this practice and offer key Buddhist teachings. We will explore ways to awaken our mind and heart so that we can learn to live a life of wisdom, compassion, inner peace, and freedom.

This retreat will combine sitting and walking meditations, dharma talks and opportunities to meet with a teacher. An excellent opportunity for those new to retreat practice, and also ideal for experienced practitioners who wish to do a shorter retreat.

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 residential retreat. Hemera Foundation Fellowships: Click link for more information. ONE scholarship allowed per person, per calendar year.

Date: May 3, 2019; 9:30am – 4:30pm
Sliding Scale: $75 – 200. Code MC3D19.
6 CE credits available for $60, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.

Description:
Meditating in the serenity of nature provides a beautiful and supportive environment for cultivating natural mindful awareness. In the stillness of nature, we will explore various sensory-based mindfulness practices as we sit and walk in meditation among the hills and woodlands of Spirit Rock.

Through various nature-based meditations, we will explore the natural joy and insight that arises in nature, sense the interconnection between our inner and outer landscape, and discover how nature evokes the beautiful qualities of peace, wonder, and love.

Particularly suitable for those wishing to learn to meditate outdoors and experience the fruits of nature-based meditation.

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:

• Incorporate mindfulness meditation and its related disciplines in ways useful for clients;
• Describe a meditation technique for cultivating joy, that may improve patient care by reducing emotional exhaustion;
• Demonstrate mindfulness and nature practices that can aid in reducing client stress levels;
• Describe how practicing in nature can reduce suffering and increase a sense of ease and joy;
• Identify the barriers to experiencing joy, and describe to clients practices to cultivate sympathetic joy.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Dates: Monday, May 20, 3:00pm – Saturday, May 25, 11:30am; 5 nights
Sliding Scale: $1300 – 600, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 254R19.
11 CE credits available for $110 for psychologists, and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.
Will open for registration on 1/15/2019.

Retreat Description:
In this mindfulness meditation retreat, we will explore the innate quality of awareness as the foundation for cultivating clarity, understanding, and insight into our human experience. We will investigate how, through mindfulness practice, we can develop insight into the causes of stress and the causes of genuine happiness. We will examine what it means to abide, with kindness and awareness, in the midst of life, so we can live with a genuine non-reactive freedom wherever we are.

As well as sitting and walking insight meditation practice, we will emphasize integrating loving kindness and compassion into all moments of the retreat. This allows a kind embrace of ourselves and connects us intimately with each other and the world. In this retreat, there will be periods of meditation, dharma talks, and opportunity for questions and discussion. Suitable for experienced and newer students to meditation.

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 residential retreat. Hemera Foundation Fellowships: Click link for more information. ONE scholarship allowed per person, per calendar year.

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:

• List at least three benefits of how a health care professional cultivating a mindfulness practice can improve patient care;
• Utilize mindfulness practices to steady the mind and opening the heart in preparation for clients and patients, in ways that may improve focus and reduce rumination;
• Describe a mindful communication practice;
• Describe how mindful communication practices can improve interactions with patients, colleagues, and clients;
• Utilize mindfulness exercises and practices to improve emotional regulation during stressful times;
• Apply the principles of equanimity to reduce stress and professional burnout;
• Utilize compassion practices to reduce compassion fatigue when working with clients or patients;
• Utilize mindfulness of the body practices to improve attentional abilities when working with others in a clinical setting;
• Use mindfulness techniques to identify and prevent habitual reactivity, in ways that reduce emotional exhaustion and result in improved patient care

Dates: Monday, June 10, 3:00pm – Sunday, June 16, 11:30am; 6 nights
Sliding Scale: TBD, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 261R19.
Will open for registration on 2/13/2019.

Retreat Description:
Following a long Buddhist tradition of meditating in the forest beginning with the Buddha, the majority of the retreat will be spent outside, practicing in the beauty of nature.

During the retreat, we will learn traditional Buddhist meditation practices, and complimentary techniques that help deepen our relationship to ourselves, the earth, and awaken our receptivity to nature as our teacher. We will explore how mindfulness practice is profoundly supported by the teachings of nature as we sit and walk outdoors. This deepening awareness opens us to profound experiences of interconnectedness, insight, and love. It also allows us to experience ourselves as part of the broader web of life and attune to a sense of mystery and wonder.

This is a rare opportunity to sit in community, in silence, in a beautiful natural setting in the woods and hills above the main campus at Spirit Rock.

Suitable for both new and experienced students.

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).

Held outdoors, or if bad weather, indoor location: Upper Walking Hall. This retreat is designed as a smaller and more intimate retreat. It will mostly be held outdoors but should bad weather visit us, we will have an indoor location – the upper Walking Hall. We want you to know that this upper walking hall is located at the top of a flight of stairs adjacent to the main meditation hall. It is not accessible by wheelchair or scooter. If you have mobility limitations such that you cannot climb a flight of stairs (or hike a moderate distance) this retreat is not appropriate for you. Please call the registration department for more details BEFORE you register for this retreat if you have concerns related to accessibility to the upper Walking Hall or the short hike to the daily outdoor meditation location.