Dates: April 11 – April 12, 2020; 9:30am – 5:00pm.
Sliding Scale: $0 – 200. Code MC1M20.
Note: The average cost per person, per day to Spirit Rock to offer a program is $160.

Online Only: We are now offering this program online only, via Zoom so you may join us remotely. Once registered, you will receive instructions and a Zoom link. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we navigate the unfolding of the Coronavirus situation. We are continuing to respond by evolving our practices and policies to keep everyone safe and supported, while still serving as a place of refuge and honoring our community’s commitment to the Dharma and sangha.

Description:
On this retreat, you could be meditating in your garden, on your deck or in a safe space in nature, practicing, of course, social distancing. We will learn that we can practice meditation in nature anywhere, even while looking out a window at skies, clouds, birds, and sunlight and receive the power of nature’s blessing. As we practice alone, but together, we will explore potent practices that open the heart and mind to insight, intimacy, and interconnection with all life. We will learn from nature’s wisdom teachings of transience, interdependence, and letting go. We will also see how nature evokes profound peace and calm as well as beautiful qualities of joy, wonder, and love – qualities so essential in these stressful pandemic times.

Given COVID-19 restrictions on gathering, on this nature retreat, you will receive teachings and guided nature meditation practices via periodic instructions delivered throughout the 2 days from Mark via the platform Zoom (accessible via phone or laptop).

PLEASE NOTE: Spirit Rock’s campus in Woodacre is temporarily closed to the public. We encourage you to find the appropriate and safe setting for this retreat while respecting social distancing and park visitation guidelines in your area.

Please note, CE Credits are no longer available for this program. If you paid for CE credits you may receive a refund, an open credit for a future program, or donate the CE credit fee portion. Please email us at eventsregistrar@spiritrock.org.

Date: Saturday, June 13, 2020; 9:00am – 4:30pm.
Sliding Scale: $95 – 200. Code MC1D20.
6 CE credits available for $60, for psychologists and California-licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.
Note: The average cost per person, per day to Spirit Rock to offer a program is $160.

Description:
Awareness is inherent to the nature of our own minds and is the doorway to understanding and insight. In Buddhism, it’s the foundation for wisdom, compassion, and awakening. In this day retreat, we will explore this innate quality of awareness and how to cultivate and abide in an awake presence. We will investigate how mindfulness supports a depth of awareness through various meditation practices and look at various obstacles that obscure it. We will also discover, through the fusion of love and awareness, how developing awareness allows for a natural opening of the heart and kind, compassionate presence with all experience.

Please note: This program will be held outdoors on the land. Participants should feel comfortable walking about 20 minutes from their car to the day retreat location, partially on uneven terrain, and carrying with you all items you need for the day. Our beautiful land is home to turkeys and deer as well as ticks, bees, wasps, and snakes, including rattlesnakes.

Continuing Education (CE) credit available. 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. See below for attendance requirements and more information.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals-
At the end of the program you will be better able to:
• Describe and utilize meditations to cultivate awareness and presence for stabilizing and centering self or client:
• Use mindfulness techniques to identify and prevent habitual reactivity, in ways that reduce emotional exhaustion and result in improved 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; and
• Describe how mindfulness practices can promote insight in to the origins of stress and suffering

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Date: Friday, August 7, 2020; 9:00am – 4:30pm.
Sliding Scale: $95 – 200. Code MC2D20.
6 CE credits available for $60, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.
Note: The average cost per person, per day to Spirit Rock to offer a program is $160.

Description:
This day explores meeting the anxiety, fear, and distress that arise from our current ecological crisis and its impacts with awareness, kindness, and wisdom. We will explore Buddhist teachings that provide refuge and resilience during these times. You will cultivate resources necessary for inner sustainability, including the jewel of mindful awareness, to see clearly the truth; the compassionate heart that gently holds pain; community that nourishes and supports; equanimity that provides steadiness and balance; insight that discerns wise responsiveness; and wisdom that guides skillful action. Our time together will include periods of meditation, inquiry, Q&A, and nature immersion.

Please note: This program will be held outdoors on the land. Participants should feel comfortable walking about 20 minutes from their car to the day retreat location, partially on uneven terrain, and carrying with you all items you need for the day. Our beautiful land is home to turkeys and deer as well as ticks, bees, wasps, and snakes, including rattlesnakes.

Continuing Education (CE) credit available. 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. See below for attendance requirements and more information.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals-
At the end of the program you will be better able to:
• 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;
• Implement mindfulness-in-nature based self-care strategies to promote professional and personal well-being, including reducing emotional exhaustion & burnouts;
• Apply the principles of equanimity and compassion for meeting stress, pain and burnout with kindness and wisdom.

Continuing Education content level: Intermediate

Dates: Wednesday, August 19, 3:00pm – Friday, August 28, 11:30am; 9 nights.
Sliding Scale: $2600-$1150, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 376R20.
Will open for registration on 4/14/20.

Retreat Description:
Centuries ago, the Buddha taught about the Seven Factors of Awakening, a teaching as relevant to Dharma students then as it is now. This teaching provides a guide to cultivating and balancing essential qualities of mind and heart, which in turn help deepen the path of meditation and support us in our journey of awakening.

This retreat will focus on exploring – through the foundational quality of mindfulness – the energizing qualities of investigation, joy, and energy, as well as the calming factors of tranquility, concentration and equanimity.

We will investigate these factors through talks, meditation, and inquiry, and discover how they support us in the process of understanding, insight, and in the cultivation of peace and freedom.

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).

Dates: Monday, November 30, 3:00pm – Sunday, December 6, 11:30am; 6 nights.
Sliding Scale: $1700-$750, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 219R20.
15 CE credits available for $150, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.
Will open for registration on 7/29/20.

Retreat Description:
The Buddha stated that sati (mindfulness / awareness) is a direct and complete path to Liberation. Mindful awareness provides the ability to be present with all experience with clarity, insight, and equanimity. It is the foundation for wisdom, compassion, and awakening.

In this silent meditation retreat, we will explore this innate quality of awareness – what it is, how to recognize it, and how to cultivate and nurture it. We will investigate how moment-to-moment continuity of mindfulness builds concentration, which in turn supports a depth of awareness.

We will inquire into what interferes with fully stabilizing in awareness, both in meditation and in ordinary activity. As mindfulness grows, we will see how this capacity to abide awareness is available in every moment.

This retreat will include meditation, dharma talks, and inquiry.

Location: Upper Walking Hall. This retreat is designed as a smaller and more intimate retreat and, as such, will be held in the upper Walking Hall located in the upper retreat building. The upper Walking Hall is accessible by the stairs to the left as you enter the Retreat Hall foyer, or by a path at the back of the building, on the left.

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).

Continuing Education (CE) credit available. 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. See below for attendance requirements and more information.

TBD

Dates: Monday, November 30, 3:00pm – Sunday, December 6, 11:30am; 6 nights.
Sliding Scale: $1700-$750, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 219R20.
15 CE credits available for $150, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors.
Will open for registration on 7/29/20.

Retreat Description:
The Buddha stated that sati (mindfulness / awareness) is a direct and complete path to Liberation. Mindful awareness provides the ability to be present with all experience with clarity, insight, and equanimity. It is the foundation for wisdom, compassion, and awakening.

In this silent meditation retreat, we will explore this innate quality of awareness – what it is, how to recognize it, and how to cultivate and nurture it. We will investigate how moment-to-moment continuity of mindfulness builds concentration, which in turn supports a depth of awareness.

We will inquire into what interferes with fully stabilizing in awareness, both in meditation and in ordinary activity. As mindfulness grows, we will see how this capacity to abide awareness is available in every moment.

This retreat will include meditation, dharma talks, and inquiry.

Location: Upper Walking Hall. This retreat is designed as a smaller and more intimate retreat and, as such, will be held in the upper Walking Hall located in the upper retreat building. The upper Walking Hall is accessible by the stairs to the left as you enter the Retreat Hall foyer, or by a path at the back of the building, on the left.

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).

Continuing Education (CE) credit available. 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. See below for attendance requirements and more information.

TBD