Length: 2-4 nights (residential)

Date & Time: Saturday & Sunday, March 13 – 14, 2021; 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Sliding Scale: $75-$600. Code TJ1M21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
Embodiment has always been essential in Dharma practice. The deeper traditions of embodiment practice (qigong/neigong) have always integrated meditation and ethics as essential to authentic growth and development in these arts. Join us and explore the foundations of cultivation of energy and natural concentration thru the life-affirming practices of Radiant Heart Qigong.

Practices will include standing, sitting, and supine qigong postures, as well as energy alignment. Each day will include periods of guided and silent meditation practice, integrated movement, Dharma teachings, and opportunities for in-depth instruction in a non-judgmental, supportive environment.

All abilities and levels of meditation and qigong experience warmly welcome!

Dates: Friday to Sunday, March 26 – 28, 2021 (3 days). Daily schedule: Friday 1:30 – 5:30 p.m.; Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $395-$795, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code PM2M21.

Please Note: This is a special event and scholarships will not be available. This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Retreat Description:
This is a tumultuous time full of change as we navigate the pandemic, the need for social justice, along with political, environmental, and economic challenges. As a result of these challenges, you may have experienced a change that’s beyond your control or perhaps you’re recognizing the need for personal change. Change brings up anxiety and uncertainty and it can also be exciting to connect with bigger visions for ourselves and our world.

Research shows that meeting change with mindfulness and being empowered to navigate uncertainty allows us to experience a deep sense of well-being even when life is difficult.

Some of the tools we offer in this workshop are:
• Reflecting on your life and assessing what’s out of balance.
• Using our “Journey through Change Map” to orient yourself in your change.
• Recognizing habits of mind that undermine you and learning to disengage from them.
• Creating a plan for skillfully navigating your change.

Expect a weekend of dynamic inquiry and learn to meet change with confidence and clarity.

Dates: Sunday to Wednesday, March 28 – 31, 2021 (4 days). A daily schedule will be posted closer to the retreat.
Sliding Scale: $155-$1200, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code 244R21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
In response to the ongoing challenging conditions of the pandemic, on this Vipassana/Insight meditation retreat we will cultivate the beautiful quality of mindfulness. This mindful awareness nurtures a clarity, wisdom and well-being, qualities so essential at this time. Through “at-home” mindfulness practices, we’ll explore understanding the root causes of stress and suffering and develop the causes for a genuine happiness. These foundational Buddhist practices help you live with a profound ease and freedom wherever you are—the innate peace we all seek.

As well as sitting and walking Insight meditation practice, lovingkindness and compassion teachings will be integrated into the day so that we learn to live with a loving awareness. There will be periods of meditation, talks, questions and discussion. It’s a wonderful retreat to truly integrate these teachings more fully into our lives and practice. We will do so with the supportive community of like-minded meditators.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Dates: Thursday to Sunday, April 8 – 11, 2021 (4 days). A daily schedule will be posted closer to the retreat.
Sliding Scale: $155-$1200, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code 246R21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
At its core, the Dharma is practical, and the teachings on emptiness (Suññatā) are no exception. This important teaching, however, can often feel conceptual and illusory. This online retreat is an invitation to open to the accessible and practical teachings on emptiness, to be witnessed internally and externally, both during formal practice and in our daily lives. Seeing experience through this lens offers freedom from the prison of our limited conceptual framework, the contraction of which can lead to greed and grasping or hatred and aversion, and the whole entangled web of suffering. Far from being bleak and nihilistic, emptiness practice liberates experience to be appreciated in richer fullness, and serves as the womb of love and compassion.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Dates: Wednesday to Friday, April 14 – 16, 2021 (3 half days).
Sliding Scale: $75-$325. Code LW1M21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
On this brief retreat, the teachers will share experience-based skills, and the invitation to develop more compassion, balance, and even peace with illness. When illness strikes, fears, worries, and overwhelm are often the inner aspects of suffering. The invitation is not to turn away, but bring gentle human presence to the reality, and see if this provides a refuge, a place to respond from.

Sometimes it’s really important to pull back, let go, take rest. Other times, intentional action is needed. Tuning into the varying needs, capacities, and limitations of ourselves and others is a constant learning process. Meditations on embodiment, compassion, and listening can be very supportive.

During the retreat we will attend to each other, respecting as much as possible the differing abilities, needs, and beauty of each other. Retreat instructions will be adapted for a variety of access needs. Guided meditations, Dharma talks, and group discussions will be offered to support the exploration. Sessions are relatively short, and adaptations will be encouraged, like lying down to meditate. Optional recorded materials will be posted for use outside the daily sessions, including an access-centered movement practice by Jess Schlesinger, a yoga teacher skilled in working with a range of abilities. 

All are warmly welcome: those who have been sick, those who care about another’s illness, those who know illness impacts communities nearby and beyond our horizons, and those who tend to our health, knowing illness will happen for all beings anyway.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Date & Time: Thursday to Sunday, April 15 – 18, 2021; 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Sliding Scale: $155-$1200. Code ES1M21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
In your investigation of the world, never allow the mind to desert the body. Examine its nature, see the elements that comprise it. When its true nature is seen fully and lucidly by the heart, the wonders of the world will become clear.
– Ajahn Mun

Over a year into this global pandemic, many of our bodies are carrying more tension than ever. This process of collecting tension can cause chronic pain, emotional imbalance and contribute towards relational distress, or it can lead to compassion and insight. Buddhist teachings point directly to the body as a vehicle of liberating wisdom.

This retreat will focus on lovingkindness for the physical body and meditation on the elements as a path to well-being, liberating wisdom and love for self, others and world.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Date: Friday to Sunday, May 7 – 9, 2021.
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $125-$1008. Code: DR1M21.
Continuing Education Credits: This program offers 12 CE credits for $120 for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, and nurses, licensed by the APA, California BBS, or BRN.

Description:
Differences with others about views and strategies can be challenging, whether in close relationships, the workplace, political polarization, or relationships between ethnic groups. Such differences may lead to frustration, despair, anger, and even violence.

In this retreat, we will offer core principles and practices for working with differences, through talks, meditations, and exercises. Rooted in the Buddha’s Middle Way and his understanding of views, the contemporary work of peacemakers and a vision of non-dual “conflict transformation,” and wise speech practice (including resources from Nonviolent Communication), we will approach differences as opportunities for empathy, learning, reconciliation, steadiness, trust, and compassion.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Dates: Monday to Thursday, May 10 – 13, 2021 (4 days). A daily schedule will be posted closer to the retreat.
Sliding Scale: $155-$1200, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code 258R21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Retreat Description:
In this four-day retreat, the emphasis will be on cultivating a relaxed awareness, opening the heart, and bringing a peaceful acceptance to our experience. The retreat will include instructions, guided meditations, and Dharma talks to support the development of mindfulness, lovingkindness and compassion. The retreat will offer practical tools to support bringing the practice home and to the whole of our lives. This is a great retreat for beginners, for those newer to practice, and for those looking to strengthen the foundation for their practice.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Date & Time: Thursday to Sunday, May 27 – 30, 2021; 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Pacific Time
Sliding Scale: $155-$1200. Code PM3M21.

Please Note: This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
The Four Noble Truths are the Buddha’s first teaching, which is said to contain the sum of all of his teachings. Based on one of the oldest Theravada texts, there is a rarely taught practice of utilizing the Four Noble Truths to attain Twelve Insights that bring freedom and well-being. These insights prescribe a radically different way for us, with all of our vulnerability and fear, to engage with life just as it is and find joy even in the midst of suffering.

In this four-day, silent retreat, we will explore each of the Four Noble Truths in depth and learn how we can apply the insights of this teaching to our daily lives. The goal of this retreat is to discover how the Four Noble Truths become the Four “Ennobling”
Truths.

Each day will have periods of sitting and walking meditation along with Dharma talks, discussion, and Q&A.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Date: Friday to Sunday, June 18-20, 2021
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $125-$1008. Code: DC1M21.

Open to self-identified womxn age 60 and over

Description:
As women over 60 we have a lot in common, including wisdom that we ourselves may not fully recognize or value. How can we awaken this sleeping potential within us and express it in our lives? How can we contribute to the healing of our shattered world? We begin with strengthening and harmonizing our physical, mental-emotional, and spiritual capacities thru the practices of meditation and qigong. We open ourselves to awareness of what is trying to emerge. We listen to each other as inspiration, as support, as prophetess and guide, as only women do! Please join us!

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Dates: Friday, July 16 – Monday, July 19, 2021; 4 full days. Tentative daily schedule below.
Sliding Scale: $108-$1200, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code 278R21.

ONLINE: This at-home retreat is now offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19. This retreat will be modified for an at-home schedule and experience. Please Note: This retreat will be a LIVESTREAM.

Description:
The emphasis during this retreat will be on the continuity of awareness in all activities, which stabilizes and balances the mind. Relaxed acceptance of our moment-to-moment experience becomes the platform for investigation and wisdom. Particular attention will be paid to the attitudes in the mind that condition our understanding. This retreat is suitable for both beginners and experienced meditators. We welcome people from all life experiences, backgrounds and diverse communities.

TENTATIVE Daily Teaching Schedule – sessions listed in Pacific Time; this is a TENTATIVE schedule for all four days.

7:00 a.m.    Optional – Early Morning Meditation
10:00 a.m.  Guided Sit with Instructions, Q&A and/or Dharma Talk (75-90 minutes)
1:00 p.m.    Dharma Talk and/or Q&A (75-90 minutes)
4:00 p.m.    Guided Brahma Vihara, Q&A and/or Dharma Talk (75-90 minutes)
7:00 p.m.    Dharma Talk and/or Q&A (75-90 minutes)
8:45 p.m.    Optional – Evening Sit or Chanting (30 minutes)

Teachers will offer recommendations for self-scheduled practice between session times.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds, as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Dates: Friday to Saturday, July 16 – 17, 2021
Times: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $75-$600. Code SF1M21.
Continuing Education Credits: Pending approval

Description:
The Buddha’s first insight on the path to liberation, remembering a childhood moment under a rose-apple tree, centered on the power of ease and pleasure in meditation. As he discovered, when we bring awareness to our bodies with an intimate, loving presence, we open to the full range of embodied experience, from visceral emotion to sublime relaxation and bliss.

Suffering is a synonym for trauma, arising when our nervous system’s natural self-protective responses to stress become habitual. Sustained somatic attention, supported by gentle movement, Dharma teachings, and compassionate mindfulness of the body and feelings can open into both healing and insight.

In this 2-day practice and study retreat, we’ll practice somatic approaches to mindfulness, understand our nervous system patterns of self-protection and habitual negativity, and feel the importance of bliss, joy, and ease in the Buddha’s descriptions of the path.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Dates: Friday to Sunday, January 29 – 31, 2021 (3 days).
Times: Friday 1:30 – 5:30 p.m.; Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; Sunday 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $395-$795, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code PM1M21.

Important Note: This is a special program and scholarships will not be available.

This retreat is offered online only. We invite you to try this creative form of practice as we take care of one another and respond skillfully to COVID-19.

Description:
This is a tumultuous time full of change as we navigate the pandemic, the need for social justice, along with political, environmental, and economic challenges. As a result of these challenges, you may have experienced a change that’s beyond your control or perhaps you’re recognizing the need for personal change. Change brings up anxiety and uncertainty and it can also be exciting to connect with bigger visions for ourselves and our world.
 
Research shows that meeting change with mindfulness and being empowered to navigate uncertainty allows us to experience a deep sense of well-being even when life is difficult.
 
Some of the tools we offer in this workshop are:
• Reflecting on your life and assessing what’s out of balance.
• Using our “Journey through Change Map” to orient yourself in your change.
• Recognizing habits of mind that undermine you and learning to disengage from them.
• Creating a plan for skillfully navigating your change.
 
Expect a weekend of dynamic inquiry and learn to meet change with confidence and clarity.

Dates: Friday to Sunday, July 30 – August 1, 2021
Times: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $125-$1008, per family group. Our sliding scale options for this program include financial support for our teachers. Code FA1M21.

Description:
Gather your family together for fun, mindfulness, and connection in our online Family Weekend! Spirit Rock’s popular Family Retreat is moving online this summer, with three days of joyful sharing and Dharma practice. We hope you’ll join us!

We’ll gather online for three special days to explore the theme of friendship. As our world transforms with vaccines, changes to work and school, and more, mindfulness practice can be a wonderful resource. How do we navigate this big transition? Whether we feel anxious, exhausted, or overjoyed, can we treat our experience with care and mindfulness? Together, we’ll learn how we can be friends to ourselves, each other, and the world as we meet the ups and downs of this moment.

We are sensitive to screen time hours in this online format, especially for our younger family members and will provide programming that can be tailored to the needs of your family.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.

Date: Friday to Sunday, July 30 – August 1, 2021
Time: Friday, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Sliding Scale: $125-$1008. Code: PW1M21.

Description:
Our world is rife with division, oppression, and injustice. The precepts offer guidelines for living together in this world with skill and kindness. In our weekend, we will investigate the precepts—not killing, not stealing, not lying, and not misusing sexuality or intoxicants—as an embodied, relational path.

Through guided meditation, Dharma talks, interactive inquiry, and discussion, we’ll use the precepts to discover what it means to stay awake and be compassionate, and explore the potential for engaging in our shared human life without doing harm to ourselves, each other, and the planet.

All are welcome.

All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.