Event Type: Multiday Retreats

Dates: Saturday, November 21, 3:00pm – Wednesday, November 25, 11:00am; 5 days.
Sliding Scale: $225-$1,500 PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 216R20.

Please Note: This 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.

Retreat Description:
From one perspective, spiritual practice right now might appear to be a luxury. Yet, in the middle of the intensity of this historical moment, caring for our hearts is an urgency. Fear, stress and uncertainty make our minds very suggestible and can lead us down the rabbit hole of anxiety. But this moment is also acting like a magnet, pulling our goodness to the surface. This retreat is an opportunity to cultivate a sense of refuge, courage and love.

Home retreat can be transformative in ways we do not experience in residential retreats. It allows us to deeply integrate this spiritual path into our living space, creating the visual and temporal reminders of path and practice in our own home. We will, of course, be doing this together. In a time of isolation, finding community can be especially meaningful. Our retreat will provide a structured immersion in meditation practice, yoga practice and dharma talks, while allowing the flexibility to practice in a rhythm that accommodates your life. Please join us.

Date: November 28-29, 2020. 10:00am – 5:00pm.
Sliding Scale: $75 – $600. Code DR2M20.
10 CE credits available for $100, for psychologists and California licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, chiropractors, and is pending approval for acupuncturists.

Please Note: This 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.

Description:

The Divine Abodes (Brahmaviharas) of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, are the places of the open, awakened heart. In this online retreat, we will learn the formal practices of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, and offer guidance for bringing these practices into daily life and our acting in the world. All of these practices strengthen self-confidence, self-acceptance, generosity of spirit, and steadiness of mind and heart, revealing our fundamental kindness.

The retreat will alternate sitting meditation and walking meditation (or taking care of home responsibilities). Core instructions in the different practices will be offered, along with talks, discussion, and brief daily guided movement sessions.

This retreat is suitable both for those wanting a dedicated at-home retreat, much like a residential retreat, and for those with some responsibilities wanting a home retreat with many hours of formal practice but also time for other activities

Date: December 2-6, 2020. 10:00am –  4:30pm.
Sliding Scale: $225 – $1,500. Code KT1M20.

Please Note: This 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.

Description:
The intention of the retreat is to recognize and validate the unshakable heart in the midst of things falling apart.

In the Girimananda Sutta, the Buddha declared: “This is peaceful, this is sublime: namely, the calming of all formations, the relinquishment of all acquisitions, the ending of craving, dispassion, the cessation of suffering, Nibbana.”

The retreat will investigate the concept and realization of Nibbana–the amata dhamma, “that which never dies”–as it is presented in the Theravāda and Mahāyāna traditions. Some of the texts used include the Greater Heartwood Sutta, the Mula Sutta, the Shurangama Sutra, and the Heart Sutra. We will also explore how deeper levels of realization and equanimity support meaningful and effective engagement in our precarious time.

This retreat includes study, discussion, meditation, chanting, devotional practices, and completes with a Kuan Yin Compassion Ceremony from the Chinese Mahāyāna tradition dedicated to peace and freedom from harm for all.

Dates: Saturday, December 19, 2:00pm – Wednesday, December 23, 10:30am; 5 days.
Sliding Scale: TBD, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 224R20.
CECs Pending. 

Please Note: This 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.

Retreat Description:
In this retreat, we will emphasize centering ourselves at the time of the holidays and the New Year, quieting our minds, grounding in our bodies, opening up our hearts, and using inquiry to help give energy to our practice. There will be a special emphasis on opening to the darkness, including to the unknown, to the creative and generative dimensions of darkness, and to our difficulties and challenges, as well as to the coming light–to our beauty, joy, wisdom, and love. The retreat will include complete meditation instructions, sitting and walking meditation, daily lovingkindness practice, daily Qigong practice, late afternoon talks, practice discussions, and a Winter Solstice ceremony.

PENDING — 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:

• List 4 ways of developing mindfulness of different elements of experience;
• Describe a loving-kindness meditation that may be useful during difficult times;
• Incorporate mindfulness of breath practices to settle and stabilize awareness and to calm the mind, that may be used in preparation for and when working with clients.
• Incorporate various mindfulness practices to improve emotional self-regulation, that may be used while working with clients;
• Utilize body awareness practices to deepen presence and the ability to listen well with clients;
• Demonstrate three ways to bring mindfulness into daily life in ways that improve well-being;
• Demonstrate three ways to bring lovingkindness into daily life in ways that improve well-being;
• Describe the applicability of mindfulness meditation as a resource for health care providers;
• Utilize Qigong movements to develop the centering and grounding of the body, and settling and calming of the mind and body.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Dates: December 28, 2020 – January 1, 2021. 5 days (2 partial, 3 full).
Sliding Scale: $225 – $1008, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code 228R20.

Please Note: This 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.

Pre-requisite: For teens ages 15 -19 years old.

Retreat Description:
Get your head straight, learn to deal with stress and appreciate life to its fullest! Explore your heart and mind. Connect with other teens in a positive, meaningful way.

This retreat will be an opportunity for teenagers to explore mindfulness practice through guided periods of silent sitting and walking meditation, small group discussions, and creative activities. Besides learning meditation practices, there will also be plenty of time to connect with each other, tell stories and enjoy each others’ company. Since meditation practice may be new to some teens, each period of sitting and walking meditation will be limited to 30 minutes.

Facilitators will be available to give extra support to teens whenever needed.

All applications go through an initial screening process. Scholarships are available for this retreat, please be sure to complete this section during the application process if you are in need.

Dates: Monday, December 28, 2020, 3:00pm – Saturday, January 2, 2021, 11:00am; 6 days.
Sliding Scale: $245 – $1,800, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 226R20.

Please Note: This 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.

Retreat Description:
This is a traditional Insight Meditation (Vipassana) retreat with sitting and walking in silence, and regular meetings with teachers. Each day there will be systematic meditation instructions, Dharma talks and gentle yoga. We will mark the turning of the year with a late evening sitting and simple ceremony on New Year’s Eve. In celebration of the New Year, our focus will be on cultivating loving awareness and embracing each moment as fresh and new. All are welcome.

Dates: December 28, 2020 – January 1, 2021. 5 days (2 partial, 3 full).
Sliding Scale: $225 – $1008, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s). Code 228R20.

Please Note: This 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.

Pre-requisite: For teens ages 15 -19 years old.

Retreat Description:
Get your head straight, learn to deal with stress and appreciate life to its fullest! Explore your heart and mind. Connect with other teens in a positive, meaningful way.

This retreat will be an opportunity for teenagers to explore mindfulness practice through guided periods of silent sitting and walking meditation, small group discussions, and creative activities. Besides learning meditation practices, there will also be plenty of time to connect with each other, tell stories and enjoy each others’ company. Since meditation practice may be new to some teens, each period of sitting and walking meditation will be limited to 30 minutes.

Facilitators will be available to give extra support to teens whenever needed.

All applications go through an initial screening process. Scholarships are available for this retreat, please be sure to complete this section during the application process if you are in need.

Dates: Monday, December 28, 2020, 3:00pm – Saturday, January 2, 2021, 11:00am; 6 days.
Sliding Scale: $245 – $1,800, PLUS a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff. Code 226R20.

Please Note: This 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.

Retreat Description:
This is a traditional Insight Meditation (Vipassana) retreat with sitting and walking in silence, and regular meetings with teachers. Each day there will be systematic meditation instructions, Dharma talks and gentle yoga. We will mark the turning of the year with a late evening sitting and simple ceremony on New Year’s Eve. In celebration of the New Year, our focus will be on cultivating loving awareness and embracing each moment as fresh and new. All are welcome.

Dates: Friday to Sunday, January 29 – 31, 2021 (3 days). A daily schedule will be posted closer to the retreat.
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.

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.

Date: Tuesday to Thursday, February 2 – 4, 2021. 10:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Sliding Scale: $45-$200. Code LR1M21.

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:
Maya Angelou once wrote: “The ache for home lives in all of us. The safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” James Baldwin reflected: “Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.” In The Wiz, Stephanie Mills sang: “When I think of home I think of a place where there’s love overflowing.” No matter how we think of home, it is a place that many of us need. The needing of a place called home is the needing to be in a place where we are safe and taken care of.

Home is the experience of taking refuge in something that restores us through love. Homecoming is opening to how home is calling us into being held and cared for. As a community in retreat, we will be using Lama Rod’s book Love and Rage as root text.

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, March 26 – 28, 2021 (3 days). A daily schedule will be posted closer to the retreat.
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.