Practicing Hope in Hard Times

Join long-time friends and collaborators Leslie Booker and Dara Silverman in July in Upstate New York for a four-day retreat. They will guide participants through somatic practices and the Buddha’s profound teachings on the Brahmaviharas—expressions of loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity. In this four-day retreat, we’ll explore hope as an embodied practice in a tumultuous world.

Together, we’ll cultivate these capacities and deepen our understanding of how to embody hope, love, and presence. We'll explore meditation and body-based somatic practices. 

As a group, we'll sit in the questions:

• How can we hold hope without bypassing the realities of injustice and hardship?

• How do we stay rooted in joy and well-being while staying fully present to the world around us?

• How can meditation practice, and somatic practice, support our engagement with the world (rather than provide an escape?)

Is this for me?  If you are interested in learning more about your body, responses under pressure and capacity to work with other people towards justice and through practice- this is for you. If you are an organizer, consultant, trainer, coach or activist, this is a place for you to be deepening and building your commitment to racial justice. This retreat is a place to deepen in your somatic awareness, embodied practice and learnings. 

Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of experience with meditation or body-based practices.

Click HERE to Register

Moving Into Meditation

Nourish your body, mind, and heart and reconnect with what truly matters most to you in a silent mindfulness retreat that weaves together meditation in stillness and movement. Through gentle, mindful yoga—suitable for all levels of physical ability—you’ll calm and balance your nervous system, unwinding the physical and emotional knots that can block your connection to open-hearted presence. You’ll practice meditation seated, standing, walking, and lying down, learning skills that can help you stay grounded, centered, and open-hearted as you take your practice off the mat and cushion and into the world. A spacious schedule gives you ample time for resting, restoring, and spending time in nature.

Click Here to register and for additional information

This is How Civilizations Heal: The Alchemy of the Three Poisons

Greed, aversion, and delusion, collectively known as the three poisons, are mind states that cloud the heart and mind. But these energies contain information that can lead us to a healing that can mitigate the chaos of the world.

Toni Morrison wrote, “I know the world is bruised and bleeding. And though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge, even wisdom. That is how civilizations heal.” By clearly recognizing the three poisons, we can meet them with their antidotes of generosity, mettā, and wisdom. Generosity can expand our ability to feel connected and remind us that we belong to each other. Mettā opens the heart, protecting us from both inner and outer harm, while wisdom allows us to see things right sized as we move through the world.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

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Waking Up Fabulous: Taking Refuge in Care

As LGBTQIA+ people, in these challenging and difficult times, we recollect the power of community to know that we are not alone, and that together we can begin the healing of centuries of oppression and trauma within a deep knowing of our interconnectedness and interdependence. We learn to trust the unfolding of our lives and to act for the benefit of all beings.

This retreat is an opportunity for us to come together as an LGBTQIA+ community and care for ourselves: to remember who we really are and to recollect our true inner goodness. We will explore ways of sustaining a kind heart, a clear open mind, and a strong body. We will engage with the ancient teachings and practices offered by the Buddha that cultivate compassion, wisdom, and skillful actions.

This retreat will be held in the nobility of silence. In silence, we are illuminating the heart and mind.

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Rediscovering Your Super Powers – Cultivating the 5 Spiritual Faculties

As a global community we face tumultuous political and cultural changes that can trigger a range of mixed emotions. You might feel overwhelmed, stuck, angry, or fearful, as well as a sense of urgency to move into action.

The good news is that you already have within you the capacity to empower your practice. The Buddha identified five innate human faculties that can be developed and strengthened into transformative powers for personal and collective liberation from suffering; faith, energy, mindfulness, concentration and wisdom.

Balancing the powers to ensure they work as a cohesive system is essential and involves an ongoing process of adjusting and readjusting, much like fine-tuning an instrument.

Faith gives us trust and confidence in the Dharma, dispelling doubt—and inspires the energy needed to move forward. When energy has found its equilibrium, then there is much more ease in the body. And from that ease, there can be continuity of mindfulness, and when there is steadiness of mind, concentration grows. As concentration deepens, in the stillness of an attentive mind, wisdom emerges. It’s the wisdom of emptiness, of letting go of all that is not true, that brings about our liberation.

The emphasis throughout the course will be on a practical exploration of how to work with the multi-dimensional aspects of the five powers both on and off the cushion. Practices will include relational exercises in class as well as weekly prompts for personal reflection or journaling.

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Paramis as a Revolutionary Act

Toni Morrison wrote: “I know the world is bruised and bleeding. And though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge, even wisdom. That is how civilizations heal.”

This isn’t just a statement, but a directive of how to move through difficult times. The Buddha offered a direct and accessible framework to support his healing, called the 10 Perfections or Attainments of the Heart; or pāramīs. This collection which includes generosity, ethical conduct, renunciation, wisdom, effort, patience, truthfulness, resolve, metta and equanimity - are a map for recovery and the creation of a culture of belonging. These qualities help us to navigate life, and are said to be what the Buddha was cultivating in earlier lifetimes before his Awakening. In this residential retreat, we’ll explore not just what the Buddha said, but how he lived his life.

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 Living an Ethic of Love: Celebrating Black Dharma Teachings

Folks of African descent carry a rich and enduring legacy of contemplation—an ancient wisdom that has not only survived but thrived through the harshest of times. Despite the pain of colonization, the scars of enslavement, and the ongoing movement towards justice, this wisdom has taught us how to pause, rest, and reconnect with our true selves. It offers a blueprint for navigating life’s challenges with dignity and grace, reminding us that we can only see the stars in the darkness.

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Living in the Mystery: How to Practice in Uncertain Times

A sense of certainty allows us to feel that there is solid ground beneath us upon which we can keep what we have and pursue further dreams. While it feels good to win and to get what we want, every form of comfort rests on an impermanent and unreliable foundation. On an individual level (whether it’s our living situation, financial status, health, or relationships) or a global level (whether it’s politics, war, or climate chaos), the reality of instability can evoke fear, anxiety, and grief.

The core teachings remind us that liberation arises from a true understanding of the Three Marks of Existence: impermanence or change (anicca); suffering or unsatisfactoriness (dukkha); and not-self or insubstantiality (anattā).

In this weekend retreat we will explore these teachings through Dharma talks, group discussions, and meditations. This will allow us to share in the possibility of freedom from the struggles that arise around us.

Please check out Spirit Rock’s Page for more details on this program

This silent retreat will focus on cultivating the quality of lovingkindness (mettā in Pāli), infusing our hearts, minds, and bodies with a strong, caring wisdom. Awareness, as developed through mindfulness practice, leads to clarity, insight, and understanding. Lovingkindness practices open the heart, allow a kind embrace of ourselves, and connect us intimately with all of life. The fusion of these qualities helps us to respond more compassionately to the challenges that we encounter in ourselves and in the world.

Qigong is a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness for exercise, healing, and meditation. Qigong perfectly complements traditional sitting meditation practice and has a long and well-established connection to contemplative traditions. On this retreat, lovingkindness practices will be supported by periods of guided instruction as well as Qigong, meditation, and regular meetings with the teachers.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Please check out Spirit Rock’s Page for more details on this program

Many of us are engaged with the world as activists or organizers. But even if you don’t identify that way, you probably deeply care about the world and want to change it. For those of us with a regular meditation or embodiment practice, we might wonder how we can align the tools we use to find ease, ground, refresh, and stay connected with our most deeply-held values. Without learning how to align our practice with our beliefs, it can start to feel like escapism. But how do we move forward?

In this two-day non-residential retreat, we’ll explore “hope” as a way through. What does it feel like to hold hope as an embodied practice in a tumultuous world? How do we cultivate love without spiritually bypassing? Is there a way to connect to our own sense of well-being and joy while remaining fully present to injustice and violence?

Join long-time friends and collaborators Booker and Dara as they weave together somatic (body-based) practices and the heart practices of the Buddha’s Brahmaviharas (expressions of love). Together we’ll cultivate these capacities in ourselves, and nurture a fuller understanding of the body and heart.

Everyone is welcome to participate, regardless of experience with meditation or body-based practices. Please wear comfortable clothes you can move in.

Click here to register and for additional information

How do we stay grounded, centered, and rooted in compassion and wisdom, especially in times of personal and global challenges? In this silent retreat, we’ll offer teachings and tools from the Dharma and Yoga traditions for settling your nervous system, grounding your energy, and connecting in an embodied way with what matters most. You’ll replenish your body, heart, and mind with a seamless flow of meditation in movement and in stillness, within a spacious schedule that offers ample time to rest, be in nature, and honor the natural rhythms of your own practice.

Each day includes gentle guided Yoga; seated, walking, standing, and lying down meditation; Dharma reflections; and small group meetings with a teacher. You’ll go home with powerful, practical tools for staying centered in your daily life, and you’ll be better equipped to respond with wisdom and compassion to the urgent needs of our times.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Please check out Spirit Rock’s Page for more details on this program

Awakening to the beauty that is within and around us all is an essential part of the Buddhist path, and it is of particular importance to those of us who have been taught to view ourselves and the world in a different light. In practicing together throughout this retreat, we will closely consider—and deeply nurture—what beauty means for us, both individually and collectively.

Grounded in kindness, this retreat will offer meditation, mindful movement, heart-centered practices, Dharma talks, practice discussions, and opportunities for inquiry. In creating this beautiful and supportive container, we find greater freedom for ourselves and our communities. This retreat supports all levels of practice and inclusivity for our LGBTQIA+, GNC, and non-binary communities and is open to all levels of meditation experience.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Please check out Spirit Rock’s Page for more details on this program

More details will follow!

The Universe Is My True Body: A Five Elements Retreat for BIPOC Practitioners 

Mindfulness of the body is a core practice on the Buddha's path to liberation. One of the ways we can work with this practice is through contemplations on the five elements: earth, water, fire, air, and space/ether. These elements exist both within and beyond our bodies, and they can be known directly through our loving awareness. Being with the elemental nature of our bodies and of the world around us is a way to connect deeply to our physical experience in the present moment which can help us tap into a felt sense of interconnection with all things. 

As practitioners who are Black, Indigenous, and People of color (including Asian, Pacific Islander, Middle Eastern, and/or Latinx people of color), practicing with the elements can be deeply restorative and healing. It can feel like coming home. Colonization, enslavement, imperialism, and patriarchy have all used violence to try to separate us from the natural world, because our connection with nature makes us too powerful to dominate. Let us reconnect with the elements in this weeklong retreat, in affinity space, and tap into the wisdom nature holds about how to liberate ourselves and to live together in a beloved community.

Join us for a five-night silent retreat in the beautiful natural setting of the Big Bear Retreat Center, only two hours from Los Angeles. We will spend our days deepening our meditation practice in the service of cultivating wisdom and compassion needed to transfer out to our lives.  As we settle our minds, supported by nature, we can see ourselves and the world with deeper clarity and allow our inner wisdom to emerge. 

The retreat will include sitting and walking meditation with ongoing guidance, lecture and instruction from the teachers. We will also have an opportunity to practice cultivating positive emotions, mindful speaking and listening, mindful eating, as well as experience the depth of stillness that can come through an extended period of practice. Daily movement practice will be led during this retreat. 

This silent retreat is suitable for beginning or experienced students. 

Click here to register and for additional information

During this week-long silent mindfulness meditation retreat, we will learn to pay attention with an embodied knowing that leads to intuitive wisdom. We will practice loving embodiment as we cultivate attending to each moment with mindfulness. Being immersed in the natural world, we’ll attune to nature within ourselves and around us. This practice allows insights to arise, bringing greater freedom for ourselves and communities.

We will offer meditation instructions (including sitting, standing, and walking), guided heart practices, as well as Dharma talks, practice discussions, question and answer periods, and ample time to practice independently. We will be practicing both indoors and outdoors in nature. This retreat is suitable for both newer and more experienced students of Buddhism.

Click here to register and for additional information